Rumored Francis Ngannou Might Put MMA on Hold for Another Boxing Match

[Fight Professor]

Wilder is the only fight that makes sense. They are both coming off losses and have well matching styles.

Maybe Ruiz, out of shape, can be somewhat competitive too.

 

[Goutfather]

And the PFL are supposedly locked into that fight for a lot of money. It's supposed to be 2 mil to Renan. He isn't worth anywhere near that lol, and if they're paying him that, then they're going to be paying Frank way way more, which he isn't worth either.

hey, pfl going insolvent with style. but this is the business model the kids wanted, where the fight promotion is like santa clause delivering gifts instead of being run like a business. we’ll see how long that lasts.

 

[Gamer2k4]

this cost them nothing. only reason anyone even knows who they are is because of francis

They don't have to pay him as long as he isn't fighting for them, right? No wonder PFL was willing to sign an 8 million dollar contract or whatever and then let him box. They get free exposure with no downside.

 

[Alpha_T83]

Francis isn't going to have success in boxing unless he copies Tyson Fury's style. He needs to clutch and grab and dirty box, to maximize his MMA toolkit. I'm sure he was probably afraid to fight like this, since people would accuse him of being a dirty boxer. Referees might also punish him more harshly than they would Tyson Fury, since people would expect Francis to use his grappling to his advantage.

It is simply impossible for Francis (at his age) to learn "skilled" pure boxing to the level of an Anthony Joshua. The kind of fight he fought against Joshua he loses 10/10 times. The only reason he had success against Fury is because Tyson's style relies on clutching/grabbing and dirty boxing, to make his weight work to his advantage and wear on opponents. But Ngannou is used to grappling and clinching, so it had almost no effect on him. In some sense, Ngannou's style naturally counters Tyson's style.

Ultimately, Ngannou will lose to most boxers not named Tyson Fury unless he copies Tyson's style and goes all-in on the dirty boxing.

 

[markg171]

I do not think the PFL lost anything, they are not paying him to not fight. It was a stupid ass deal though, no fighter should ever be given those demands and power over another promotion.


All it goes to show is that the UFC did not become a billion dollar promotion by accident. They have guys who 99% of the time make sensible business decisions and if they did to fighters what the PFL gave to Francis, we would not be on this sub right now.

How has PFL lost nothing?

- They signed him to fight for them and he's not. 2 years since his last MMA fight and he's been overshadowed
- Yes, getting KTFO hurts Francis and whether he's still got appeal
- They agreed to pay him and his opponent massive purses whenever he does fight, and that's going to be much worse of a return on investment now than it was a year ago
- Ferreira beat Bader in the meantime because Francis didn't fight for them in spring 2024 like he was supposed to. Bader vs Francis was their biggest possible fight and now for that to happen Bader would have to work his way to the title again at like 42, and with Nemkov now also at HW too
- They created PFL Africa for him. If they've really done nothing on advancing that front in the last year okay empty promise, but you'd have to think they'd have to have created the infrastructure and teams to simply start on this. Francis is also on the board for them so you'd think he's been pushing for something
- They look like idiots that they can sign the #1 HW only for him to repeatedly snub them and fight for others instead

Etc.

PFL looks a C tier league right now.

 

[Goutfather]

Wilder is the only fight that makes sense. They are both coming off losses and have well matching styles.

Maybe Ruiz, out of shape, can be somewhat competitive too.

wilder was always the only fight—the two hardest punching heavyweights in combat sports, both sloppy as hell, but powerful enough to end the fight at any moment. king kong vs godzilla. practically sells itself.

 

[markg171]

Wilder is the only fight that makes sense. They are both coming off losses and have well matching styles.

Maybe Ruiz, out of shape, can be somewhat competitive too.

Why would Wilder or anybody fight Ngannou when Ngannou's no longer ranked?

It does nothing for them to fight him now.

 

[markg171]

wilder was always the only fight—the two hardest punching heavyweights in combat sports, both sloppy as hell, but powerful enough to end the fight at any moment. king kong vs godzilla. practically sells itself.

Wilder was always going to sleep Ngannou worse than Joshua did.

 

[Goutfather]

Wilder was always going to sleep Ngannou worse than Joshua did.

see? it practically sells itself.

 

[Cartiac]

He made 30 mil in 2 losses I don't blame him

You sure about that? Do you have any understand how the boxing world works? Even if that was Francis's actual purse numbers from those two boxing matches based on his own admissions regarding the pay range he was offered from UFC he lost money and got his ego and mental health shattered by AJ in a way he will never recover from.

