NOT AFRAID TO FALL

On 27 March, Cameroonian MMA fighter Francis Ngannou won a rematch against Stipe Miocic for the UFC Heavyweight Title via knockout in the second round – it looks even more brutal in slow-mo on YouTube. You can’t appreciate it without first understanding what he did between that fight and his defeat to the American back in 2018: analysed his mistakes and worked on his shortcomings

- Lisa Abdellah

From poverty-stricken Batié, Cameroon, to becoming the UFC Heavyweight Champion, Francis Ngannou is more used to falling and getting back up again than most, much less afraid of it. He switches on his camera for our interview, inviting me into his Las Vegas home, where he’s dressed casually and, behind him, a living area decorated in white bathed in the mid-morning sun.

‘People automatically think of casinos and all that stuff,’ he says, ‘but I live in a quiet residential area, where people drive slowly, and you don’t hear noise from your neighbours.’

Interviews with high-profile athletes can be contrived, scripted by agents, but not this one. From the outset, Ngannou dares to be vulnerable and own his story, which is at once arresting and admirable. ‘What do you want to know?’ he asks. ‘It’s a 34-year-old story. I’ve done podcasts that lasted three hours.’ He describes his experience of the childhood he ‘missed’ as sad, lonely and heartbreaking. His parents divorced when he was six and, since neither were awarded custody, he had to live with his aunt.

‘I realised that for the first time, I wasn’t in my house with my brothers, and my aunt never missed an opportunity to remind me I wasn’t her biological son. When you’re poor, your first instinct is to look after your closest relations.’