Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has explained how he found himself in the PFL.
‘The Predator’ has been out of the cage for well over a year, last defeating Ciryl Gane last January. That was famously the last fight on Francis Ngannou’s contract, as he became a free agent following the bout. Quickly, he got into talks with PFL, Bellator, ONE Championship, as well as professional boxers.
In terms of boxing, Francis Ngannou got the deal he wanted and will face Tyson Fury in October. However, his deal with the PFL hasn’t been discussed much since his May signing. On The Joe Rogan Experience, the former UFC champion elaborated a bit on his free agency process.
According to Francis Ngannou, he didn’t approach any promoters for a while after talks with the UFC ended. However, he was later contacted by the PFL, who were willing to give him everything he wanted, and more. He added that while he enjoyed meeting with Chatri Sityodtong of ONE, the contracts were night and day.
“A couple days after [my first meeting with the PFL], they made a proposal,” Francis Ngannou stated regarding his free agency process in an interview with Joe Rogan. “When he made the structure of the proposal, I looked at it and thought it was good. You know, everything was being taken into consideration. There’s always going to be ways to negotiate in a contract. But the way they structured it, I was already happy… But we kept that contract, at that time I was like, ‘Why rush into anything, take some time’, no, I didn’t sign.”
He continued,
“Then, we got to Chatri. Chatri reached out, we talked, same thing. A couple of days [go by] and they send their own contract. But, when I was putting the contract next to the PFL one, it was day and night… Yeah, [the PFL’s was better].”
What do you make of these comments from Francis Ngannou? Who do you want to see him fight in the PFL?