Eric Nicksick, the coach of Francis Ngannou, believes the former UFC Heavyweight Champion is in a good place after healing from the tragic death of his son.
Ngannou publicly admitted to struggling with the loss of his son and even said retirement was a possibility. The good news is that “The Predator” seems to have been able to find himself in a good mental space.
It’s a positive sign for Ngannou, and Nicksick couldn’t be happier.
Eric Nicksick on Healing Process for Francis Ngannou
During an interview with MMAJunkie.com, Eric Nicksick discussed how Francis Ngannou was able to get back in the spirit of MMA following such a tragedy.
“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.”
Nicksick said that the biggest priority was simply giving Ngannou a helping hand in the healing process.
“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.”
Ngannou is set to fight Renan Ferreira on a PFL PPV Superfight card on October 19th.
