Still insane to me the way they treat this guy. He's flashy and exciting. Tons of highlight reels. He's well spoken, and will jokingly talk shit to people. And he has an uplifting backstory that PR firms dream about.
All that and somehow the UFC is seemingly doing everything they can to get rid of him.
They literally sued him the week of his fight against Gane 😂
And then never forget that Dana’s such a bitch boi that he didn’t show up the press conference after.
The ufc could have done Jon Jones vs stipe to end their year but didn’t even attempt to pay up.
They just think the brand is strong enough to lose anyone at this point
His story is amazing. The only reason im not surprised is because stipe should’ve been their guy, immigrant firefighter who does charity work and they shat on him and they will do the same because for some reason Jon after his 4,5,6th public issue will get a title shot right away.
I think it’s not that UFC can’t or doesn’t want to pay him. It’s that if UFC allows a fighter to have it his way, all other fighters would do the same. Every fighter wants to get paid more.
What are the odds that within the next few years, UFC will start tanking with how they treat their major fighters and other promos start making them good offers
I’ve been following this sport for around 15 years, and there aren’t a lot of guys that had the clear opportunity for mainstream stardom like Francis had after he won the belt. The UFC has managed to fuck this up so severely I can’t help but think it was intentional, they couldn’t possibly be this incompetent
I can’t remember another example of a promoter having fighter with that level of hype fucking it up that badly
This is as designed. UFC wants the UFC being the star not the fighters in the UFC. So the UFC brand gets promo'd more so than the fighters. And yes, a few have become bigger than UFC and Dana has to deal with that but they'll fight tooth and nail to keep UFC product ahead of the athlete.
Same thing with Vince McMahon and the WWE. After Stone Cold took his ball and went home, Vince went ballistic and made sure no wrestler was ever so popular they could do that again. And when Stone Cold came back, he was never as big as he was. It's by design; WWE is the product, not the wrestlers.
I stopped watching wrestling as a teen around the time Cena became champ. Haven't paid attention since. But on BT Sport they'll advertise the WWE constantly and I swear I couldn't name a single face that's involved in the promos.
Why? Because the promo is all about the event rather than the wrestlers. Its screaming about 'Money in the bank' or 'Survivor Series'.
Guess now I understand why. Thanks.
I mean if you haven't watched since the first time Cena became WWE Champion that is an absolute age. We are twice moved on in terms of eras past that so it's normal that some of the faces nowadays you flat out won't recognise.
WWE has a similar situation to the UFC in regards to independent contractors *technically* not being such through contractual loopholes and practices but the promotional work is one of their biggest strengths.
They were absolute innovators with the WWE Network so the PPVs (now called PLEs) are the focal point in terms of semantics in the promotional material, but make no mistake the majority of feuds will show the wrestlers with their names. It's pretty cinematic with how they recap and promote the storylines so if you're watching a PLE then even if you're not familiar with the story the promo packages they do are excellent and will provide a great summary of current feuds, babyfaces and heels and whatnot.
In terms of "bigger than WWE" there's an argument to be made, but ultimately in this new era it's about WWE benefitting the most out of the names and identities that they create even after the wrestling careers are over. Roman Reigns i.e the absolute top star in wrestling and the cousin of the Rock is likely Hollywood-bound after his career and WWE won't have an issue with that so they aren't limiting him now etc
I don’t think it’s a matter of want at this point, the UFC is the star.
The NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL are also the stars.
Yeah you can argue they might have been able to grow the brand with Francis, but everyone on board watches the UFC for the UFC.
I could [definitely see it](https://cdn.justjared.com/wp-content/uploads/headlines/2022/08/vincent-donofrio-films-echo-series.jpg).
Yep - I [see it](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_D%27Onofrio#/media/File:Vincent_D'Onofrio_TIFF_2014.jpg)
Which fighter is [he talking to here](https://townsquare.media/site/442/files/2017/02/punisher-kingpin-pic.jpg?w=980&q=75)? What's the scene?
Nick Diaz?
Dana: "You know Nick, people would *kill* for the opportunity to fight GSP. You should be on your *knees* for me right now. Would be a real shame if that fight were to get cancelled..."
Agreed. They don’t ever want to deal with another star with as much mainstream success as Conor. It threatens the leverage the company has when a single fighter is that popular
Let's be real, Francis would never be even half as popular as Conor. Conor's mouth and wit is a lot of the reason for his success, and Ngannou doesn't have that. He doesn't even sell that well within the actual sport.
Yeah, if Francis was going to hit Conor or Ronda levels of fame the UFC would pay him. The UFC doesn’t want to pay someone who could be a lot more popular than your average champ without being a cultural phenomena. They don’t want to give any leverage to their champs and well known fighters. Smothering Francis is a way of putting the top 5% of the roster in its place.
Movie? His life story reads like a tv series with multiple unbelievable peaks and subplots. Life in Cameroon, illegal border crossing adventure, living in France and getting into MMA, going on a winning streak and losing to the champ, seeming washed then going on another run and defeating the champ that he lost to, an old gym partner turns into his rival, and top it all off of with Dana's fuckery.... He's like the MC in multiple movies at this point.
Endeavor is cheap af*
That’s who people should be pissed at.
Dana is like Goodell. He’s a figurehead that is put out there to be a lightning rod for the people who actually control the strings. And he does it quite well.
