Francis Ngannou story from rags to riches

• Francis Ngannou is a French-Cameroonian professional MMA fighter with a net worth of $5 million. 
• The talented fighter had to go through a difficult journey from Cameroon to France while chasing his dream of becoming a boxer. 
• Francis Ngannou is the current UFC heavyweight champion. 

Francis Ngannou story from rags to riches is an inspiration to many young people who feel disadvantaged due to poverty.

Francis Ngannou is the current Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion. He is the heaviest hitter in the UFC right now. 

The French-Cameroonian professional mixed martial artist is number five in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings.

Francis Ngannou. Photo/ Marca.

Francis Ngannou, nicknamed The Predator, has a mixed martial arts record of 17-3 (12 KOs). He has defeated some of UFC’s top fighters, such as Ciryl Gane, Luis Enrique, Bojan Mihajlovic and Alistair Overeem. 

Due to his fighting skills, Francis has won several awards, such as Knockout of the Year and Performance of the night, six times. 

The UFC fighter has, however, faced challenges in his journey from Cameroon to the top of the UFC. 

Francis Ngannou’s Rough Childhood 

Francis Ngannou story begins in the village of Batie, Cameroon, where he was born and raised. Ngannou was born on September 5, 1986. 

He came from a poor background and struggled to get formal education. His parents divorced when he was six years old, and he had to go and live with his aunt. His father had a negative reputation as a street fighter. 

Francis Ngannou later lived with his grandmother in a one-room, brick-and-dirt house. He began working in a sand quarry at the age of ten due to the poverty level in his family. 

Several gangs approached Francis Ngannou to join them as a youngster, but he refused. Young Francis always wanted to be a boxer as a child.

Speaking of the challenges he faced as a child in Cameroon, Francis Ngannou said life threw a lot of punches at him that he couldn’t counter. 

He felt embarrassed all the time because he was like the subject of shame and nobody wanted to be friends with him.

Francis even lacked a pen, resulting in his teacher throwing him out of the class. The UFC fighter describes a pen as gold that he instantly picked whenever he saw it anywhere during his childhood. 

The Journey To France 

Francis Ngannou began training in boxing at the age of 22. His family was reluctant at first, but they later supported him. 

He stopped training after one year due to an illness and started doing odd jobs so as to place food on the table. 

The future UFC champion opted to travel to France to pursue a professional boxing career at the age of 26. However, the journey to France was not easy as he expected. 

The journey took him a whole year because he had to undergo extreme difficulty in the countries he passed by. Francis Ngannou passed through Nigeria, Niger, Mali, Algeria, Morocco and Spain before reaching France. 

According to The Mirror, Francis repeatedly ate from bins and even cut himself with a barbed wire while crossing the border in Morocco. 

After reaching Spain, Francis served a two-month jail term for illegally crossing the border. 

Things were not easy for him in France because he had no money or friends. He lived in the streets of France, where he met Francis Carmont, who introduced him to Fernand Lopez. 

Lopez offered him the chance to train and sleep at the MMA factory (the largest MMA gym in France). 

MMA Career 

Francis Ngannou story took a different turn after meeting Fernand Lopez. Instead of pursuing a boxing career, Lopez advised him to do mixed martial arts because he saw his ability on the field. 

Francis Ngannou started his MMA career in November 2013 and often made appearances in 100% fight, a French promotion. He also appeared in other regional promotions in Europe. 

Ngannou joined the UFC in 2015 and made his debut against Luis Enrique in December 2015, winning the fight via knockout in the second round.

Francis Ngannou in UFC. Photo/ CBS Sports.

The French-Cameroonian fighter lost his first major UFC match to Stipe Miocic in January 2018.

Francis Ngannou won the UFC Heavyweight Championship on March 27, 2021, after defeating Stipe Miocic. He defended and unified the UFC Heavyweight Championship on January 22, 2022, when he defeated Ciryl Gane. 

Francis Ngannou’s Net Worth 

Francis Ngannou story is one from rags to riches. As of 2022, the UFC fighter has a net worth of $5 million. He has reportedly earned over $3.37 million from his UFC career. 

According to Surprise Sports, Francis Ngannou earns a guaranteed payment of $500,000 after every fight. He also gets $30,000 per fight as an endorsement incentive payment.