After Francis Ngannou stopped Renan Ferreira in the main event of PFL Battle of the Giants, Ngannou’s head coach Eric Nicksick did something he’s never done before.
“It was heavy,” Nicksick told MMA Fighting. “I’ve never jumped a cage before, ever. My emotions were like, I just wanted to get to my guy. Dewey [Cooper] was like ‘Damn white boy, I’ve never see you jump a cage like that.’ I went. I was gone. I was like, ‘Oh shit, are we gonna get fined?’ Like I was so nervous but in the moment it’s like, dude, I just wanted to hug him. That was all I kept thinking. Now, I just want to get to my guy. I just want to hug him. I just want to tell him I love him.”
Ngannou returned to MMA after nearly three years away and knocked Ferreira out cold with ferocious ground-and-pound in the first round. “The Predator” entered the fight with an extremely heavy heart after tragically losing his son Kobe earlier in the year.
The former UFC heavyweight champion decided to push forward with his PFL debut, and carried the weight of his tragedy with him throughout the buildup to the fight. Nicksick revealed a memorable moment where Ngannou gathered up everyone close to him prior to heading to the arena.
“We met with the family, the extended family and we had this, kind of like a private little room area and everybody said a prayer, everybody said a moment of encouragement to Francis,” Nicksick said. “It was beautiful, bro. And then Francis spoke and he cried. He let out a lot of this emotion right before we left for the fight.
“And he said, ‘This is for Kobe,’ and dude, there wasn’t a dry eye in that room. We’re all emotionally attached to the situation and I couldn’t be happier for him in a time of still grieving. It was an honor to be by his side.”
Nicksick wanted to do his part to be there for Ngannou throughout fight week, letting his fighter prepare to face a dangerous knockout artist in however way he needed to. On Friday, Ngannou and Ferreira had their final staredown at the ceremonial weigh-ins, and Ferreira got in Ngannou’s face.
In Nicksick’s eyes, that’s when everything went to another level for Ngannou.
“That dude, after that ceremonial weigh-in, that woke him up,” Nicksick said. “He was like, ‘All right, motherf*cker,’ and he said that. We were there, and he’s like, ‘The king is back, I’m going to show this guy what’s up. I’m like, ‘Hell yeah.’
“It had an energy to it and we all were kind of happy that Renan did that. We’re all kind of happy that he got in his face, and whatever it did, it woke the giant up.”
After the victory, the emotions poured out of Ngannou, along with everybody that stood in the cage with him. In a sport with so much turmoil, it was a rare moment of clarity and a proverbial weight being lifted from a fighter and a father — and those close to him.
From there, nothing else mattered. It wasn’t about accolades, accomplishments, or championship belts. It was about a win meaning more than just a new spot on an already-impressive résumé.
“We didn’t really say much of anything,” Nicksick explained. “It was so weird because we won a world title [on Saturday] and it [felt] like the title didn’t matter at all. I didn’t even see the belt. Usually we’re taking a picture with the belt and that was an afterthought. This was a win for Kobe. That was all we cared about was to get this done for Kobe.
“And once it was done, bro, honestly, we grabbed our shit and left. It was very different because I don’t think the win can ever replace anything, if that makes sense. [Later on] we were like, ‘Oh we won a world title,’ it didn’t even cross our mind. This is for Kobe, this is for our boy Francis.
“I didn’t think he was ever going to fight again after Kobe’s passing. I didn’t think he was going to fight again. So for him to be able to turn around and then go out and perform the way that he did versus a high level opponent, I couldn’t be happier for him.”
Ngannou got the fight to the ground early, softening up Ferreira for the eventual finishing sequence. As he began unleashing his punches, you could feel a bit of weight being lifted off of his hefty shoulders with each punishing blow.
The shots continued, perhaps more than needed, as Ferreira was unconscious before referee Dan Miragliotta finally stepped in.
“Dan Miragliotta must’ve owed him money,” Nicksick said.
“It was right in front of me, like right to my left and I jumped up prematurely because I thought — because I saw his body just go limp — and I’m like, ‘All right, dude, he’s out, it’s over,’ and then Miragliotta is just standing there still. The fight’s over and I went up to Dan, I was like, ‘Damn early stoppage.’ He’s like, (I don’t know motion). It was like one of those things like, f*ck this, this guy’s dead.”