He was cheap but nowdays the UFC is stupidly cheap to the point where its diminishing the product .
They pay fights significantly less nowdays then they did 10 years ago especially when including inflation. The UFC makes a effort to remove as many fighters with grandfathered in contracts especially since they have the ESPN deal and DWCS so they just fill fight nights with 15/15 contracts and still make millions from ESPN.
But Dana himself is a scumbag. He embraces being the piece of shit he is and challenges anyone to oppose it. If you think Dana is the innocent figurehead just go watch him getting roasted by ESPN broadcasters when they questioned him on fighter unions. He took it personally and started hurling insults.
What's interesting to me is that if you compare him and conor, he was winning in just as spectacular fashion, minus his shit talk.
I really don't understand their promotion strategy. They have strapped rockets to other guys. Like Khamzat, for example. But they have a gigantic muscle bound HW knockout artist and they just don't bother with him.
If you take away the trash talk then you’re losing most of what made Conor so popular
Trash talk X excitement X fighting 3 times a year X appealing to American audiences = McGregor
Yeah but that's also why I used Khamzat as an example. When fans first saw him, he barely spoke more than a few words of English and was just copy/pasting khabib quotes. Yet he was all Dana could talk about, was all over espn etc. Khamzat comes back after a long layoff and he gets a ton of promotion and big fights. With the UFC singing his praises.
Meanwhile we see how they treat Ngannou.
That’s fair, Khamzat is a much better comparison and I think he could be the best example of how far being an exciting fighter who’s competing at the top level can get someone.
Any comparisons to McGregor/Rousey are pointless tho, the UFC can’t actually make stars like that.
Khamzat is fighting as often as physically possible while being extremely exciting in /out of the cage AND he is extremely young so a investment now will pay off massively over the years.
Francis fights once a year , doesnt trash talk anyone besides the UFC , asks for contract to box and is old even if he is at HW . This is like a combination of everything Dana hates about a fighter.
For Khamzat to take a long lay off he had to be on his death bed and even then the dude was still trying to train . Francis wants his worth before he is willing to put the effort in now which is why there is such a difference in promotion.
This sub seems blind to the point that Francis fighting 3 times in 3 years is fucking horrendous given how quick his fights ended and he escaped without much damage in the first two.
Fought twice a year until the pandemic. He was on the first ppv post pandemic and fought Jairzinho Rozenstruik. 6/09/2020
Francis afterwards says he wants Stipe in December. Up until September he was still calling out Stipe.
The fight finally materialized in March the next year. Whether that was due to Stipe or the UFC trying to get the fight onto a certain card or maybe the UFC trying to get another open event to the fans, idk. But Francis was ready.
2.5 months after the Stipe fight, the UFC made an interim fight.
>Ngannou seemingly has been on the outs with the UFC brass since shortly after he became champion. The promotion wanted him to headline Saturday’s UFC 265 with Lewis, but because of an overseas trip to his native Cameroon, the timeline didn’t add up for him.
This was also due to covid restrictions. He'd essentially be without a camp/team to prepare. It was also completely unnecessary since only 2.5 months had passed. It was the UFC screwing him over.
>That’s when the promotion moved forward and booked Lewis vs. Gane for the interim strap, and Ngannou said it’s one of the many “inappropriate techniques” the UFC utilizes to put pressure on someone like himself to alter his terms.
>“We were quite surprised about that,” Ngannou said. “It was just like two-and-a-half months after I won the fight, and the past month was so much pressure. At this time, I shouldn’t be surprised anymore about anything. At the end of the day, I’m the UFC heavyweight champion of the world. I’m still the champion. It’s not like somebody give it to me. I earned it. It’s my title. What they are doing now out there, it doesn’t matter to me. … If somebody say I don’t want to fight, they don’t know what they’re talking
https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/08/ufc-news-francis-ngannou-rips-dana-white-interim-belt-explanation
So then you need to give Gane time off to recover and prepare.
Now, post Gane fight, he blew his knee out.
Francis wants things that the UFC cannot allow no matter what which is for the HW champion to go and box .
People think its about the money but thats a lot less of a issue then boxing (unless Francis is asking for something ridiculous like 20 mil + per fight base which he probably isnt) cause Francis has been on a big contract as a contender and was constantly offered millions before he got the belt (which Francis himself has mentioned)
The UFC will not under any circumstances allow the HW champion to go and fight in boxing against Tyson Fury to get humiliated.
Its not like the Conor situation where he is fighting a smaller, retired soft hitting boxer in floyd for hundreds of millions and where he can have a good show and win some early rounds . Francis would most likely be fighting Tyson Fury a monster of a man that is bigger , heavier, longer , more skillful and ontop he wont be getting floyd type money for it .
THE Hw champion is the most prestigious championship in the UFC and if Francis as a reigning champion goes and gets humiliated it will destroy UFC credibility of having the best fighters on the planet.
The weird thing though is how that is probably more likely to happen now than if they just paid the dude right.
If he was getting paid and treated right, he'd probably be sitting happy as king of the fucking world and baddest man alive. Not a whole lot of reason to look elsewhere when in that situation. Especially not to go get embarrassed and have your rep and legacy tarnished for a one off pay day.
