Francis Ngannou Shares an Incredible Story of His First Meeting With Kobe Bryant

On the occasion of the birthday of late Kobe Bryant, the world remembered the NBA legend who left us earlier this year. Everyone who had ever come in contact with him shared their own sweet memories. UFC heavyweight Francis Ngannou also took the opportunity to look back upon his first interaction with the five-time NBA champion.

In a video released on his YouTube channel, Ngannou donned the No. 8 Lakers jersey. The video then takes us to what looks like a clothing store where Ngannou remembers his meeting with Kobe.

It was possibly around 2017. The UFC had just partnered with Bodyarmour. Kobe held a stake in the company. At the announcement of the partnership, both Ngannou and Kobe were present. The Cameroonian reached the venue at the time allotted. However, others were late.

True to his reputation, Kobe also reached there on time.

When the two initially started interacting, Ngannou wanted to make it short. He had assumed that Bryant was busy and he didn’t want to take up too much of his time. However, not only did Kobe paid close attention to him, he even found his story inspirational.

Kobe Bryant was interested in knowing about the background of Francis Ngannou

While Francis Ngannou is a massive name in the fight business, his beginnings were very humble. Ngannou had to fight a lot of odds before he made it to the biggest MMA promotion in the world. During his meeting with Kobe, the latter was interested in knowing all the details about the struggles of ‘The Predator’.

Ngannou said that while many people of high stature pretend to listen to others, Kobe was different. For full fifteen minutes, he gave his undivided attention to the former UFC heavyweight challenger.

The encounter between Ngannou and Kobe is just one of the many stories about the Los Angeles Lakers legend that prove why he was a generational figure. Not only did he enamored the crowd with his on the court performances, but he also made an impact on people’s life whenever he met them.

As fas as Francis Ngannou is concerned, he is riding a streak of vicious first-round knockouts. In all likelihood, he will meet Stipe Miocic once again for a shot at UFC heavyweight gold.