Francis Ngannou is a Cameroonian-French professional MMA fighter, currently signed to UFC under
Heavyweight division, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nevada. Also known as The Predator on the ring,
Francis Ngannou currently holds the record for the highest punching power ever measured by the
UFC. He broke the previous record of 114,000 units set by kickboxing champion Tyrone Spong by
hitting the mark of 123,161 units.
Early Life and Career
Ngannou was born and brought up in a village called Batie in Cameroon and his early years were
spent in poverty. He had limited access to education and had to start working at an early age of 12.
But his father negative reputation as a street fighter motivated him to change it into something
positive. At 22, he picked up boxing despite his family being against it. He had to stop after a year
due to an illness and had to work different jobs to earn his bread.
He finally got the opportunity to train properly after moving to Paris. Although it was not easy to
begin with, having no money or shelter, Francis Ngannou got to train for free in 2013 under Didier
Carmont. Being a fan of Mike Tyson, he was inclined towards boxing but his coach introduced him to
MMA. Ngannou began his professional MMA career at the French promotion 100% Fight and some
other promotions across Europe.
Career at UFC
Francis Ngannou debuted at UFC in December, 2015 against newcomer Luis Henrique and won the
bout via knockout in the second round. He won his next few fights as well, against Bojan Mihajlovic,
Anthony Hamilton, Andrei Arlovski and Alistair Overeem. His match against Derrick Lewis at UFC 226
got some heavy criticism for the lack of offence from both sides, and they tagged the bout as
‘snorefest’.
In his last fight, he defeated Curtis Blaydes in a rematch and earned Performance of the Night bonus.
Current Status
Francis Ngannou is scheduled to headline UFC’s inaguaral event on ESPN against Cain Velasquez on
February 17, 2019. His current record stands at 12-3. The Francis Ngannou Foundation, of which he
is the founder, is the first of its kind combat sports gym in his native country Cameroon. Ngannou set
up this foundation to offer the kind of facilities to young people that he never had, and help them
pursue their dreams in sports.