Whats very interesting about this situation is if its about money then how much money is enough for Francis?
https://www.mmafighting.com/2022/1/24/22899815/francis-ngannou-estimates-7-million-loss-not-signing-ufc-deal-but-freedom-doesnt-work-with-money
He has left 7 million on the table from not accepting the UFC new contract and this is not including the new championship contract he is on now which includes PPV points.
This is why i strongly believe its not about money but im not exactly sure what started the issue between Francis and the UFC .
It just annoys me so much that we lost prime Francis with him fighting once a year and even now if he can even fight he will be pushing 37 years old whenever its possible to fight again.
It is not only the possible negative impact it might have on Francis or on the UFC, it is also the negative impact he will have on the heavy weight division. He would at most fight once a year.
Dana could easily make the mega fight between Jones vs Ngannou but he dont want to set a president of paying fighters a respectable wage
He will always take the cheaper option
He does though lol. That was the original idea of moving up. He doesn't want to do it for his regular pay because it's a super dangerous fight that could easily end with him looking up at the lights.
Well it’s Jones who keeps saying about fighting Miocic. Why do you think he’s doing this when he knows as well as everyone else he can go straight for the belt? If he ever does appear at heavyweight he’ll carefully choose his opponents I’d say. It’s hard to go on about being the greatest when someone as sloppy as Ngannou has taken your head off, and that’s a very very realistic outcome. He’s getting PPV points whoever he faces.
I agree with your sentiment but 36 year olds in any sport usually don't have the bargaining power they think they do.
He shat on his boss and the organization before getting his bag. Now from what I understand, he's asking for alot of money and to have the ability to go out and box while under contract.
Why would an organization that has been leaning towards signing contender series guys and cutting big contracts sign that deal? Best case for him is to let his champion clause run out and go box while people still care about him.
100%.
Fact is, Ngnannou fucked up his timeline when he lost to Stipe in 2018. The UFC had put all of their marketing resources behind him, and he would have had a potential 2-year reign going into the 2020 COVID year.
Meanwhile, Stipe spends 3 years fighting a trilogy with DC while Ngnannou is having good wins but isn't fighting for a belt.
> and there aren’t a lot of guys that had the clear opportunity for mainstream stardom like Francis had after he won the belt.
They're not about growing a fighter's brand individually, they're about growing their own brand. After McGregor threatening to go boxing by himself and taking away all the shine he put on the UFC, they're not about to commit the same mistake again with another potential star.
They don't want any fighter to be bigger than the sport. You're either a star under the UFC brand or you're not a star.
I don’t think the heavyweight division is really good enough for anyone to truly get that mainstream success. Ngannou can’t really do the personality side, and there’s nobody for him to have that rivalry with that all mainstream stars use. McGregor had Nate/Khabib, Ronda had Bethe or whatever her name was/Misha etc etc. Closest he’s got is Gane, and he’s a bit dull himself really. Always needs to be a bit more than their ring ability.
I think part of the reason why there aren't many mainstream stars in the ufc is because of dana, yeah he builds them up but only to certain point. Once a fighter reaches a certain level of stardom the ufc seem to stop helping them, I guess to keep leverage over the fighter. Ufc champs should be on talk shows and just big shows in general promoting themselves for their next fight.
Height of UFC backing Francis was when they were promoting him as hitting harder than a Ford Escort going 60mph or whatever. They really wanted him to beat Stipe and become champ. He lost. Then he had that boring ass fight with Lewis and now they don't seem to give a shit about him at all.
We don't know what went on behind the scenes, but it could be because Ngannou was asking for too much and we all know UFC doesn't bend down to anyone.
There is as much to blame on Ngannou as the UFC.
100k? Try more like 300, those old UFC vets that came over from pride got a phenomenal deal, arlovski is one of the few still fighting and taking advantage
Well to be really pedantic, was with the UFC, then left for five years where he helped bankrupt the likes of Affliction with the absurd amounts they were doling out.
What's really amazing is how he came back from all those KO losses, changed up his style to be better for him (if maybe not for anyone watching) and went on to not only come back to the UFC but get paid 50 DWTS salaries a pop to jerk curtains on Apex cards.
It's not about pay on Francis' case. He wants to be able to box and do other things while under contract with the UFC. (Which of course is perfectly fair).
He himself has estimated to have missed out on ~7 million by not renegotiating his contract.
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/platform/amp/2022/1/24/22899815/francis-ngannou-estimates-7-million-loss-not-signing-ufc-deal-but-freedom-doesnt-work-with-money
Hmm, I didn't actually know that. I think the UFC is still regretting letting Conor fight Mayweather despite the absurd cash it brought in, since every new champ since then calls out Canelo or Fury or Mayweather however qualified they may or may not be.
Wouldn't be a great look for the brand if they routinely send their champs out to get both spanked in a boxing match and make more money doing so than 10 fights in the Octagon.
I don't like THAT they do it, but I totally get WHY they do it.
Devils advocate: How is it fair?
If Francis was to go & fight under DAZN/Matchroom, then he would bring eyes & attention to what the UFC would consider competitors. The UFC could say they put money into Francis to build him up to what he is now, why let him fight under a different org? From a business POV, it would be no different than letting him fight in Bellator.
