WHEN FRANCIS NGANNOU officially announced heâd signed with the PFL earlier this month, he promised the deal would allow the next chapter of his career to be âtremendous.â
Under the terms of the agreement, Ngannou (17-3) is exclusive to PFL pay-per-view in MMA but is free to pursue an entirely separate contract in professional boxing. It also makes him an executive and equity owner of PFL Africa, a regional league the PFL intends to launch in 2025, and reserves him a spot on the PFLâs Global Advisory Board, which includes former three-time UFC champion Randy Couture.
On ESPNâs âDC & RCâ podcast, former two-weight UFC champion Daniel Cormier said Ngannouâs unique contract sets âa new standard for what is out there in the free agent market.â UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya called the news âa big ripple in the gameâ that could promote change within MMA contracts throughout the industry.
The story around Ngannouâs free agency had been simmering beneath the surface of mixed martial arts since January 2022, when he defended the UFCâs heavyweight championship against Ciryl Gane in the final fight of his contract. It is exceptionally rare for UFC champions to fight out their contracts, as the UFC aggressively re-signs titleholders and holds various extension and matching rights in its contracts.
Ngannouâs situation, however, was unique. His desire to box, which UFC contracts do not allow, was a major factor in his decision-making. Ngannou also turned down multiple extension offers from the UFC in recent years, which allowed him to be in a position to fight out of his deal in the first place. He refused to budge on certain demands the UFC wouldnât consider, as they fell well outside its standard contract language.
Looking back, the split between Ngannou and the UFC was probably inevitable. And following that split, the UFC was always going to be fine. It quickly moved on with a new heavyweight title fight in March.
The million-dollar question was, What would that split look like for Ngannou? As it turns out, the answer is pretty darn good. Although the exact figures were not made public, Ngannouâs deal with the PFL is a multimillion-dollar contract with added flexibility and long-term incentives. Thereâs a reason names like Cormier and Adesanya found it game-changing.
âDid I change the industry with this contract?â Ngannou told ESPN. âI cannot speak for the entire industry. All I can say is that I didnât change my way of seeing things. Iâve been seeing things the same way since this all started. We will see if this changes anything in the industry as a whole.â
Hereâs how Ngannou, once the apple of the UFCâs eye, found a new home with the PFL.
ON JAN. 14, UFC president Dana White announced the company was officially moving on from its heavyweight champion, Ngannou. The company stripped him of the belt and booked a vacant title fight between Jon Jones and Gane for March. During the announcement, White jokingly said Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell must have taken Ngannou to â350 dinnersâ in an effort to close a new deal.
The last of those dinners occurred in mid-December, at an off-Strip tapas restaurant in Las Vegas.
At that time, Ngannou was still eyeing a potential title fight against Jones. Jones was ready to return from a three-year layoff, and Ngannou vs. Jones would have been the obvious superfight to make. Ngannou just needed a new deal to make it happen. Throughout 2022, he and the UFC had failed to come to terms. So, by the time of that dinner in December, both sides felt the clock was ticking.
Francis Ngannou held the UFC heavyweight title from March 2021 through January 2023. Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
Ngannou, who represented himself during the process, says the conversation that night was amicable but frustrating. According to him, it was the same conversation theyâd had all year. When the UFC laid out its latest offer, Ngannou says he felt a sense of dĂ©jĂ vu. The time had come for them to either make a deal or not, and Ngannou believed they were running in circles.
After the dinner concluded, Ngannou drove straight home and booked a flight to Africa.
âI found a flight to Cameroon that would leave the next day,â Ngannou said. âI asked myself, âWhy am I here, missing Christmas with my family, for something thatâs not going to happen?ââ
Shortly after the new year, Ngannou received a call from UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard, who wanted to arrange one final phone call with Campbell â to ensure nothing more could be done. Ngannou agreed to the call and spoke once more to Campbell, to the same effect.
âIt was basically, âThis is the deal. Take it or leave it.ââ Ngannou said. "And I told them, âWell, I donât know what to say anymore.â
âAfter that call, I knew it was over. Not that I would be fighting or at war with the promotion going forward, but they were going to do what they wanted and they would show me no mercy in what they said.â
Going into the negotiations with the UFC, Ngannou said he asked the promotion for all fighters to get in-cage sponsorships and health insurance. He also wanted an athlete advocate positioned to assist fighters.
