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MMA: Francis Ngannou, former homeless man turned rockstar in Las Vegas

2020-07-03T08:05:58.792Z


MMA star in the United States, Francis Ngannou has not forgotten his clandestine past in France. From his Las Vegas residence, the former migrant


Summer 2013. An old Range Rover is abandoned in an underground car park in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. Filled with used newspapers and papers, it serves as a wardrobe for the rare belongings of a homeless man who sleeps next to him, on the floor. The guy is a colossus of 1.93 m for more than 110 kg with muscles. He is also an illegal migrant: Francis Ngannou, 26 years old.

A child extremely gifted for studies but too poor to pursue them, he worked in a sand mine in Batié, his native village in Cameroon. “Before arriving in Paris, he tells us in a soft voice from his residence in Las Vegas, I lived a year of more or less difficult adventures between Cameroon and Morocco. I made multiple unsuccessful attempts before I could cross the Mediterranean. "

#ThrowbackThursday - I may be top ufc heavyweight, but when I go home to my village, every time I always stop to the sandmine to work with my friends like when we grew up. Today, it's enjoyable and fun to do, but as a kid forced to do it, it was a stone on my throat .. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/Qh9OdX39MX

- Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) June 25, 2020

In a breath, the champion of MMA confesses to have known much worse than the quest for a dry place to sleep outside: “In Morocco, I stayed for months in a forest with a simple plastic as a cover. When I woke up, I sometimes found myself with a warthog above my head! I wore the same dirty clothes for weeks, I couldn't help it. So when I arrived in Paris to sleep in a parking lot, I felt like I was entering a luxury hotel. I was upgraded, ”he smiles.

The hard-pressed man never complains. Even when his body reminds him of the painful memories of the man he has become: "I still have a sore finger, a wound contracted on the beach by hitting a pebble when embarking for my crossing of the Mediterranean , he confides. This pain allows me to never forget where I come from or what my journey was. "

and maybe your destiny. It's up to you and only you if you let them get to your mind, but you can also reject or ignore the negativities around you and make it in your own way. (3/3) #throwbackthursday pic.twitter.com/4aLC1jpINc

- Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) June 11, 2020

Because before becoming a star in the United States, Ngannou was a migrant wandering the streets of Paris. “I was homeless and yet it remains one of the happiest moments of my life, says the colossus. When I arrived, I was very enthusiastic. In my eyes, Paris was the fulfillment of all my efforts, all my dreams. Paris, France and Europe were lands of hope and opportunity for me, the poor Cameroonian. Even if my situation was not enviable, I was fulfilled. I have since taken off much further, but I still have something from Paris. "

A donation of 50 euros that changed his life

First, a meeting, that with Didier Carmont who changed his destiny: "I always wanted to be a boxer, it was my real goal," specifies Francis Ngannou. I landed in Paris on a Sunday and the next day, I looked for a room, crossed the door of a club, the Kajyn rue Faidherbe in the eleventh arrondissement. This is where I met Didier. I told him that I had neither paper nor money to register but that I wanted to be world boxing champion! "

View this post on Instagram

Enjoying my 2 days STOP BY in Paris before leave for Cameroon tomorrow early morning I can't wait to be home.

A post shared by Francis Ngannou (@francisngannou) on Jul 20, 2019 at 10:27 am PDT

Impressed by the size of the fellow, Didier Carmont gave himself a few hours to reflect: "He gave me 50 euros, just like that," says Ngannou. Why ? Even today in 2020, I still don't know, but it changed my life. Didier always did everything to make me feel good. With this money, I went to Go Sport next door and bought myself a bag, a towel and the following Saturday, I was in training to do the sparring partner. In the evening, I returned to sleep in my parking lot. Ngannou and Carmont have obviously become inseparable.

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It was Didier Carmont who spoke to him first of MMA, "three magic letters" for Mixed Martial Arts. "I didn't know what it was and it didn't really interest me," recalls the man who became one of the world's greatest champions in this discipline. I just wanted to be a boxer, nothing else but Didier, with subtlety, told me that the rise in the noble art would be too difficult. "

View this post on Instagram

It was not until @brucebufferufc announced my name that I thought this fight was truly happening # ufc249

A post shared by Francis Ngannou (@francisngannou) on May 26, 2020 at 10:37 am PDT

A volunteer in the humanitarian association La Chorba, Francis Ngannou crossed the doors of the neighboring MMA Factory at the end of 2013 in the 12th arrondissement. He meets a second person who will be decisive, the coach Fernand Lopez.

"I knew something glorious was waiting for me somewhere ..."

The phenomenon immediately catches the eye of the talent detector: “I arrived at MMA a little by chance, confides the heavyweight. But if I got away with it, it's because I always knew that my efforts would be rewarded. My strength is to have kept this flame inside me. I knew that something glorious was waiting for me somewhere without knowing what ... I think that each passing day is a step forward towards your dream: to think so differentiates the one who holds out in difficulty from the one who lets go. When you have a destination in your life, whatever the conditions, you always find a way to get there. "

Mike Tyson giving Francis Ngannou some gems 🔥

(via @francis_ngannou) pic.twitter.com/4G4ImOh8MX

- Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 14, 2020

From his first fights “in the cage” of MMA, he impressed. The Franco-Cameroonian quickly catches the eye of the UFC, the very powerful American federation rich in billions. Arrived as an outlaw in Europe, he landed like a king in the United States barely two years later: "MMA being banned in France at that time, I did not want to find myself fighting in Germany or elsewhere. At that time, I was a bit fed up with adventures and even if the United States was a dream, I told myself that I would enter it through the front door. "

This is what happens: the UFC rolls out the red carpet in 2015 although it is still unknown. “I, who arrived in Europe clandestinely, I had the impression of entering the United States as a rock star. At the airport, there was a man with a sign with my name waiting for me to get into a Cadillac and settle in a 5-star hotel. The big boss of the UFC who is never interested in the first fight of his young recruits even came to see me. He spoke publicly about me, about my past. My American history started like this. "

For the past 5 years, the former homeless man in Parisian car parks has therefore been a star in the United States, a friend of the powerful and his youthful idol Mike Tyson who shares the gloves with him. "A star me? I do not know. I'm a simple person who likes to go home after training to watch TV. I don't want to lose sight of what I have yet to accomplish. When I turn around, I see all the way crossed but I still have as much in front of me. Here in the United States, it is said that the sky is the only limit. This is the case for me… I don't just want to be a champion, I want to mark my history as a small migrant, the child of a small village in Cameroon. "

Fighting at 470,000 euros

A child who now rules the law in the MMA cage, a place where for fear of danger, ordinary people would never dare to enter: "In this cage, I feel safe because there is nothing I can do!" After all I've been through, nothing scares me anymore. At worst, I lose a fight, so what? Even if my opponent wants to rip my head off, the referee is there to make sure I am not in danger. "

Get your 6-pack or 8-pack with this core home workout now up on my #fitnesswithfrancis channel

💪 https://t.co/3kBjG86YCb pic.twitter.com/O22QnkCjyl

- Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) June 10, 2020

At 30 years old and while he earns more than 500,000 dollars (470,000 euros) per fight, Francis Ngannou is not at the end of his journey. The rest of his story could soon bring him back to Paris. “I want to fight in Bercy which was one of the first places I discovered in Paris. This room impressed me so much when I looked at it while walking. Even if the Covid-19 has changed things, since fighting is finally allowed in France, I hope I can fight there soon. The ex-SDF is said to be top of the bill this time.

Source: leparis

All sports articles on 2020-07-03

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