UFC heavyweight Francis Ngannou has spoken about his remarkable journey to becoming a UFC fighter.
Over the weekend, that journey reached its highest point, as ‘The Predator’ dethroned one of the greatest heavyweight champions in UFC history in the form of Stipe Miocic.
Ngannou’s underdog tale
Ngannou became just the third African-born fighter to hold a championship belt in the promotion – but that only tells part of his story.
During an interview with Bleacher Report, Ngannou opened up about the crazy road that got him to this point.
“My journey from Cameroon to Morocco was about one year,” Ngannou said. “One year in illegal situations, crossing borders, living in the bush, finding food in the trash, living this terrible life.”
Ngannou, who was born in Cameroon, travelled to Morocco before arriving in Spain. His end goal was to become a boxer in France but because he entered Spain illegally, he was detained.
“It was more stressful than scary,” Ngannou said about being in prison. “When we got to Spain, for the first while, we kind of relaxed, even though we were in jail. We knew we were going to go to jail when we got there. We would be free after, but we were going to go to jail [first].
“There was a lot of pressure in our minds. It was like a mental prison, not a physical prison. It was very hard.”
Fast-forward to the present day and Ngannou sits atop the heavyweight division all while becoming one of the most popular stars in the fight game.
It’s been an awe-inspiring journey for the newly-crowned champion and right now, it seems there is no ceiling on what he can go on to achieve in the UFC.
Featured image credit: Getty