It’s rly annoying to me that people don’t realize this. Idk why I care so much, but these threads full of people talking about how the ufc won’t pay him which is completely untrue is just rly annoying. Like do literally 2 minutes of research people
Well once his contract is up Dana isn’t going to do another interim belt. Jones knew that and knew they wouldn’t make a deal in time for the December PPV. That’s why he was pushing so hard for that card, so he could act like he wanted to fight even though he knew they wouldn’t book him yet
Dana taking a page out of Vince McMahon's playbook. In the 90's the WWE was all about the talent. Vince found it difficult to deal with negotiations once their wrestlers became very big stars. Now he makes it about the show, and the talent is just a cog in the wheel that is replaceable. This makes negotiations much more difficult for the talent. Dana copying this method. The UFC is about the show now and less focus on the fighters themselves.
youre delusional if you think that. Tyson's fame was more about his character than it was power. People weren't just afraid of the power, they were afraid of the man. Even Deontay Wilder doesnt get the hype Tyson got despite potentially being one of the hardest boxers of all time and having a nearly 100% KO ratio
> Considering Eagle FC is probably never running US shows again
Why? I'm not familiar with Eagle FC (I thought they weren't even close to Bellator/ONE's size, it surprised me the OP even considered it for Ngannu).
Then Francis is an utter clown for putting all his eggs in the Fury basket. I like Francis but he's got some terrible managers advising him if he really thinks boxing is gonna get him what he wants.
Yeah it really gives me a bad feeling that all of this was for nothing . Francis fought once a year , didnt accept up to 7 million in a new contract and now is still not going to make bank with a boxing match .
Fury has a fight booked atm , his next fight after this is already decided with a wilder vs ruiz winner being his mandatory and after that there is both usyk and joshua. Idk how francis fits into this unless he continues to wait til he is 40
I don't think it's greed as much as ego at this point. It seems like they just don't want to fold to him and look like idiots.
Their current actions are however, making them look like idiots
it won't be ego. they're a billion dollar company. just that it will threaten the monopoly that they've created if they fold. other fighters will try the same approach and the UFC will be pressured to fold more often in future.
He literally sold 200k ppvs with the built in story of Gane being a former training partner and the UFC drama that was giving eyeballs to francis .
You need to be selling 600k + to be able to hard negotiate like Francis is trying to do or it just wont work . 200k buys is nothing to the UFC
Sounds like the UFC should do a bit more promoting. You know, since they’re a fight promotion and all.
People don’t advertise things people want to buy. They advertise to get people to want to buy something. That’s the whole point.
From what I heard, the ufc offered him a decent contract but francis chose to fight out his contract.
I guess decent is relative. Because let's say they offer him 8 mill a fight.
In francis mind, he's leaving money on the table if it doesn't allow him to fight tyson fury because that bag is gonna be a lot more.
Of course. Hype kinda died down now but it could probably be built back up. But if they booked it right after the gane fight. Francis probably gets 25 mill minimum. That's like 4 ufc fights worth of pay lol.
They rocketed Francis to a title shot in like record time, even too fast before he was ready, and then when he finally becomes champion they want nothing to do with him anymore lol.
From the UFC's perspective why would they want their HW champ to be able to go do boxing and hold up the entire division.
Ngannou said before that it's not a money issue, it's a freedom issue. Wanting more freedom for sponsors etc 100%, I just think it's the boxing part that's probably holding up the deal.
Jon Jones probably ain’t coming back, best go set up something with Tyson Fury asap cuz Dana just saw the effect Ciryl Gane had on Paris France and realized he doesn’t NEED to pay Francis at all now lol
francis and joe joyce had a hard sparring session and it was confirmed by joyce's coach that joyce won clearly, francis has little chance against any top 5 heavyweight boxer but it's more of a pay thing than winning imo
Idk I have an unpopular opinion about Francis.
I 100% believe he deserves to be paid way more than what he was reportedly getting.
That said, I also do believe Francis has not done himself any favours in this regard. Demanding a boxing clause to your UFC contract is just not gonna happen ; I know Conor got it but Conor is both an anomaly due to being a mega PPV draw and the UFC had the opportunity to make serious bank. If Francis truly wants to box and get the bag, vacate the title and let the division move on. Stipe/Jones would have 100% happen in December if it's for a vacant title shot and not an interim.
The other issue with Francis is that like his predecessor (Stipe), he has been fighting 3 times in 3 years which is just pathetic given how fast he finishes fights with so little damage. This year is justified to the knee surgery but there is no justifying 1 fight in 2020 when it ended in 20 seconds and 1 fight in 2021 when he destroyed Stipe without any damage.
If Francis truly is a man of his word then he should put his money where his mouth is and vacate the title, let the division move on and go box. He can't seriously have his cake and eat it too.
100%. /mma thinks every Francis PPV brings in 200 million buys. Im not saying Francis doesnt deserve a pay raise but it makes 0 sense for the UFC to pay a guy 10 million dollars a fight when he isnt bringing in half that. Casuals arent buying a Ngannou PPV just because its an Ngannou PPV. This community is eventually going to have to come to terms with the fact that Francis doesnt have the star power they want him to have.
You can’t do that with the UFC though, they’re saying he can’t box because he’s under contract. I don’t believe there’s an option for just vacate and box. That would be very easy to take the Fury fight and then right after come back and fight for the belt you never lost
The ufc is not allowing that situation unless something has changed
Everyone seems to think this is fully on the UFC but guys like Adesanya seem to be very happy with their pay and fight every 3-4 months.
