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Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff Writer
Former UFC heavyweight champion and professional boxer Francis Ngannou publicly mourned the death of his 15-month-old son on Monday.
Ngannou, 37, wrote a tribute to his son, Kobe, on all of his social media platforms after the news broke in his home country of Cameroon. Ngannou is currently in Cameroon with his family, sources said.
The tribute read: “Too soon to leave but yet he’s gone. My little boy, my mate, my partner Kobe was full of life and joy. Now, he’s laying without life. I shouted his name over and over but he’s not responding. I was my best self next to him and now I have no clue of who I am. Life is so unfair to hit us where it hurts the most. How do you deal with such a thing? How can you live with it? Please help me if you have an idea because I really don’t know what to do and how to deal with this.”
Ngannou has one of the most unique stories in combat sports history. He emigrated to Europe from Africa in his 20’s, and quickly rose to prominence in heavyweight mixed martial arts. He won the UFC championship in 2021 by knocking out arguably the greatest heavyweight of all time in Stipe Miocic and defended the belt once before fighting out of his contract and leaving the UFC in pursuit of a deal that would allow him to box professionally.
He realized his dream of competing in boxing when he fought lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury last October. Ngannou lost to Fury via split decision in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but shocked the sports world by taking Fury to the brink of defeat and knocking him down in the third round. Ngannou suffered a knockout loss to Anthony Joshua in his second boxing appearance in March.
Ngannou has an exclusive MMA deal with PFL, but has not yet made his debut. He has not yet announced whether his next fight will take place in boxing or MMA.
Members of his team, as well as other fighters and promoters from around combat sports, expressed their condolences on Monday. UFC star Conor McGregor wrote, “I am so sorry to hear of your loss Francis, my prayers are with you and your family at this time.”