Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou (36, Cameroon) has signed a contract with the third largest organization in North America.
He heads to the Professional Fighters League (PFL) chasing the UFC and Bellator MMA.
PFL officially announced the contract with Ngannou on the 16th (Korean time).
Financial terms and length of the contract were not disclosed, but Ngannou said, “I can say that the PFL is on much better terms than any other organization.”
According to a report by the New York Times, Ngannou and PFL decided to view each other as a “strategic partnership.” It is very unusual in a mixed martial arts system where usually the big fight is the overwhelming “number one”.
The New York Times also said, “According to this contract, Ngannou will assume a leadership role in pursuing fairness for players in the PFL.”
The PFL gave Ngannou several perks.
First, he allowed Ngannou to have a boxing match. It has been agreed that Nganuga will compete in boxing this year and make his PFL debut mid-year next year.
The PFL also gave the chairman position of PFL Africa to Ngannou, a fighter representing Africa.
PFL, a US-based organization, successfully entered Europe this year. I made plans to continue expanding to the world. Africa is also one of the regions that are aiming to advance.
Ngannou begins her role as an ambassador for PFL on the African continent.
Ngannou also has an important role representing the players. He was given the power to be a voice on the advisory board, which was meant to serve the interests of his fighters.
Ngannou was delighted, saying, “PFL presented what I expected. It did not come as a mere promotion to recruit fighters, but as a partner who sees through the value of a person.”
The PFL is a unique way to hold league matches by weight category every year.
The ranking is based on the results of the two regular season matches. The winner gets 3 basic victory points, 3 points for finishing in round 1, 2 points for finishing in round 2, and 1 point bonus for finishing in round 3. The four players with the highest points compete in a post-season tournament to determine the winner.
Ngannou does not participate in the heavyweight league, but is active in the ‘Super Fight Division’, which will be sold on pay-per-view (PPV). YouTuber Jake Paul, signed by the PFL earlier this year, is also expected to fight in the Super Fight Division.
Ngannou and Paul are fierce critics of the UFC and President Dana White. They point out that the UFC isn’t distributing a lot of its profits to its fighters enough. There is a possibility that the two will keep the UFC in check by voicing one voice.
Ngannou turned professional in 2013 and entered the UFC in 2015. He began to build a reputation by knocking down strong players with his terrifying punching power.
He failed to win the belt in 2018 when he failed to stop then-champion Stipe Miocic from wrestling, but in 2021 he avenged Miočić by KO and came out on top.
In January of last year, he overpowered Cyril Gan in wrestling to defend his title. 토스카지노
Afterwards, Ngannou continued negotiations with the UFC over various conditions, and declared free agency (FA) in January of this year.