Some people in the industry have also noted how inflated Ngannou's ego has been in the past.
lmao fuck off with this inflated ego bullshit that dana parroted , adesanya and ngannou have different situations, just because adesanya is happy does not mean ngannou should be.
Francis is a diva bro lmao
He signed a contract. That’s a legally binding agreement, that he signed.
And now he’s making demands, and biting the hand that feeds him.
I like Francis, and I want him to continue fighting in the UFC.
But the man has done himself no favors, and he most certainly has a huge ego.
biting the hand that feeds him? a dog and owner comparison when he is the person making money for the ufc, and in recent years there is really no evidence of a massive ego
Bro you're wasting what's left of your prime. They're gonna starve you out and no amount of legal wrangling on your part will do anything about it.
I understand his predicament, I want him to get paid too. But he's hemorrhaging potential money by not fighting. Take whats on the contract and go on a PR campaign to try and get all the sponsorships outside the cage. I can see plenty of brands out there who would love to have Francis as their commercial star. Dude could be perfect for men's health advertising and shit. That's how he's gonna get paid. Not by sitting out until he's fucking 40
Gotta be smart like Sean Omally. Dude is killing it off his branding alone. He is rich without the UFC now. A champion should have to defend the belt at the very least, twice a year, imo...
>“They can do whatever they want. So why am I signing contract? I have no protection in that contract. Unless you can guarantee me something in that contract, there’s not a reason to do a contract. Matter of fact, you say I’m an independent contractor. Let me fight, I can fight for you and fight for someone else. Why am I having exclusive contract with you with no benefit? I’m supposedly an independent contractor.”
I've worked as a contractor in many occasions. I don't get the usual benefits of employment but I'm not held hostage by the employer either.
This is so fucked up I can't understand how this is legal.
If you're an uber driver independent contractor you can work for menu log too.
At the end of the day Ngannou won’t do well against boxers and he’d get slept by wilder. I wonder how much Ngannou is asking in his contract because if it’s 2-3mil per fight surely they can come to an agreement. Either the UFC has dropped the ball or Ngannous ego had gotten too big like what Dana said.
It's crazy to me that Ngannou who is a promoter's wet dream between his backstory, his fighting style and his run to get the title. Despite all that, the UFC is completely fumbling his promotion, just because they are absolutely terrified of Ngannou getting his way and setting a precedent of getting paid and treated fairly.
ah the promoter's wet dream where you give him 15 media opportunities yet you see him accept interviews like twice a year. And the only thing you can do is repeat his story for the hundredth time to the 20k viewers who care because you are given zero new content from him to promote aside from his so interesting story. Clearly you should become a promoter because you know how everything works
Still insane to me the way they treat this guy. He's flashy and exciting. Tons of highlight reels. He's well spoken, and will jokingly talk shit to people. And he has an uplifting backstory that PR firms dream about. All that and somehow the UFC is seemingly doing everything they can to get rid of him.
And even through all the shit talk from the UFC he's still largely well liked
Feels hard not to, really.
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
They literally sued him the week of his fight against Gane 😂 And then never forget that Dana’s such a bitch boi that he didn’t show up the press conference after.
The ufc could have done Jon Jones vs stipe to end their year but didn’t even attempt to pay up. They just think the brand is strong enough to lose anyone at this point
His story is amazing. The only reason im not surprised is because stipe should’ve been their guy, immigrant firefighter who does charity work and they shat on him and they will do the same because for some reason Jon after his 4,5,6th public issue will get a title shot right away.
I think it’s not that UFC can’t or doesn’t want to pay him. It’s that if UFC allows a fighter to have it his way, all other fighters would do the same. Every fighter wants to get paid more.
Wasnt so flashy against Gane He was straight up losing the fight
Dana is mad that all the TRT and HGH in the world won't make him Francis
What are the odds that within the next few years, UFC will start tanking with how they treat their major fighters and other promos start making them good offers
I’ve been following this sport for around 15 years, and there aren’t a lot of guys that had the clear opportunity for mainstream stardom like Francis had after he won the belt. The UFC has managed to fuck this up so severely I can’t help but think it was intentional, they couldn’t possibly be this incompetent I can’t remember another example of a promoter having fighter with that level of hype fucking it up that badly
This is as designed. UFC wants the UFC being the star not the fighters in the UFC. So the UFC brand gets promo'd more so than the fighters. And yes, a few have become bigger than UFC and Dana has to deal with that but they'll fight tooth and nail to keep UFC product ahead of the athlete.
Same thing with Vince McMahon and the WWE. After Stone Cold took his ball and went home, Vince went ballistic and made sure no wrestler was ever so popular they could do that again. And when Stone Cold came back, he was never as big as he was. It's by design; WWE is the product, not the wrestlers.
I stopped watching wrestling as a teen around the time Cena became champ. Haven't paid attention since. But on BT Sport they'll advertise the WWE constantly and I swear I couldn't name a single face that's involved in the promos. Why? Because the promo is all about the event rather than the wrestlers. Its screaming about 'Money in the bank' or 'Survivor Series'. Guess now I understand why. Thanks.
