Francis Ngannou lost his 15-month-old son, Kobe on April 27. Ngannou, who is no stranger to adversity having risen from working in the sand mines of Africa to becoming UFC champion, has suffered the worst tragedy that any human can go through. Following his son’s death, the Cameroonian took to Twitter to vent his feelings about the unfairness of life and how it keeps putting him again and again, without referencing Kobe’s death, right after the tragedy.

Having laid his son to rest in the presence of his friends, former UFC champion Kamaru Usman and footballer Samuel Eto’o, Ngannou took to social media once again and paid tribute to his deceased son. “The rainbow raised yesterday at Kobe’s burial ceremony, he witnessed all the love that you guys have for him. He came like a King and he left as a King,” he wrote in an Instagram post.

In the heartfelt message, the PFL fighter had a markedly different and marginally placid tone as compared to the angry and bitter tone of his earlier tweet, where he spoke about being “too tired” of all the trials that have come his way. Life, however, moves on, even after something as earth-shattering as what Ngannou is going through.

Who will Francis Ngannou fight next?

After leaving the UFC early last year, Francis Ngannou signed with the PFL, a rival MMA promotion. As part of his sweetheart deal with the Donn Davis-led promotion, ‘The Predator’ was allowed to box outside the promotion if he so wanted. Because of this carve-out, Ngannou, who idolized Mike Tyson and always wanted to be a boxer, seized the opportunity to box lineal heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury.

And the 37-year-old shocked the world, dropping Fury and losing a one-point split decision to ‘The Gypsy King’ in his very first professional boxing match! In sharp contrast, his next boxing match against former unified champion, Anthony Joshua was an utter and complete disaster. Ngannou was knocked out in a humiliating fashion, thus losing almost all the credibility and popularity among boxing fans that he had earned after fighting Fury.

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After suffering such a disconcerting loss, many would give up. Not Francis Ngannou, however, who is used to facing adversity and seemingly unsurmountable odds at every step, and has a knack for prevailing despite them. The former UFC champion has promised to keep boxing as he felt the sport “owed him” after his Joshua fight.

For now, however, the Cameroonian’s next opponent will most likely be unified PFL-Bellator heavyweight champion, Renan Ferreira, who is coming off of a spectacular 21-second knockout victory over then-Bellator champion Ryan Bader at the inaugural PFL vs. Bellator card this February. Given this tragedy, this bout may take place in late 2024 or early 2025.

What do you think about Ngannou’s boxing career? Who should be his next opponent? Let us know your pick in the comments below.