âI asked for a lot of things, which doesnât mean I was expecting all those things,â Ngannou said in January. âBut I was expecting one or two out of those things.â
Whiteâs announcement came four days later. He said the UFC had offered Ngannou a contract that would have made him the âhighest-paid heavyweight in the history of the company,â but Ngannou turned it down. The UFC was terminating all talks of an extension and would waive all of its matching rights to any incoming offers Ngannou might have. He was officially â and publicly â an unrestricted free agent.
In general, the MMA industry interpreted the move as a risk for Ngannou. Even those who expressed admiration or gratitude for Ngannouâs willingness to enter free agency acknowledged there was no guarantee it would work in his favor.
Ngannou wanted the freedom to box, and a potential matchup against Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder would be lucrative, for sure. But only if it happened. And in terms of MMA, the biggest contracts have historically been tied to PPV revenue, a model that barely exists outside the UFC. The impact that might have on how promotions perceived Ngannouâs value was anyoneâs guess.
Nevertheless, Ngannou said he was extremely content as he walked away from what the UFC called a historic financial offer.
âIn order to know what you walked away from, you have to know how much it is â and nothing is guaranteed in those contracts,â Ngannou said. "Itâs really hard for me to say I lost money that I never had. The only thing the UFC contract guaranteed was Jon Jones, which was a fight I wanted for so long and nobody cared. It was only when I was about to get free of my contract [that] they said, âHereâs the Jon Jones fight.â
âWhat protections did I have after that fight? People forget that you can sign a $100 million contract and they can give you $10 million and never follow up. There are a lot of things in that contract they control.â
Ngannou was still in Cameroon with his family when White made the announcement. His phone immediately came to life with messages and calls from every corner of the MMA world.
One of the text messages was from PFL CEO Peter Murray, who suggested it might be âa good time to catch up.â
Francis Ngannou is free to explore opportunities in boxing as a part of his new deal with the PFL. Photo by: PFL
THE INITIAL INTRODUCTION between Ngannou and Murray occurred in 2021 at a PFL event in Hollywood, Florida. Ngannou was in attendance with his agent at the time, Marquel Martin (Martin remains with him in an advisory role). Martin also represented former UFC title challenger Rory MacDonald, who fought in the PFL in 2021 and 2022.
Legally, Murray was unable to make Ngannou an offer while he was under UFC contract. Behind the scenes, however, he and his business partner, PFL co-founder Donn Davis, discussed Ngannou as a free agent target throughout 2022.
âThis was our Joe Namath moment,â Davis told ESPN, referring to the battle between the AFL and NFL to sign Namath, a star college quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide, in 1964. âThe best fighter in the world, who happens to be a global, dynamic leader, is available? This never happens. It was so rare, it had to be our moment.â
Two weeks after Ngannouâs free agent status went public, the two sides arranged a video call. The PFL was actually the second promotion Ngannou spoke to. One day before his call with the PFL, he spoke to Asia-based promotion One Championshipâs Chatri Sityodtong. The calls were similar in that they were surface level and exploratory, but the PFLâs led to an in-person meeting in Las Vegas the following month.
On Feb. 8, shortly after Ngannou flew back to Las Vegas from Cameroon, he and Murray met at Ngannouâs favorite restaurant, Barryâs Downtown Prime on Fremont Street. Murray had been crafting his pitch to Ngannou for the better part of a year as the industry waited to see if heâd re-sign with the UFC. When they sat down at Barryâs, Murray spoke first.
âI told him, âHere is our vision at PFL,ââ Murray said. "Then I asked him to tell me his vision. Where was he in life, as an elite fighter and as a businessman.
