The torch has been passed.
For years, Cheick Kongo has represented French mixed martial arts (MMA). Kongo was born in Paris, France. He has had 37 professional MMA bouts and is currently signed to Bellator. Kongo is riding a three-fight winning streak.
Now, a new heavyweight fighting out of France has emerged. Francis Ngannou is a prospect with all 10 of his wins being finishes. “The Predator” is coming off his biggest win yet, a knockout over former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title holder Andrei Arlovski.
Kongo was recently interviewed by MMAJunkie.com. He talked about Ngannou and why his rise to stardom is important for France:
“He’s very good. It’s very great for the sport in France. He’s going to bring the notoriety. He’s the future. Every athlete has to pass the torch. I’m not worried or anything like that. My time was my time, and now it’s his time.”
While Ngannou was born in Cameroon, he moved to Paris, France in hopes of becoming a professional boxer. Without event knowing what the sport of MMA was, he began training in 2013 and has not looked back.
Unfortunately, there is a ban in place for MMA bouts in France. Kongo believes if Ngannou realizes his full potential, he can sway momentum in favor of allowing the sport to live in the country.
“For sure, when someone is doing great it always increases the potential of something happening. Everybody has to recognize his talent and the good things he did. It’s been on the table, but there are big issues that need to be changed. It will happen. The sport used to be super crazy for people to look at, but they accept kickboxing and wrestling and judo and karate. It needs to be recognized like those. We have a big MMA group out there lobbying. It will be great.”
