Francis Ngannou is ready to make his long awaited return to MMA this weekend when he finally steps into the PFL Smart Cage for the first time.
The lineal heavyweight champion will be facing last year's PFL heavyweight winner Renan Ferreira at Battle Of The Giants in Riyadh on Saturday night.
For Ngannou, this fight comes with the added pressure of competing in MMA for the first time since his heavyweight title defence against Ciryl Gane in the UFC.
It's been a long time since he put on the four ounce gloves following his two boxing matches with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua but that wasn't the only factor in delaying his return.
Ngannou and his family suffered a great tragedy earlier this year following the passing of his son, Kobe.
During an interview as the first ever guest on The Ariel Helwani Show, "The Predator" spoke about how he turned a period of feeling lost into finding a new force of motivation.
"I'm a free man. I'm not in the position to be forced by anyone and nobody even tried to force me. I think everyone respect my grieving and to be honest, there was a moment that I didn't give a s*** about anything, whether it's fighting or anything. Everything [felt] tasteless like what's the point? What's the purpose? What's that for? But then you process it, you grieve, you mourn and then you also want to make a reason, want to make a reason for it. Want to give a purpose for him, at least for his existence even though it wasn't long because what would that have been if that was a reason for me to stop, to retire, to stop fighting. Is it what I wanted? No. Is it what he would have liked? No. Is it the best way that will honour him? No. I mean I want him to be remembered but not as the one that make me retired."
Ngannou is no stranger to the big moments and he tends to shine in them but he has a lot on his plate heading into the main event on Saturday night.
Ferreira, on the other hand, seemingly has everything to gain as a destructive force in the PFL whose profile will benefit massively from sharing the cage with his next opponent.
Ngannou spoke about how he isn't taking the Brazilian any less seriously than the other major names and global stars that he has faced in his career.
"We don't fight names, we fight talent. The name in that octagon doesn't matter, it's useless. We fight talent and let me tell you something, this guy has talent and from all my opponents, I think it's definitely going to be one of my toughest fights. Let's just be serious here like let's look at his athleticism, look at his grappling, black belt grappling, striking, high level. Very well-rounded so I never really have to fight a guy that is almost as perfect as a fighter, if it's not Stipe Miocic."
Watch the full interview by clicking right here.