Let's accept Francis's purse for those two boxing matches was $30M. How much of that do you think Francis actually gets? Realistically way less than 50% because unlike UFC, in boxing Francis has to pay out ~25% of that purse to his boxing promoter Bob Arum and then another ~25% to his boxing manager, Marquel Martin both of which he did not have to pay in UFC. What did Francis really prove bragging he negotiated his release from UFC himself for his "freedom" only to give it all up getting played out forced to pay a manager and promoter to box?

 

[DC23]

This guy lol. Holding the sport by hostage. Just let him go. Enjoy the boxing freak show fights and your money.

Move on.

 

[orca]

He should. MMA is a fringe sport that no one cares about. The athletes are severely underpaid and the fighters are on the bottom of the professional athlete totem pole.

khabib made more money in the ufc with better legacy
than nganou did in boxing lool

plus nganou got destroyed and humiliated

 

[Fight Professor]

Why would Wilder or anybody fight Ngannou when Ngannou's no longer ranked?

It does nothing for them to fight him now.

It is (supposedly) going to put him back in the winning column and should be the easier way to get paid.

 

[Fight Professor]

Wilder was always going to sleep Ngannou worse than Joshua did.

So was Fury. Joshua is really technical and rangy, similar to Klitchkos. Wilder made Fury look like a master technician in the last 3 fights.

 

[orca]

Ngannou will do whatever the fuck he wants to, lol.

It's funny watching posters get butthurt because he's free and not under the UFC's thumb. Guaranteed if Conor or Jones announced a boxing crossover, everyone would be shilling how good it is for the sport and how accomplished they are as fighters.

Good on Frank for finally getting paid. How he earns it is his business.

the man doesnt even deserve to get paid 30m
lmao
you disrespect boxers who work all their life but instead you love to give it to francis

how many elite boxers has been paid 30m like francis?
the man conned you and everyone

theres like a 500 boxers out there who are more skilled and deserving to be payed 30m
its a disrespect to those boxers

 

[Corrado Soprano]

khabib made more money in the ufc with better legacy
than nganou did in boxing lool

plus nganou got destroyed and humiliated

Ngannou would destroy Khabib in a fight.

 

[muaythaidon1]

Why would Wilder or anybody fight Ngannou when Ngannou's no longer ranked?

It does nothing for them to fight him now.

Because of that Saudi money you helmet, also how Dana's pee pee taste?

 

[dagfin]

lol ngannou conned the pfl, they don't even get mentioned on the boxing broadcast but ufc does

If he's only paid to fight they havn't lost any money yet, if he's on some kind of guaranteed pay they seriously effed up

 

[muaythaidon1]

You sure about that? Do you have any understand how the boxing world works? Even if that was Francis's actual purse numbers from those two boxing matches based on his own admissions regarding the pay range he was offered from UFC he lost money and got his ego and mental health shattered by AJ in a way he will never recover from.

Let's accept Francis's purse for those two boxing matches was $30M. How much of that do you think Francis actually gets? Realistically way less than 50% because unlike UFC, in boxing Francis has to pay out ~25% of that purse to his boxing promoter Bob Arum and then another ~25% to his boxing manager, Marquel Martin both of which he did not have to pay in UFC. What did Francis really prove bragging he negotiated his release from UFC himself for his "freedom" only to give it all up getting played out forced to pay a manager and promoter to box?

Way less than 50% you say? When did Bob Arum start promoting Francis btw, and how do you know the business deal between Francis and his manager, who also managed him in the UFC.... Oh and who taxes more do you think, the Saudis or the US?

 

[dipstickjimmy]

I had no idea there was anybody who thought Francis Ngannou was a more decorated MMA fighter than Jon Jones. Jon's won more title fights than Francis even has fights in the UFC. Francis lost to Derrick Lewis, is 1-1 with Stipe, and nearly lost to Gane, who Jones only took 2 minutes to beat. Conor was at least 2-0 in title fights in 2 divisions at the time, and even that they had to handicap with an older smaller guy. Francis got flatlined in 4 minutes by a guy 20 lbs smaller than him.

The premise is wrong anyway because nobody wants to see Jones box either, nor would anybody say it's interesting if Conor tried to box Dmitry Bivol.

Yeah I was kind of trolling back the post I was responding to. The post seemed specifically aimed at discrediting Francis but with nonsense. Conor more accomplished then Francis? Silly.

Also at HW Jon is not more accomplished then Frank. Frank beat the man to win the title. Frank beat a ton of HWs to EARN his title shot and then title. Jon was parachuted into a title fight but beat a hand picked guy who was a perfect style match up & was never a champion. Why didn't the most recent champion Stipe Miocic fight Jon? Because 1) the UFC didn't want to pay him and 2) Jon and the UFC wanted an easy fight to crown Jon a champion.

Jon's UFC title Lineage is worthless IMO.