Francis Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion, recently took to Instagram to share a touching story…
As he opened up about the mix of joys and challenges he has faced while supporting his family.
Ngannou’s post shed light on his aspirations growing up in a sand mine, where owning a truck represented a significant status symbol and a dream to strive towards.
He recounted how, with his initial earnings from the UFC, he fulfilled a long-held ambition by purchasing a secondhand truck for $30,000:
As a kid growing up in a sand mine, the biggest dream alive in that environment is to become a truck driver and better yet, a truck owner as they are on-top of the chain of command in a sand business.
My older brother is a mechanic and he also learned how to drive trucks while I was doing everything in my power to become a world class boxer.
After a few MMA fights and 3 in the UFC, my savings was just enough to buy this old truck for about $30k, so my brother who back then was unemployed can drive and provide for the family with it while I keep hustling out here to make more.
And I bought the truck in October 2016 and I was happy to satisfy one of my childhood dreams.
But that wasn’t what made Ngannou the happiest. It was someone else:
What made me happiest – and I almost teared up – were those pictures with my mom in front of the truck smiling as her suffering was about to end for real and she’s seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
At that exact moment, even though I was out of money and my utilities couldn’t go through until my next paycheck from my fight in Albany 12/9/2016, I felt like I made it.
My former coworkers were loading truck and my sister was playing around throwing sand into it, it was a turning point for my family.
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