The crazy media origins of Francis Ngannou's fatal motorbike story
How French & English gossipers revealed a horrible tragedy.
It read like the most bizarre game of telephone, both on French and English-language websites.
Last weekend, the La Bled Parle media outlet based in Cameroon’s capital of Yaoundé, reported that Francis Ngannou was involved in a fatal motorbike accident that reportedly took the life of Ntsama Brigitte Manuella.
“According to several sources, the collision was violent and Ngannou is said to have immediately rushed to her aid, personally transporting her to the General Hospital of Yaoundé, known for its advanced medical facilities. Despite undergoing emergency surgery for severe injuries to her leg and arm, Manuella sadly did not survive. The news of her passing has left her family in deep mourning. Sources close to Ngannou report that he is devastated by the incident and has taken full responsibility for covering all medical expenses.”
The media outlet Cameroon Online painted a horrible aftermath.
A search of the victim’s name on social media and internet search engines revealed several French-language reports on the incident.
The website 237Online reported the incident, which allegedly occurred in the Omnisport district of Yaoundé. The article was dated Sunday, April 27, 2025.
There was a TikTok video, in English no less, on the 27th reporting the basic details of the alleged incident. A Facebook Reels video, in French, was also posted. Strangely, multiple videos regarding the story were posted on YouTube without much traffic.
There was a lot of noise in non-English language back-channels, but what exactly was the original news source? And how valid was it?
The website Cameroon Concord framed the reporting in this manner (archived link can be found here):
“According to reports from whistleblower group N’zui Manto, Ngannou was reportedly riding a motorcycle when he struck a young girl, Ntsama Brigitte Manuella. The accident occurred under unclear circumstances, and the young victim was immediately rushed to the Yaoundé General Hospital.”
Finally, someone named a source.
And that’s what tipped us off about the bizarre nature of these claims.
N’zui Manto appeared to be a news gossip mill on Facebook. They posted the following allegations about Francis Ngannou on Saturday, the 26th (archived post link here).
We will not quote the post directly because, to put it bluntly, its French content is incredibly wild. The author claimed to have a picture of the victim in her hospital bed.
And circumstances got even stranger.
N’zui Manto posted a social media video discussing the allegations, with the presenter wearing an “I (heart) MILFs” baseball jersey.
As one might imagine, there was a reason for great skepticism and caution from English-language MMA media about covering this story.
We sent a note to PFL on Monday, April 28th, seeking comment from Tawny Cox and Loren Mack. The text of that message:
Hi Tawny & Loren,
I wanted to get an official comment from PFL regarding rumors and media reports regarding allegations that Mr. Ngannou was involved in a motorcycle accident recently.
https://www.lebledparle.com/en/francis-ngannou-involved-in-motorbike-accident-in-yaounde/
Any information that could be provided for clarification would be greatly welcomed. Thanks.
We received no reply from PFL PR.
We started asking third parties and intermediaries to reach out to various sources for denial or confirmation about the story. All we kept hearing was “no comment.”
On Friday night, Francis Ngannou issued a statement to TMZ.
Francis Ngannou Breaks Silence On Fatal Accident
Ngannou explained he was unable to discuss more on the accident as the investigation is still ongoing ... but made it clear he's grief-stricken over the matter.
"I carry their pain with me, and my unwavering thoughts and support remain with them as they face this heartbreaking loss."
Why TMZ was chosen on a Friday night for this announcement remains a mystery.
We still don’t know exactly what happened or if an investigation will yield more information.
What we do know is that truth is often stranger than fiction, especially when it comes to how gossip is spread in the fight business.
We're never gonna get to see Francis vs Jones.
Big Francis took a page out of the TKO playbook. Drop news late on a Friday so it will get buried by all the weekends events. Thanks to the MMA Draw team for covering this as this outlet is one of the few I truly trust.