Francis Ngannou will not be heading to ONE Championship.
The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight champion recently met with ONE CEO and Founder, Chatri Sityodtong, to discuss the possibility of ending his free agency. Unfortunately for both parties, a deal couldnât be reached.
According to Sityodtong, the requests from âThe Predatorâ were simply too unrealistic to agree upon.
âHe was asking for a seat at the board of directors, he was asking for him to determine his opponentâs pay,â Sityodtong told the Daily Star. âWe offered him $20 million guaranteed, the money wasnât enough, he wanted all of these other non-financial terms that didnât make a lot of sense.
âWe obviously canât give a seat at the board of directors, that doesnât make any sense, he would be a fish out of water [in that position],â he concluded
ONE makes its big United States debut this weekend (Fri., May 5, 2023) with ONE Fight Night 10 in Denver, Colorado. Featured in the main event will be another former UFC champion, the current ONE Flyweight kingpin, Demetrious Johnson, who faces Adriano Moraes in a trilogy clash.
Sityodtong and ONE havenât promised any future U.S. events just yet, but ONE Fight Night 10 hopes to be the start of a new chapter for the Cayman Islands-based mixed martial arts (MMA) giant.
âFor me to bringing the entire world of martial arts and introducing it to American fans is very surreal and at the same time, I have an overwhelming feeling of deep gratitude because America gave me the opportunity to make something of myself coming from literally nothing,â Sityodtong said.
âIt gave me the financial resources to start ONE and in essence, I lived the American dream,â he concluded.
He desperately needs an experienced manager to tell him what is and isnât possible. Even Conor isnât getting a seat at the table. No fighter is, unless they buy their way in.
As a gum-chewer, fuck Singapore.
He will probably end up getting at least one massive payday, probably in boxing.
Against who? Fury and Usyk are boxing, as is AJ against Wilder. And these are fights that took years to put together. Francis might be sitting on the sidelines for awhile for that one massive boxing payday.
He might.
Lol at Board of Directors
Sounds like Francis is trying desperately to set himself up long term outside of the cage. Indicator of retirement plans. Imagine he lands this dream payday and delivers a shit fight. I still have trauma from Cirylâs vs JBJ.
Damn son.
Keep the goal posts still my man! Get something big secured before itâs too late, itâs a rare opportunity in life.
Chatri is all class.
Haha wow. Maybe itâs big money boxing match or bust for him. Now heâs making the rounds with impossible demands for the âstoryâ to sell in his post-fighting career.
I donât know what else. Is he just nuts?
It probably wasnât 20 million for 1 fight. Probably 3 or 4 fights but maybe they would have let him box or do whatever else that UFC wouldnât.
But lol @ his demands. Come on man. You want to do shit like this you gotta start your own org⌠how do you do that? With some seed capital⌠How do you get that? Sign one of these fucking contracts already and fight lol.
Yep
That wasnât some epic HW scrap
It didnât prove anything
I used to think promoters get paid too much and fighters not enough. But over time things have changed including my perspective.
Iâve seen so many fighters get to the top and lose their hunger. Money and living comfortably takes away from hunger. I like the intensity of fights from late 90âs early 2000âs era. Mma fighters are growing up in times where pro athletes are primadonnas and used to making millions.
Hate to sound like a broken record, but Francis is a giant retard.
Lotta truth in this
Many rich fighters donât fight the same once $$
Musicians are worse than fighters in this regard. Iâve always said that if a country wanted to silence dissent from the arts community, all they need to do is give them a lot of money.