SUMMARY
- Jon Jones met Francis Ngannou's mother in a heartwarming encounter at the PFL vs Bellator event.
- Ngannou's mother is an influential woman in the life of the former UFC Heavyweight Champion.
Francis Ngannou has an inspiring rags-to-riches story and his mother has been at the center of it. Ngannou was born in Cameroon and dreamed of becoming rich and successful in life. His mother took care of him and his siblings early in their lives as their parents were divorced.
According to reports, Ngannou’s father was a street fighter. His father’s negative reputation led to him being invited to join gangs in his village. However, he refused to do so. Instead, he worked in sand mines with his mother since as early as the age of 10. ‘The Predator’ always believed in his dream of becoming a boxer and did not want to lose his way of achieving that.
Ngannou used to live at his aunt’s house with his mother after his parents got divorced. He always stayed close to his mother and showed her utmost respect. Considering Ngannou chose the right way to move forward and achieve his dream, his mother’s parenting must have played a great role in it.
Jon Jones meets Francis Ngannou’s mother
On February 24, 2024, Ngannou and Jon Jones were at the PFL vs Bellator event in Saudi Arabia. The current and former UFC Heavyweight Champions were always pegged to fight each other. They even created a brief beef with each other for the hype. However, Jones had shut it down by praising Ngannou as a human and claiming that if they are not scheduled for a fight then a beef proves no point.
According to the Cameroonian, the fighters were ready to take on each other but the UFC had no such plans. Ngannou left the promotion in January 2023 citing contractual reasons.
At the PFL vs Bellator event, Ngannou and Jones were involved in comedic banter. Jones claimed he would beat Ngannou if they fought but The Predator disagreed and called Bones fat. However, in a heartwarming gesture, when Jones met Ngannou’s mother, he embraced her. The two engaged in a respectful exchange and Ngannou posted a video of it.
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Ngannou captioned the video, “Fighting aside it was very respectable of you to greet my mom like this @JonnyBones. Much respect”
Jones and Ngannou are arguably two of the greatest heavyweight MMA fighters. A fight between the two has eluded fans of the sport.
Ngannou’s mother details his love for boxing and being an “American Boy”
Francis Ngannou’s proud mother was in Saudi Arabia for his boxing debut against Tyson Fury. She even watched Cristiano Ronaldo play for Al-Nassr during her visit. She was extremely proud of how far her son had come but never forgot their roots. They came from a family that was devoid of the basic needs. However, today, Ngannou has crossed borders, faced innumerable adversaries, and came out on top to bring his family peace and success.
In a YouTube video, his mother revealed his dream of becoming an “American Boy”. Ngannou’s mother said, “He always saw (boxing movies) and he always talked about Mike Tyson. And at one point he told his brothers to always call him American Boy. When his little sister called him American Boy, I asked her American Boy who? She tells me Francis asked her to call him American Boy. I said Honey, please don’t call him that ever again.”
Although he faced defeat in his boxing debut in October 2023, Ngannou made a statement. He had been competing in MMA all his life but becoming a boxer was his dream. He is going to fulfill it with all his might.