PFL founder Donn Davis has shed light on why former UFC heavyweight king Francis Ngannou decided to join hands with the PFL.
Davis recently made an appearance on Robbie Fox’s podcast ‘My Mom’s Basement’. During the podcast, the PFL founder shared that money was not the sole reason behind Ngannou signing with their promotion.
Davis revealed that they offered him the same money as the UFC, but it was the fulfillment of Ngannou’s other conditions that made ‘The Predator’ choose the PFL.
Freedom to compete in boxing matches outside the promotion, setting a minimum-pay for his opponents and having a seat at the board table were some of the Cameroonian’s conditions that were fulfilled by the PFL.
“[Francis Ngannou] was offered more money to go elsewhere. We’re paying him well but what this deal was really about was everything other than money. Francis wanted to be a part of our global expansion. He’s the chairman of PFL Africa… He wanted his opponent to get paid well… We’re guaranteeing his opponent between one and two million dollars minimum… And Francis wanted to have a real seat at the table… He’s a member of our Global Athlete Advisory Board. So, the money we offered him was the same money the UFC offered him. But those three things in addition to the freedom to box, those were the agenda that were important to Francis.”
Check out Davis’ comments from the 1:15 mark below:
Dana White shares his thoughts on Francis Ngannou signing with the PFL
Although many in the MMA community believe Francis Ngannou‘s new deal with PFL to be highly lucrative, UFC president Dana White remains unimpressed.
During the recent UFC press conference, White was asked for his thoughts on Ngannou’s new partnership with the PFL. The UFC president criticised the deal, saying the partnership did not make much sense for the PFL.
“Based on what I know about the deal, which is not much, it makes no sense to me. You’re going to pay a guy not to fight for a year and it’s already been like 18 months, he’s fought three times in the last 3 years…PFL’s going to pay this guy to train for a boxing match that may not even happen and that they might not even be involved in. How does that make any sense?”