Francis Ngannou attends the UFC Fight Night: Ultimate media day at Wanda Realm Hotel on November 22, 2018 (Photo by Emmanuel Wong/Getty Images)
PFL wants the lead in generating Francis Ngannou’s interest when he inevitably moves away from the UFC to test free agency waters someday
UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and the UFC top brass have been at loggerheads over a pay dispute and certain terms in his contract. The Predator had even gone out on a limb claiming that he wants a move away from the UFC to boxing. Currently, he is sidelined with a knee injury that will keep him out of action for this year entirely.
Ngannou dug deep to overcome some adversity in his last fight and first title defence against the crafty Ciryl Gane. On the other hand, following his spectacular win against Dillian Whyte, Tyson Fury laid the stage for a future blockbuster clash against UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
To everyone’s surprise, Ngannou who was in attendance made a surprise appearance in the ring following Tyson’s victory, and the pair laid the foundation for the idea of a super-fight.
“I’m the boxing heavyweight champion, [he’s the] UFC heavyweight champion,” Fury told ESPN after his win. “He’s in great shape – look at the muscles on him.”
Ngannou, who’s currently out of action, recovering from a knee injury he sustained while in camp for his most recent UFC title defence, declared, “I want to find out who is the baddest motherf***** in the planet.”
“Good man, Francis,” Fury replied with a shout.
And former kickboxer and current PFL President Ray Sefo has an edge over the rest in luring Francis away from the UFC as he works closely with Ngannou already.
“100 percent,” Sefo told Hosheh MMA regarding interest in PFL pursuing Ngannou. “If Francis is a free agent — Francis is my teammate [at Xtreme Couture], you know? So, when he becomes a free agent and he’s allowed to talk to anybody in terms of — should I say when he’s ‘shopping’ — then we’ll definitely sit down and talk. Until then I don’t see him going anywhere, but anything’s possible, 100 percent. [50/50 pay-per-view [PPV] shares will attract all sorts], absolutely. That’s the key.”
PFL had claimed earlier this year that they have major global expansion plans and want to launch their brand new ‘PPV Super Fight Division’ series. This has led to the completion of a $30 million Series E equity round that includes financing from baseball legend Alex Rodriguez, who also joined the PFL Board of Directors.
“I love the global reach of MMA,” Rodriguez said in a release. “The PFL continues to build and innovate for fans, media, and fighters and there is massive demand in the marketplace.”
Details of the promotion’s “Super Fight” division have yet to be revealed.
“With this new capital, PFL is open for business to sign the biggest MMA star fighters in the world to our new PPV Super Fight Division,” said PFL CEO Peter Murray, “Just as we changed the game with our league season format, we will now disrupt the long-overdue pay-per-view business for the benefit of fighters by partnering to make them major participants in the revenue of their own fights.”
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