Francis Ngannou (born 5 September 1986) is a Cameroonian-French professional mixed martial artist competing in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As of September 25, 2019, he is #2 in the UFC heavyweight rankings.^[3] As at March 28, 2021 he is the new UFC H eavyweight Champion.^[131]

Ngannou was born and raised in the village of Batié, Cameroon.^[4] He lived in poverty and had little formal education growing up.^[5] Ngannou's parents divorced when he was six years old, and he was sent to live with his aunt.^[6] At 12 years old, Ngannou started working in a sand quarry in Batié because of a lack of funds.^[7] As a youngster, he was approached by various gangs in his village to join them.^[8] However, Ngannou refused and instead decided to use his father's negative reputation as a street fighter as motivation to do something positive and pursue boxing.^[8]

At the age of 22, Ngannou began training in boxing, despite reluctance from his family in the beginning.^[8] After training for a year, Ngannou stopped training due to an illness.^[9] He did various odd jobs to make ends meet, until at the age of 26, he emigrated to Paris, France, to pursue professional boxing.^[10] After Ngannou reached Paris, he had no money, no friends and no place to live.^[5] After living homeless on the streets of Paris, he began training for free in August 2013 under Didier Carmont.^[11][7] Being a fan of Mike Tyson, Ngannou was originally interested in learning how to box until his coach introduced him to the sport of MMA.^[10]

Reflecting on his journey across continents and his decision to become an MMA fighter, Ngannou said:^[5][10]

Ngannou is multilingual.

He speaks several languages including Ngemba, French and English.^[7][12][13] He learned English after joining the UFC.^[14]

Ngannou started his MMA career in November 2013 and fought mostly in the French promotion 100% Fight, as well as other regional promotions in Europe.^[15]

Ngannou made his UFC debut against fellow newcomer Luis Henrique on 19 December 2015 at UFC on Fox 17.^[16] He won the fight via knockout in the second round.^[17]

Ngannou next faced UFC newcomer Curtis Blaydes on 10 April 2016, at UFC Fight Night 86.^[18] He won the fight via TKO, due to doctors stoppage, at the conclusion of the second round.^[19]

In his next bout, Ngannou faced another newcomer in Bojan Mihajlović on 23 July 2016, at UFC on Fox 20.^[20] He won the fight via TKO in the first round.^[21] Ngannou faced Anthony Hamilton on 9 December 2016, at UFC Fight Night 102.^[22] He won the fight by submission in the first round, and earned his first UFC Performance of the Night bonus.^[23][24]

Ngannou faced Andrei Arlovski on 28 January 2017, at UFC on Fox 23.^[25] He won the fight via TKO in the first round. The win also earned Ngannou his second Performance of the Night bonus.^[26] Ngannou was expected to face Junior dos Santos on 9 September 2017 at UFC 215.^[27] However, on 18 August, Dos Santos was pulled from the match after being notified of a potential USADA violation.^[28] In turn, Ngannou was removed from the card after promotion officials deemed that a suitable opponent could not be arranged.^[29][30] In the highest profile fight of his career, Ngannou faced Alistair Overeem on 2 December 2017 at UFC 218.^[31] He won the fight via knockout in the first round.^[32]

Ngannou fought Stipe Miocic for the UFC Heavyweight title on 20 January 2018 at UFC 220.^[33] He lost the fight via unanimous decision.^[34]

Ngannou faced Derrick Lewis on 7 July 2018 at UFC 226.^[35] He lost the fight via unanimous decision. The fight was heavily criticized by the media and the fans for the lack of offence from both competitors^{[36][37][38][39]} and was labeled as a "snoozefest".^[40]

Ngannou faced Curtis Blaydes in a rematch on 24 November 2018 in the main event at UFC Fight Night 141^[41] He won the fight via TKO early into the first round.^[42] The win also earned him a Performance of the Night bonus.^[43]

Ngannou headlined UFC's inaugural event on ESPN, UFC on ESPN 1 against Cain Velasquez on 17 February 2019.^[44] He won the fight via knockout in the first round.^[45]

Ngannou faced Junior dos Santos on June 29, 2019 at UFC on ESPN 3.^[46] He won the fight via technical knockout in the first round.^[47] This fight earned him the Performance of the Night award.^[48]

Ngannou is the founder of the Francis Ngannou Foundation, which runs the first combat sports gym in his native Cameroon, aiming to offer facilities for young people to pursue their dreams in sports.^[49]

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