“You have people who pretend,” After career-defining 2023, Francis Ngannou reveals ‘nasty’ side of MMA promotions

Francis Ngannou looks back on the offers he received from leading MMA promotions and makes a bold statement.

“You have people who pretend,” After career-defining 2023, Francis Ngannou reveals ‘nasty’ side of MMA promotions

Francis Ngannou reveals the true nature of MMA promotions (via IMAGO/UFC/Bellator)

Francis Ngannou was arguably one of the biggest stars in MMA. Well, now, not only in MMA but in Boxing as well. Ngannou rose to stardom in the UFC but split terms with them in 2023 after failed contract negotiations. Later, he signed a lucrative deal with the PFL. Now, ‘The Predator’ revealed navigating through his career-changing decision of leaving the UFC.

In his recent YouTube video, Francis Ngannou detailed the horrific nature of people in MMA promotions. He said most promoters were just trying to use his career narrative to gain benefits for themselves. As such, he mentioned people pretending and being ‘two-faced.’ Here is what he said:

A lot of them were just trying to navigate the narrative and potentially get some promotion. We have a lot of different people – some two faces. It’s part of the business and that’s something that I learned this year – how this business can be nasty. You have people who pretend to be something that they are not.
Francis Ngannou via YT
YouTube video

Further in the video, Francis Ngannou stated it was a good learning curve for him to understand the business aspect of MMA. Also, he mentioned the downside of the fighters who don’t have enough education about the business side of the sport. As such, ‘The Predator’ learned his ways and smartly waited for a massive deal from the PFL. Also, he ventured into boxing to reportedly earn in the 8-figures.

FS Video

After leaving the UFC, Francis Ngannou got offers from major promotions like ONE FC and BKFC. However, he declined all of them and finally took his stand to get a deal from the PFL.

It offered him equity and freedom to box. As such, he last fought WBC champion Tyson Fury in October 2023 and shocked the entire world by knocking down Fury. But, he lost the bout via split decision, which raised a lot of controversy. Nonetheless, he won the fans and earned a lifetime worth of money. Moving on, what’s next for Ngannou was to be seen.

Francis Ngannou’s career path in 2023

Francis Ngannou made a name for himself in the UFC and even became the UFC heavyweight champion. However, things haven’t sailed smoothly between the promotion and him since 2022. So, he walked away from the UFC in January 2023. It was a surprise since the UFC offered him a deal that would’ve made him the highest-paid heavyweight in the UFC. So, he received a lot of criticism for his decision.

Francis Ngannou's highlight of 2023 - Scoring a knockdown against Tyson Fury
Francis Ngannou’s highlight of 2023 – Scoring a knockdown against Tyson Fury (Via X)

After parting ways with the UFC, Francis Ngannou sought free agency and chased a boxing match with Tyson Fury. Even though he got various offers from top MMA promotions, he wasn’t satisfied and declined them all. Again, this caused a huge backlash among the fight audience and gave rise to the phrase ‘fumbled the bag.’ However, Ngannou shut everyone down by signing a lucrative deal with the PFL in May. Also, his much-anticipated boxing bout with Tyson Fury got greenlit.

To top all of this, he stepped foot in the boxing ring for the first time and shocked everyone with his performance. He nearly gave the undefeated Tyson Fury his first loss. However, despite losing his boxing bout, Ngannou was happy about his career path in 2023. He shared his thoughts extensively about this in his recent YouTube video. In 2024, Ngannou was expected to debut in the PFL and get in a boxing bout with a higher-ranked opponent.

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