Eric Nicksick: Francis Ngannou 'in a good place,' main focus to help him 'heal' after son's tragedy

Francis Ngannou is on the verge of making his PFL debut, and after everything he’s been through outside of combat sports, Xtreme Couture head coach Eric Nicksick is thrilled to have him back working toward his MMA return.

Ngannou will make his long-awaited debut under the PFL banner on Oct. 19 against the 2023 PFL heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira. It will be the first MMA fight for Ngannou after his final fight in the UFC, a title-defending unanimous decision over Ciryl Gane.

“I’m happy for him, and just like we’ve talked about quite a bit just with the passing of his son, just to keep his mind occupied and get him focused on his fighting career,” Nicksick told MMA Junkie. “I wasn’t sure if he was ever going to fight again.

“That type of tragedy, that type of loss, you just never know how somebody’s going to rebound. But getting him back in the room, getting him back in the gym kind of reinvigorated those MMA juices again and he wanted to fight, so I’m happy for him, man. It seems like he’s in a good place right now.”

“The Predator” took full advantage of the flexibility a contract with the PFL offered: the ability to compete in boxing. Ngannou made his professional debut in the boxing ring against champ Tyson Fury, and turned many heads by scoring the only knockdown in a split decision loss. He followed that up with a matchup against former champion Anthony Joshua, but was finished in the second round.

Significantly more important than his second boxing loss, was the death of his son Kobe, which occurred a month after. Ngannou admitted thoughts of retirement as he struggled with processing his son’s death.

Nicksick is just happy to be able to be in a position to help Ngannou get his mind off his family’s tragedy.

“I think that was the main focus of all of us was getting him back in the room and just try to help him heal, that was really it,” Nicksick said. “If in that time, in that process he felt comfortable that he wanted to fight again, then so be it. Really for us, it was just more about his psyche and getting our friend back and taking care of him.

“… We’re talking about the most resilient person I’ve ever met. This is just something I think that for whatever reason, God, fate, the universe, just puts these hurdles in front of this man, and we’ve seen what he’s capable of doing.”

It will have been 1,001 days between MMA fights for Ngannou when he makes his first walk to the cage in PFL. While his recent focus has been on performing in the boxing ring against world-class competition, Nicksick said Ngannou never stopped working on his wrestling game, too. Because of that, he believes Ngannou will shine in the PFL.

“I’m just honored to be by his side,” Nicksick said. “He’s my friend first and foremost. I know at the end of the day, I’m his coach, but we’re brothers in arms. I know what he’s fighting for and I know his purpose right now. I’m here to help him accomplish that goal.”