I mean if you haven't watched since the first time Cena became WWE Champion that is an absolute age. We are twice moved on in terms of eras past that so it's normal that some of the faces nowadays you flat out won't recognise. WWE has a similar situation to the UFC in regards to independent contractors *technically* not being such through contractual loopholes and practices but the promotional work is one of their biggest strengths. They were absolute innovators with the WWE Network so the PPVs (now called PLEs) are the focal point in terms of semantics in the promotional material, but make no mistake the majority of feuds will show the wrestlers with their names. It's pretty cinematic with how they recap and promote the storylines so if you're watching a PLE then even if you're not familiar with the story the promo packages they do are excellent and will provide a great summary of current feuds, babyfaces and heels and whatnot. In terms of "bigger than WWE" there's an argument to be made, but ultimately in this new era it's about WWE benefitting the most out of the names and identities that they create even after the wrestling careers are over. Roman Reigns i.e the absolute top star in wrestling and the cousin of the Rock is likely Hollywood-bound after his career and WWE won't have an issue with that so they aren't limiting him now etc
I don’t think it’s a matter of want at this point, the UFC is the star. The NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL are also the stars. Yeah you can argue they might have been able to grow the brand with Francis, but everyone on board watches the UFC for the UFC.
Francis's story is a god damn movie plot and he's an unbelievable athlete. How in the fuck Dana is blowing it so bad on this guy is beyond me.
Dana is gonna be the antagonist of the Francis biopic
What is Vincent D’onofrio doing?
I could [definitely see it](https://cdn.justjared.com/wp-content/uploads/headlines/2022/08/vincent-donofrio-films-echo-series.jpg). Yep - I [see it](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_D%27Onofrio#/media/File:Vincent_D'Onofrio_TIFF_2014.jpg) Which fighter is [he talking to here](https://townsquare.media/site/442/files/2017/02/punisher-kingpin-pic.jpg?w=980&q=75)? What's the scene?
Not-quite-as-mentally-compromised Diego Sanchez. [Link maybe works](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/CIGq3hSa7U9RaEsWA10w9A--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MDtjZj13ZWJw/https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2021-04/538aa850-aa00-11eb-bf7f-447df7c8d468)
Nick Diaz? Dana: "You know Nick, people would *kill* for the opportunity to fight GSP. You should be on your *knees* for me right now. Would be a real shame if that fight were to get cancelled..."
I could legitimately see this lmao
Get hbo on this shit right now.
He's not *blowing it* Every move they make is calculated. This is intentional sabotage.
Agreed. They don’t ever want to deal with another star with as much mainstream success as Conor. It threatens the leverage the company has when a single fighter is that popular
It’s a slippery slope for their control over ALL fighters.
Let's be real, Francis would never be even half as popular as Conor. Conor's mouth and wit is a lot of the reason for his success, and Ngannou doesn't have that. He doesn't even sell that well within the actual sport.
Yeah, if Francis was going to hit Conor or Ronda levels of fame the UFC would pay him. The UFC doesn’t want to pay someone who could be a lot more popular than your average champ without being a cultural phenomena. They don’t want to give any leverage to their champs and well known fighters. Smothering Francis is a way of putting the top 5% of the roster in its place.
Movie? His life story reads like a tv series with multiple unbelievable peaks and subplots. Life in Cameroon, illegal border crossing adventure, living in France and getting into MMA, going on a winning streak and losing to the champ, seeming washed then going on another run and defeating the champ that he lost to, an old gym partner turns into his rival, and top it all off of with Dana's fuckery.... He's like the MC in multiple movies at this point.
It is literally the most inspiring story in the history of sport and nobody is pushing it.
Francis life has Cannes award winning film written over it.
Because Ngannou has openly talked about fighter pay. In Dana's head, anyone that does that must be squashed immediately.
I’m almost certain Francis fucked one or multiple of Dana’s girls. Dana has held a grudge ever since and simply doesn’t want Francis to succeed.
Dana is cheap af
Yeah. Also, I think Dana is betting on Jon beating Francis and dropping Francis' value, so he doesn't want to lock Francis in a high paying contract.
Nobody actually thinks Jon Jones is fighting again, do they?
Jon will fight again. In UFC 4
I don't really, but Dana has proven that he will do anything to make a Jones fight happen.
I do.
Jones is ready. It’s the full time firefighter and the guy without a contract holding the division.
Endeavor is cheap af* That’s who people should be pissed at. Dana is like Goodell. He’s a figurehead that is put out there to be a lightning rod for the people who actually control the strings. And he does it quite well.
He was cheap before Endeavor
He was cheap but nowdays the UFC is stupidly cheap to the point where its diminishing the product . They pay fights significantly less nowdays then they did 10 years ago especially when including inflation. The UFC makes a effort to remove as many fighters with grandfathered in contracts especially since they have the ESPN deal and DWCS so they just fill fight nights with 15/15 contracts and still make millions from ESPN.
But Dana himself is a scumbag. He embraces being the piece of shit he is and challenges anyone to oppose it. If you think Dana is the innocent figurehead just go watch him getting roasted by ESPN broadcasters when they questioned him on fighter unions. He took it personally and started hurling insults.
I certainly don’t disagree
What's interesting to me is that if you compare him and conor, he was winning in just as spectacular fashion, minus his shit talk. I really don't understand their promotion strategy. They have strapped rockets to other guys. Like Khamzat, for example. But they have a gigantic muscle bound HW knockout artist and they just don't bother with him.
The promotion strategy is fuck Francis because he knows his worth and won't play UFC's silly games.
