Francis Ngannou competed in two professional boxing matches after leaving UFC last year. The former UFC Heavyweight Champion lost to Tyson Fury via split decision in October 2023. In March, Ngannou was knocked out by Anthony Joshua in round 2. Last April, Ngannou announced on social media that his son had passed away.
On Thursday, PFL held a press conference ahead of the Heavyweight Title fight between Francis Ngannou and Renan Ferreira. During the press conference, Ferreira said, “Francis is going through a rough year, but [the task] is even tougher ahead of him. He knows he has a big problem ahead of him that will be very hard to solve.”
🗣️ Renan Ferreira: “Francis [Ngannou] has been going through a tough year in his life, but the toughest challenge in his life and in his year is gonna be me. I’m gonna be the biggest problem of his year.” 😬
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) August 22, 2024
🎥 @PFLMMA #PFL #MMA pic.twitter.com/xd72mCdYTG
Ferreira’s statement caused huge controversy on social media. On Instagram, Ferreira clarified that what he said at the press conference had nothing to do with Ngannou’s personal life.
“Hey, everyone. Today we had the press conference and I saw a few things came out in the press that were completely distorted when speaking about Francis, saying that I was the biggest problem for him this year, but I was referring to the fight. What I said has no connection to his personal life, of everything he just went through with son. I’m a father, I have kids as well, and I will never touch such a delicate subject. I wouldn’t go that low. My condolences to Francis. I feel for his loss. I’m a father, I have kids too, I would never say something like that. Everything I said was about Francis Ngannou’s year, you get me. He’s coming off two losses in boxing, two year layoff [in MMA], at no point did I want to talk about his personal life and everything that went down with his son. That wasn’t my intention. That’s not me, it’s not in my character. I’d never go that low. People are talking and distorting everything into a crazy version of what happened today. I just wanted to clarify what happened today, that it has nothing to do with what they’re saying. It’s not me doing something that low. I just wanted to make that clear.”
H/T MMA Junkie