“Why is life so unfair and merciless” - Francis Ngannou pens heartbreaking message after tragic death of 15-month-old son

Francis Ngannou is facing the most adversity of his life outside of the cage.

Although Ngannou has tasted defeat on five separate occasions throughout his professional combat sports career, none was worse than the pain he felt on April 29, when the news went public that the heavyweight lost the life of his 15-month-old infant son. Cameroonian news site 237online first reported the news, although the cause of death was not reported.

In a moment of unimaginable grief and emotion, the former UFC champion shared his immediate thoughts and reaction to X.

Ngannou tweeted:

"What's the purpose of life if what we're fighting tooth and nail to get away from is what finally hit us the hardest? Why is life so unfair and merciless? Why does life always take what we don't have? I'm f****** tired."

Check out Francis Ngannou's tweet below:

Although Ngannou has been in the spotlight of combat sports since his publicized departure from the UFC, little is known about his personal life outside of his often-told life story. 'The Predator' has been at the center of several relationship rumors, including one involving Xtreme Couture teammate Miesha Tate, but none have ever been confirmed.

Since his loss to Anthony Joshua in March, Ngannou has been relatively quiet on social media. It is not publicly known if his son was dealing with ongoing health problems or if the passing was sudden.

---

Who will Francis Ngannou fight next?

Since his second career boxing fight with Anthony Joshua ended poorly, Francis Ngannou has been unclear on what the future holds for him and his fighting career. The Cameroonian remains signed with the PFL but has yet to debut with the promotion as he has pursued a boxing career since choosing to leave the UFC in 2022.

Before his fight with Joshua came about, Ngannou mentioned on ESPN that he would be open to fighting with the winner of the PFL vs. Bellator heavyweight title fight between Ryan Bader and Renan Ferreira. Ferreira would win the fight by knockout in round one, but no fight for either has been confirmed.

Even before the death of his son, Ngannou appeared to desire a temporary break from fighting to focus on his future. Now, with the unfortunate tragedy in his life, Ngannou will all but certainly take an extended leave from combat sports.