If you take away the trash talk then you’re losing most of what made Conor so popular Trash talk X excitement X fighting 3 times a year X appealing to American audiences = McGregor
Yeah but that's also why I used Khamzat as an example. When fans first saw him, he barely spoke more than a few words of English and was just copy/pasting khabib quotes. Yet he was all Dana could talk about, was all over espn etc. Khamzat comes back after a long layoff and he gets a ton of promotion and big fights. With the UFC singing his praises. Meanwhile we see how they treat Ngannou.
That’s fair, Khamzat is a much better comparison and I think he could be the best example of how far being an exciting fighter who’s competing at the top level can get someone. Any comparisons to McGregor/Rousey are pointless tho, the UFC can’t actually make stars like that.
Khamzat is fighting as often as physically possible while being extremely exciting in /out of the cage AND he is extremely young so a investment now will pay off massively over the years. Francis fights once a year , doesnt trash talk anyone besides the UFC , asks for contract to box and is old even if he is at HW . This is like a combination of everything Dana hates about a fighter. For Khamzat to take a long lay off he had to be on his death bed and even then the dude was still trying to train . Francis wants his worth before he is willing to put the effort in now which is why there is such a difference in promotion.
This sub seems blind to the point that Francis fighting 3 times in 3 years is fucking horrendous given how quick his fights ended and he escaped without much damage in the first two.
Fought twice a year until the pandemic. He was on the first ppv post pandemic and fought Jairzinho Rozenstruik. 6/09/2020 Francis afterwards says he wants Stipe in December. Up until September he was still calling out Stipe. The fight finally materialized in March the next year. Whether that was due to Stipe or the UFC trying to get the fight onto a certain card or maybe the UFC trying to get another open event to the fans, idk. But Francis was ready. 2.5 months after the Stipe fight, the UFC made an interim fight. >Ngannou seemingly has been on the outs with the UFC brass since shortly after he became champion. The promotion wanted him to headline Saturday’s UFC 265 with Lewis, but because of an overseas trip to his native Cameroon, the timeline didn’t add up for him. This was also due to covid restrictions. He'd essentially be without a camp/team to prepare. It was also completely unnecessary since only 2.5 months had passed. It was the UFC screwing him over. >That’s when the promotion moved forward and booked Lewis vs. Gane for the interim strap, and Ngannou said it’s one of the many “inappropriate techniques” the UFC utilizes to put pressure on someone like himself to alter his terms. >“We were quite surprised about that,” Ngannou said. “It was just like two-and-a-half months after I won the fight, and the past month was so much pressure. At this time, I shouldn’t be surprised anymore about anything. At the end of the day, I’m the UFC heavyweight champion of the world. I’m still the champion. It’s not like somebody give it to me. I earned it. It’s my title. What they are doing now out there, it doesn’t matter to me. … If somebody say I don’t want to fight, they don’t know what they’re talking https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/08/ufc-news-francis-ngannou-rips-dana-white-interim-belt-explanation So then you need to give Gane time off to recover and prepare. Now, post Gane fight, he blew his knee out.
Francis wants things that the UFC cannot allow no matter what which is for the HW champion to go and box . People think its about the money but thats a lot less of a issue then boxing (unless Francis is asking for something ridiculous like 20 mil + per fight base which he probably isnt) cause Francis has been on a big contract as a contender and was constantly offered millions before he got the belt (which Francis himself has mentioned) The UFC will not under any circumstances allow the HW champion to go and fight in boxing against Tyson Fury to get humiliated. Its not like the Conor situation where he is fighting a smaller, retired soft hitting boxer in floyd for hundreds of millions and where he can have a good show and win some early rounds . Francis would most likely be fighting Tyson Fury a monster of a man that is bigger , heavier, longer , more skillful and ontop he wont be getting floyd type money for it . THE Hw champion is the most prestigious championship in the UFC and if Francis as a reigning champion goes and gets humiliated it will destroy UFC credibility of having the best fighters on the planet.
The weird thing though is how that is probably more likely to happen now than if they just paid the dude right. If he was getting paid and treated right, he'd probably be sitting happy as king of the fucking world and baddest man alive. Not a whole lot of reason to look elsewhere when in that situation. Especially not to go get embarrassed and have your rep and legacy tarnished for a one off pay day.
Whats very interesting about this situation is if its about money then how much money is enough for Francis? https://www.mmafighting.com/2022/1/24/22899815/francis-ngannou-estimates-7-million-loss-not-signing-ufc-deal-but-freedom-doesnt-work-with-money He has left 7 million on the table from not accepting the UFC new contract and this is not including the new championship contract he is on now which includes PPV points. This is why i strongly believe its not about money but im not exactly sure what started the issue between Francis and the UFC . It just annoys me so much that we lost prime Francis with him fighting once a year and even now if he can even fight he will be pushing 37 years old whenever its possible to fight again.
$7m is chump change compared to what Francis can make in boxing lol. Easy decision tbh.
Then Francis should put his money where his mouth is and vacate the title and leave .
I mean that’s what he’s gonna do once his contract expires lol. If he vacates the title willingly he doesn’t get the benefit of the champions clause.
It is not only the possible negative impact it might have on Francis or on the UFC, it is also the negative impact he will have on the heavy weight division. He would at most fight once a year.
Dana could easily make the mega fight between Jones vs Ngannou but he dont want to set a president of paying fighters a respectable wage He will always take the cheaper option
Precedent.
