Francis Ngannou’s title win marks UFC’s most real fairytale so far

Working in a sand quarry at the age of 10 and living homeless on the streets of Paris prepared the French-Cameroonian to realise a complicated destiny, writes Alex Pattle

Francis Ngannou was crowned UFC heavyweight champion at UFC 260 last week (Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

As the greatest heavyweight in UFC history crumpled to the canvas at UFC 260, it was difficult not to feel a slight sense of sadness.

Stipe Miocic, at 38 years old, has beaten everyone there is to beat – including Francis Ngannou – and the Croatian-American’s blue collar story and part-time job as a firefighter have endeared him to fans of MMA.

But in Saturday night’s main event in Las Vegas, an even more inspiring story took centre stage as Ngannou exacted revenge on Miocic three years after a humbling decision loss to the heavyweight champion.

At the UFC’s Apex institute last weekend, it took the hellacious power puncher a little over a round to find the knockout blow that eluded him for 25 minutes in his first meeting with Miocic.

Ngannou, the most fearsome entity the UFC has ever seen, seemed fated to be crowned heavyweight champion of the world some day, but his title win would have felt much less sweet had it come after Miocic’s retirement from the sport. Instead, Ngannou – in the near-six minutes he spent in the Octagon at UFC 260 – displayed marked improvements in his wrestling and patience to dethrone the consensus GOAT of the division, realising a complicated destiny.

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And it is a complicated fate because, while the French-Cameroonian’s in-ring performances made the sight of the belt being wrapped around his waist feel inevitable, everything that came before that should have made it impossible to reach the metaphorical mountain top.

Ironically, Ngannou’s journey started in the mountains. The 34-year-old was born in Batie, Cameroon and grew up in poverty. His father – a local street fighter known for all the wrong reasons – and mother separated when their son was six. Having been unable to gain a proper education, Ngannou began working in a sand quarry at just 10 years old.

The draining physicality of the work would surely have made the prospect of joining one of the local gangs appealing, but Ngannou rejected all advances.

By the time he was 22, Ngannou began to train in boxing despite his family’s wishes, though his progress was halted by illness.

At 26, the man now known as ‘The Predator’ set his sights on Paris, with numerous attempts to make the journey proving unsuccessful. When he did ultimately make it to the French capital, Ngannou was held in a Spanish prison for two months for his illegal entry into Europe.

Ngannou senses the finish in his rematch with Miocic (Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Upon his release, Ngannou was homeless, penniless and totally alone. Boxing coach Didier Carmont offered him refuge, however, and introduced him to mixed martial arts.

As life improved for Ngannou, he achieved an amateur record of 5-1 before signing with the UFC – the point at which he began to learn English. In his first two fights, ‘The Predator’ earned second-round KOs, the first signs for a wide MMA audience of the frightening power he holds in his fists.

Four straight first-round stoppage wins followed – three coming by way of KO – and earned Ngannou a place in the Octagon opposite Miocic. That bout, in January 2018, exposed Ngannou’s reliance on power, and his confidence was shattered by the comprehensive points defeat, leading to a wretched, boring contest with Derrick Lewis – which Ngannou would also lose via decision.

READ MORE: Ngannou devastates Miocic at UFC 260 to win heavyweight title

But the French-Cameroonian corrected his mentality and once more put together a run of four consecutive first-round stoppage victories – this time, all of them came via KO.

A rematch with Miocic was the reward for Ngannou, though the necessary improvements in his wrestling were unknown until the 34-year-old stepped into the ring with the now-former champ on Saturday.

Those improvements were on full display in the first round as Ngannou defended a takedown attempt expertly before nearly finishing Miocic.

Before long, the stoppage came as a short left hook collapsed the Croatian-American, a hammer fist following as Ngannou secured the heavyweight championship and title of ‘baddest man on the planet’.

At that very moment, a complicated destiny was realised – perhaps the closest thing to a fairytale that the UFC has seen in its brief history.