âThe No. 1 goal he had as an athlete was to box. Anyone who knows Francisâ story knows that heâs always dreamed and talked about the sport of boxing. Having the ability to do that is something that ticked his box â and when he said he wanted to continue to compete at the highest level of MMA, that ticked our box. And once weâd both gone through it, our goals and visions just aligned.â
By the time the two shook hands at nightâs end, the partnership might as well have been done. There was much to iron out regarding the language of the contract, but there were no significant hurdles standing in the way of a deal. The PFL understood Ngannou wouldnât fight in MMA again until 2024, as he sought to box in 2023. The PFL was actually completely fine with that timeline, as it provided a year for it to build up an ideal scenario for his debut. Ngannou and his team remained in contact with other promotions â including One Championship and Bellator MMA â but never progressed to a formal offer with anyone else. He knew where he was headed.
âI started to feel bad even talking to anybody else,â Ngannou said. âIt was basically, âYou want this? Letâs do it. You want this? Done.â It was one of the easiest contracts ever.â
Less than one month after Ngannou and Murrayâs dinner â about two weeks, Ngannou says â the deal was done. Alongside Martin and attorney Andrew Cutrow, Ngannou worked with the PFL on a contract both sides were happy with. Ngannou didnât sign right away, and he asked the PFL not to announce it until he had more conversations with potential partners in boxing. Ultimately, the deal wouldnât get announced until May, but it was agreed to in March.
On May 2, Ngannou and Murray reconvened for the first time since that Feb. 8 dinner â just the two of them, right back at Barryâs. The dinnerâs purpose was to celebrate but also to provide a chance for both sides to bring up any last-minute ideas.
Throughout the negotiation, some of Ngannouâs priorities included wanting to face legitimate, high-level opposition in the PFL and fighter rights in general. During that final dinner, Murray decided to accommodate those values in the most direct way he could. He proposed the PFL would guarantee a baseline salary for Ngannouâs opponents, and an eventual figure of $2 million was agreed upon.
âPete brought it up,â Ngannou said. âHe said, âWe can even guarantee you the minimum salary of your opponents.ââ
Murray took a red-eye out of Las Vegas that night and arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport the following morning. He dropped his bags at his Manhattan residence and was taking a walk in Greenwich Village when he got a FaceTime from Ngannou.
âAll he said was, âLetâs go,â and signed the document later that morning.â
WITHIN FIVE MONTHS, Ngannouâs negotiations went from a concrete roadblock with the UFC to an open Autobahn highway with the PFL, which isnât surprising. The business practices, bargaining positions and focus areas of the UFC and the PFL are night and day. The UFC is the clear industry leader, which the PFL acknowledges. The two companiesâ strategies are different, and their need for someone like Ngannou is different, especially concerning his desire to box.
The UFC doesnât allow its athletes â particularly, an active champion â to box because it disrupts its primary business. The only real exception to this was a 2017 fight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather, one of the richest fights in boxing history. And even in that instance, White initially wasnât on board. Since that boxing match, McGregor is 1-3 and his career has been derailed by injuries and legal issues.
âFrancis thinks heâs in a position where heâs got some Conor McGregor, Mayweather fight on his hands, which he does not,â White said this month. âThat was a once-in-a-lifetime deal that I wasnât interested in, but at the end of the day, it became so big with the right guys at the right place at the right time ⊠MMA guys versus boxers doesnât make any sense to me.â
For Ngannou, the PFL was far more compatible with him than the UFC. That much is obvious. What is less obvious right now is how well this will work for the PFL.
The PFL just made a major financial commitment to a 36-year-old heavyweight who hasnât fought in more than 12 months, is coming off major knee surgery in 2022 and doesnât intend to make his promotional debut for it until 2024. The PFL plans to put Ngannou on PPV but currently doesnât have an obvious opponent for him â in terms of heavyweight rank or box office draw.
If youâre trying to put this deal into a mathematical formula that spits out a PFL profit on Ngannouâs PPV appearances, stop. The PFL will tell you thatâs not what this deal is about.
âWe donât measure this on how many PPVs we will sell, and this formula equals this outcome,â Davis said. âThatâs not the transactional business weâre in today. Look, weâve gone from zero employees and zero viewers to where we are today, signing the likes of Francis Ngannou. What are we setting up for the next five years? Creative investments and thinking differently is whatâs required to become the co-leader in MMA. And we believe weâre on a path to that.â
The PFL is looking for three things out of this deal, primarily.
