Francis Ngannou Shares Heartbreaking Story of Losing His 15-Month-Old Son: 'What Do You Mean He's Gone?'

In an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience MMA Show, MMA fighter and boxer Francis Ngannou opened up about the sudden loss of his 15-month-old son, Kobe.

Back in April, Ngannou posted on social media that his son died suddenly, though the cause of death was not revealed. At around the 1:51:00 mark of his discussion with Rogan, included above, Ngannou shared that he has been trying to avoid staying at home alone too much since his son's death.

"Staying home a lot would make me think and will make me sad," he said. "Since I lost my kid, my boy... It'll make me think and make me sad, and if I stay there, I will keep having those thoughts."

When Rogan asked what happened to his son, Ngannou explained it was due to a "malformation on his brain." Ngannou and the child's mother were unaware of the issues Kobe was suffering from, though they noticed some signs when he passed out on two different occasions. Both times, he was taken to the hospital, but despite various tests, the doctors didn't notice anything abnormal. However, they didn't perform an MRI scan, as they believed he had a swollen lung.

"After all those exams, they gave him some medicine," Ngannou continued. "At first they even thought about asthma." He felt confident that nothing serious was going on, but looking back, he realized his son didn't show any signs of breathing issues.

One day, Ngannou went to the gym and tried to call the mother of his child during his workout but was unable to reach her.

"Thirty minutes after I was on the leg machine, my phone rang—it was my little brother," he said. "He said, 'Bro, things are not going well here.'"

Ngannou learned that Kobe had been taken to a nearby hospital because he wasn't breathing. His phone call with his brother kept dropping as he tried to get more information. Eventually, a nurse approached his brother and informed them that Kobe had passed away.

"Just like that, he's gone... What do you mean he's gone? How come he's gone? This kid was 15 months. He was bigger than 15 months. He was growing," Ngannou recounted. "I thought I was dreaming, I thought they were going to say something, 'No that's not true.'"

"All of a sudden, you realize how a kid who wasn't there two years ago had become a major part of your life... You realize that all of the things that you were worrying about didn't mean shit. Like nothing. He was the only thing that really mattered. But he is not there anymore," he continued.

"At least whenever I die I'm going to see my kid again, I'm going to see him. I'm not afraid of it," he added at the end of the discussion.

Ngannou's son Kobe died on April 27. He announced the news at the time in a heartbreaking post on social media.

"Too soon to leave but yet he’s gone," Ngannou wrote at the time. "My little boy, my mate, my partner Kobe was full of life and joy. Now, he's laying without life. I shouted his name over and over but he's not responding. ... How do you deal with such a thing? How can you live with it? Please help me if you have an idea because I really don't know what to do and how to deal with this."