Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis ‘The Predator’ Ngannou (17-3 MMA, 12-2 UFC) has a new home.
The 36-year-old Cameroonian signed a multi-fight deal with the Professional Fighters League on May 16, giving the promotion the exclusive rights to his MMA bouts. However, the terms of the contract are completely unprecedented in the MMA bubble.
For starters, it guarantees a purse in the “high seven-figure” range for each scrap. The deal, believed to be for only two or three fights, provides Ngannou with the ability to have his own sponsors in the cage and to participate in boxing events unrelated to PFL.
Ngannou will also get a split of the profits for each PFL show he headlines. Furthermore, his opponents will have a minimum salary of up to $1-2 million.
Finally, the contract doesn’t start until 2024. In other words, Ngannou is probably going to box (against Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua or Tyson Fury?) for another king’s ransom later this year.
In recent weeks, Bareknuckle Fighting Championship and ONE Championship pulled themselves out of the running to sign Ngannou. Many implied that he had made a mistake by passing on the UFC’s contract offer that Dana White claimed would’ve made him the highest paid heavyweight in the promotion’s history.
As it turns out, it seems as if – with the exception of getting health insurance for himself and other fighters – Ngannou got exactly what he was looking for in a new contract.
Ngannou has won six fights in a row, including five knockouts inside of six minutes. Four of those wins came in 71 seconds or less. His victims include three former UFC champions – Stipe Miocic, Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez – in addition to Curtis Blaydes, Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Ciryl Gane.