The first is for Ngannou to bring awareness to its budding PPV model, which is in its infancy. To date, the PFL has promoted exactly one event on PPV. It plans on promoting more, behind the recent signings of Ngannou and professional boxer and influencer Jake Paul. Secondly, it expects Ngannou to bring a network of investors, sponsors and athletes to its PFL Africa brand, whose launch it moved up from 2027 to 2025.
âOur global vision is to have six leagues set up in the next two years,â Murray said. âFrancis brings tremendous value there in establishing that new business.â
And the third value Murray and Davis are betting on is articulated by fighters like Cormier and Adesanya. Thatâs the idea that Ngannouâs deal is the first of many.
Ngannou is the first UFC champion in nearly 20 years to be stripped of a championship because he opted to sign with a different promotion. The financial value of that, if there is one, cannot be determined right away. The PFL is banking on that ârippleâ Adesanya spoke of â the conversations that are taking place now that werenât several months ago.
âWhat does this deal say to the fighter and manager community of this sport?â Murray said. âFighters have options. The PFL is a global leader where fighters have an opportunity to compete against top competition and get paid.â
Will this deal prove to be a good one for the PFL? Will it open a âtremendousâ chapter of Ngannouâs career, which could set a new standard for what fighters look for in future contracts? Is it bigger than just Francis Ngannou?
As Ngannou said, we will see.
Thatâs quite the storyâŠgood luck to him, but a few things stick out here.
I mean PFL Africa, that they âintendâ to start in 2025, bumped up from 2027. They are going to start 6 fight leagues in two years?
âWe donât measure this on how many PPVs we will sell, and this formula equals this outcome,â Davis said. âThatâs not the transactional business weâre in today. Look, weâve gone from zero employees and zero viewers to where we are today, signing the likes of Francis Ngannou. What are we setting up for the next five years? Creative investments and thinking differently is whatâs required to become the co-leader in MMA. And we believe weâre on a path to that.â
Jake Paul and Francis are going to promote this thing, and Francis is going to bring an extensive network of investors with him?
âWhat protections did I have after that fight? People forget that you can sign a $100 million contract and they can give you $10 million and never follow up. There are a lot of things in that contract they control.â
Is Francis one of those people who forgot this? Cause the PFL sure has sold him on alot of hopes and future intentions.
NO DOUBT THIS WILL FOREVER BE CONSIDERED THE WORST MMA CONTRACT SITUATION OF ALL TIME.
HE WILL BE THE LATRELL SPREWELL OF MMA.
Anyone getting an Affliction vibe with this deal. Like something will go bad with a Ngannou fight and the company will collapse?
More News coming
I bet those PFL fighters are happy to have Ngannoucare
I SEE SOMETHING SIMILAR TO THE KIMBO/PRO ELITE DEBACLE HAPPENING HERE AS WELL
Good luck to him. I sure didnât expect someone to give him this much.
The thing is, they really havenât given him anything yet thoughâŠTheyâve just promised him the world, with things they âintendâ to do 2,3,4 years down the road. They gave him equity and an executive position in PFL Africa, which as ground-breaking as that sounds, does not currently exist, and may never existâŠ
Theyâve sold him on making âtens of millionsâ on the backend from his ppv, only to publicly turn around and say they arenât focused on the number of ppv sales lolâŠ
As far as I can tell, the only thing he may have received so far, is some sort of signing bonus and a salary, both of an undisclosed amounts, not to currently fightâŠoh and the ability to pursue boxing, which also has yet to come to fruition.
The old saying âwhen something seems too good to be true, it usually isâ likely applies here unfortunately for Francis. Somebody is going to be left holding the bagâŠ
#1 HW in the world? 
Not sucking up to the UFC, but you kinda get the sense that this wont work out all that great for the PFL in the long term. Theres not many names out there for Ngannou to fight and his claim as the no1 HW has already been undermined by what Jones did to Gane. The UFC will probably counterprogram his fight with something big out of spite too.
how much did he get? money wise?
Apparently not much as someone pointed out. Future promises of earning and position. Weâll see I guess.
Damn
VTFU for busting out the Sprewell comparsion
3 yrs/33mil, and he says not enough, I need to feed my family, I dont think he played again