It would be impossible to become one of the biggest combat sports stars on the planet without taking some monumental risks along the way.
This is something Francis Ngannou has known for as long as he can remember.
When the Cameroonian took up MMA around the age of 26, some considered he was too late to the sport and might never reach the top. Yet Ngannou joined the UFC after around three years of training.
Critics said he was too one-dimensional to be a UFC champion after a failed attempt in 2018, but Ngannou rebuilt himself to win the title three years later.
Then came a battle that has changed the landscape of combat sports.
Ngannou wanted more money and more freedom. He wanted to box and he wanted to fight in MMA. He was told no by the UFC and would leave, in an act many thought would derail his career.
Fast forward just 22 months and Ngannou is among the most recognised and best-paid heavyweights in combat sports.
This applies in both boxing and MMA, after back-to-back boxing fights against Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.
On Saturday he returns to MMA after a three-year hiatus but is now being told the PFL, his new promotion, lacks the elite challengers he needs. It has been said he is no longer the premier heavyweight in the sport.
For Ngannou, he’s heard it all before.
“From the beginning, at the very beginning of my life, I understood you have to take risks. In fact, that’s how I got here. That’s how I got to MMA,” Ngannou tells BBC Sport.
Ngannou put his life on the line to pursue his dream of becoming a professional fighter as he left his native Cameroon for France via a treacherous migrant route he describes as “hell on earth”.
His journey from being homeless in Paris to becoming Africa’s first UFC heavyweight champion in 2021 is remarkable.
Turning down a UFC contract – a promotion widely regarded as the industry’s golden standard – in search of something more personalised is a risk many fighters simply have refused to take.
But Ngannou is used to forging success from peril.
“It’s not like it was without risk. But you have to be able to accept the risk to even start the journey. You have to accept the failure. It could have not worked. Would I have been OK with it? Yes. It was my decision,” said Ngannou.
“If you don’t finally get your dream, at least you chased it. Not all the people get to their dream, but also not everyone has the courage to give up their comfort zone and take hurt for their dream.”
‘I’m not returning to MMA – I never left’
Ngannou’s heavyweight fight against Brazil’s Renan Ferreira in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday is his first MMA bout since defending his UFC title against Ciryl Gane in 2021.
Despite boxing twice since, Ngannou is adamant he never departed MMA, even interrupting the interview midway to clarify his point.
“I’m not returning to MMA – I never left,” said Ngannou.
During the period when Ngannou’s only competitive action came in the boxing ring, the MMA heavyweight division landscape has altered dramatically, with American Jon Jones winning the UFC title and Britain’s Tom Aspinall becoming the promotion’s interim champion.
Ferreira won the PFL’s global annual heavyweight tournament in 2023, but doubts remain over his legitimacy as a challenger to Ngannou, in comparison to names like Jones and Aspinall.
Ferreira has won 13 and lost three professional fights, securing 11 knockouts, while Ngannou has won 20 and lost three of his bouts, including 12 knockouts.
“I think Renan’s a great fighter. I also have a feeling, I don’t know him personally, but I have a feeling he’s a great person,” said Ngannou.
“Right now this is the biggest challenge. I will have a six-foot-eight guy across from me, so right now he is the biggest challenge.”
In August, Ngannou said he considered retiring this year following the death of his son in April, but he has chosen to fight on as a way of honouring him.
The card in Riyadh, titled PFL Super Fights, is the most ambitious the promotion has ever hosted, with special commemorative titles being made for Ngannou’s bout and the co-main between Brazilian featherweights Cris Cyborg and Larissa Pacheco.
Such is Ngannou’s star power, the event has been built around him, with the Bellator middleweight title fight between American Johnny Eblen and Britain’s Fabian Edwards – a fight which was originally slated to headline in London in September – being relegated to third on the card.
Ngannou has many options going forward because of the money his name generates, and has hinted he plans to simultaneously compete in MMA and boxing.
“I want to achieve whatever is possible. I have no limits. Limits, you might end up breaking them, but doesn’t mean you should stop,” said Ngannou.
“At this point in time, I just want to see how far I can go and what else I can do before the sun sets. I’m just discovering myself.”
