Ngannou was involved in a contract dispute with the UFC, leading to his departure and relinquishing of the heavyweight title in January. Jon Jones submitted Ciryl Gane to claim the vacant belt this past Saturday at UFC 285, which could have set up a megafight with Ngannou.
Ngannou has received interest from some of boxing’s biggest names such as Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder, but O’Malley thinks that Ngannou no longer being a UFC fighter makes him a less lucrative option.
“Francis, and I’ve said it since Day 1 since he started talking sh*t on the UFC on Twitter: It’s going to be the biggest mistake of his life,” O’Malley said on the “TimboSugarShow.” “Tyson Fury is not interested in Francis Ngannou anymore.
“He was interested in Francis when he was the UFC champ. He was the baddest motherf*cker in the world. Now he’s outside the UFC. Now it’s not as intriguing. Who is Francis? Francis is eventually going to be like – he hasn’t fought in two years. That fight is going to be not as interesting.”
Ngannou insisted that money wasn’t the main reason why he chose not to re-sign with the UFC, instead emphasizing the terms of the deal as a deterrent. O’Malley thinks Ngannou saw the amount of money Conor McGregor made boxing Floyd Mayweather, and wants to follow suit.
“You do that because you want that payday,” O’Malley said. “You want that boxing payday, and that was in his head. It was in his manager’s head. That’s what I’m assuming. I’m guessing, obviously. I don’t f*cking know.
“I think he’s thinking he saw Conor do it, but Conor did it with the UFC. He didn’t do it by himself. The more days go on, the less intrigue, the less care we have for Francis to go to boxing.”
O’Malley is correct. The more time Francis spends away from the limelight the less appealing he becomes. When and if a boxing fight occurs it won’t draw in casuals that’s for damn sure.
Tbf he was a hell of a hard sell regardless of his employment status. Fury would likely still take it.
He’s walked away as champ, had he fought Jon Jones he might have lost, then he’d have zero leverage to get a bigger payday. Let him train and see how he gets on. Not like he couldn’t just take the Jones fight if he wanted it.
Time will tell. We’ll see how he works with Boxing promoters it could go either way at this point. But Francis making $600K or whatever it was on his old contract while HW Champion of the world was a joke.
Dana probably paid the Nelk boys more than his HW Champion lol
I’m not ignoring it I am just stating a fact. That is what the Contracted Amount was for their Reigning HW Champion of the World.
I am not saying that it is all on the UFC because I am aware that the amount should have been higher since Francis was not renegotiating with them. That part is on him.
But it doesn’t change the fact that he was their Champion and making that much. That was widely reported and not a good look for them.
On the surface if you don’t know the minute details yes. He was fighting on a contract he signed 5 years previous. The UFC can’t make him take a pay raise.
I agree this was a failure of both parties to reach an agreement. I just think there shouldn’t be a world where a Reigning HW Champion is making that kind of money.
That’s true I just think the Top Ranked MMA Fighter and Champion should be able to make what at least the absolute minimum player in one of those sports makes.
I’m not comparing them to the all stars I am comparing them to lowest paid person in the league.
