Francis Ngannou mourns the death of his 15-month-old son Kobe at his funeral – as former UFC champion Kamaru Usman and Cameroonian football legend Samuel Eto’o pay tribute

Francis Ngannou buried his son on Friday, following the 15-month-old baby’s devastating death.

The former UFC star turned boxer took to social media earlier this week to reveal Kobe’s tragic loss, but the cause of death remains unknown.

The funeral was attended by former UFC world champion Kamaru Usman, as well as Cameroonian football legend Samuel Eto’o, who both paid their respects during the ceremony.

Ngannou’s heartbreaking Instagram announcement revealed the loss of his son, where he said: “Too soon to leave but yet he is gone. My little boy, my companion, my partner Kobe was full of life and joy. Now he lies lifeless. I shouted his name over and over but he didn’t respond.

“I was my best self next to him and now I have no idea who I am. Life is so unfair that it hits us where it hurts the most.

Francis Ngannou mourns his 15-month-old son at his funeral after his sad death this week

Cameroonian football legend Samuel Eto’o was among those who paid tribute to him

The heartbreaking funeral of Ngannou’s 15-month-old son Kobe took place on Friday.

“How do you deal with such a thing?” How can you live with this? Please help me if you have any idea, because I really don’t know what to do or how to handle this.

After Kobe’s loss, Anthony Joshua and Conor McGregor paid tribute to Ngannou.

Joshua, Ngannou’s most recent opponent, commented on the Cameroonian’s Instagram post saying: “May the memories you shared bring you comfort.”

While UFC star McGregor, who trained with Ngannou, wrote: “Absolutely gutted reading this Francis! I can only imagine the pain you are feeling right now. I’m really sorry to hear this news.

“I pray that God has the best and safest place in heaven for him, until you meet again.”

There were also tributes from others in the boxing world, including Manny Pacquiao, Cain Velasquez and Tony Bellow.

Ngannou revealed on Monday that his 15-month-old son Kobe had died in a heartbreaking post on his Instagram account.

Ngannou shared the news with her seven million followers on Instagram, with the post receiving more than 35,000 comments in total.

The 37-year-old grew up in Batie, Cameroon and his humble upbringing required him to walk six miles to school every day and he was digging sand mines when he was just 10 years old .

Later in his life, he traveled from Cameroon to the north of the continent, passing through Nigeria, Niger and Algeria before reaching Morocco.

Ngannou eventually settled in Paris, where he met trainer Fernand Lopez, who convinced him to take up MMA rather than boxing.

MMA gave him exposure and he rose from those humble beginnings to become UFC heavyweight champion in 2020, defeating Stipe Miocic.

Anthony Joshua (left) offered his condolences to Francis Ngannou (right) following the death of his son

He retired from the sport two years later, with a record of 17 wins and three losses, 12 of them by knockout.

After retiring, Ngannou changed his vocation and turned to boxing, and has already fought both of Britain’s top heavyweights.

In his first fight, he took Tyson Fury all the way and threw the heavyweight boxer to the canvas, before being defeated by the Gypsy King with a points victory.

Then earlier this year he stepped into the ring with Joshua, earning a £15million payday but suffering a brutal loss when the British boxer knocked out the rookie fighter in two rounds.