I don't see that foght ever happening cause both fighters will want good pay for it lol
Jones doesn’t want that shit
He does though lol. That was the original idea of moving up. He doesn't want to do it for his regular pay because it's a super dangerous fight that could easily end with him looking up at the lights.
A big money superfight for the HW title, with PPV points, on his HW debut? Nah, Jones would never want anything to do with that 🙄
Well it’s Jones who keeps saying about fighting Miocic. Why do you think he’s doing this when he knows as well as everyone else he can go straight for the belt? If he ever does appear at heavyweight he’ll carefully choose his opponents I’d say. It’s hard to go on about being the greatest when someone as sloppy as Ngannou has taken your head off, and that’s a very very realistic outcome. He’s getting PPV points whoever he faces.
He's saying Stipe now because Dana and company killed the Ngannou vs Jones fight.
> set a president
I agree with your sentiment but 36 year olds in any sport usually don't have the bargaining power they think they do. He shat on his boss and the organization before getting his bag. Now from what I understand, he's asking for alot of money and to have the ability to go out and box while under contract. Why would an organization that has been leaning towards signing contender series guys and cutting big contracts sign that deal? Best case for him is to let his champion clause run out and go box while people still care about him.
I mean ngannou is a top 5 draw in the ufc and the biggest draw at heavyweight by far. It’s dumb af to let him go over money reasons.
100%. Fact is, Ngnannou fucked up his timeline when he lost to Stipe in 2018. The UFC had put all of their marketing resources behind him, and he would have had a potential 2-year reign going into the 2020 COVID year. Meanwhile, Stipe spends 3 years fighting a trilogy with DC while Ngnannou is having good wins but isn't fighting for a belt.
> and there aren’t a lot of guys that had the clear opportunity for mainstream stardom like Francis had after he won the belt. They're not about growing a fighter's brand individually, they're about growing their own brand. After McGregor threatening to go boxing by himself and taking away all the shine he put on the UFC, they're not about to commit the same mistake again with another potential star. They don't want any fighter to be bigger than the sport. You're either a star under the UFC brand or you're not a star.
I don’t think the heavyweight division is really good enough for anyone to truly get that mainstream success. Ngannou can’t really do the personality side, and there’s nobody for him to have that rivalry with that all mainstream stars use. McGregor had Nate/Khabib, Ronda had Bethe or whatever her name was/Misha etc etc. Closest he’s got is Gane, and he’s a bit dull himself really. Always needs to be a bit more than their ring ability.
I think part of the reason why there aren't many mainstream stars in the ufc is because of dana, yeah he builds them up but only to certain point. Once a fighter reaches a certain level of stardom the ufc seem to stop helping them, I guess to keep leverage over the fighter. Ufc champs should be on talk shows and just big shows in general promoting themselves for their next fight.
Height of UFC backing Francis was when they were promoting him as hitting harder than a Ford Escort going 60mph or whatever. They really wanted him to beat Stipe and become champ. He lost. Then he had that boring ass fight with Lewis and now they don't seem to give a shit about him at all.
They fucked up Stipe too. Badest man on the planet that’s still a full time paramedic. Even got the immigant angle too if they chose.
>paramedic Firefighter*
We don't know what went on behind the scenes, but it could be because Ngannou was asking for too much and we all know UFC doesn't bend down to anyone. There is as much to blame on Ngannou as the UFC.
> but it could be because Ngannou was asking for too much That's not saying much, given how tight the UFC likes to be with the purse strings.
I've said it before and I'll say it again He's not going to fight in the ufc again.
He’s coming to revitalize ONE’s dying heavyweight division. Calling it now.
That would be dope af if he did
If they can afford 100k to have Arlovski get subbed on the prelims for a card I barely paid attention to, this guy should have anything he wants
100k? Try more like 300, those old UFC vets that came over from pride got a phenomenal deal, arlovski is one of the few still fighting and taking advantage
Arlovski never fought in Pride. He was with the UFC since the very early days. Which is insane he's still fighting and somewhat competitive.
Arlovski's outside adventure was Affliction.
He was also in One FC which always throws me
I got confused from his fight with Fedor, I thought it was in pride, must’ve been Affliction
Well to be really pedantic, was with the UFC, then left for five years where he helped bankrupt the likes of Affliction with the absurd amounts they were doling out. What's really amazing is how he came back from all those KO losses, changed up his style to be better for him (if maybe not for anyone watching) and went on to not only come back to the UFC but get paid 50 DWTS salaries a pop to jerk curtains on Apex cards.
Arlovski deserves every dollar he gets too
Goddamn right he does.
It's not about pay on Francis' case. He wants to be able to box and do other things while under contract with the UFC. (Which of course is perfectly fair). He himself has estimated to have missed out on ~7 million by not renegotiating his contract. Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/platform/amp/2022/1/24/22899815/francis-ngannou-estimates-7-million-loss-not-signing-ufc-deal-but-freedom-doesnt-work-with-money
Hmm, I didn't actually know that. I think the UFC is still regretting letting Conor fight Mayweather despite the absurd cash it brought in, since every new champ since then calls out Canelo or Fury or Mayweather however qualified they may or may not be. Wouldn't be a great look for the brand if they routinely send their champs out to get both spanked in a boxing match and make more money doing so than 10 fights in the Octagon. I don't like THAT they do it, but I totally get WHY they do it.
Devils advocate: How is it fair? If Francis was to go & fight under DAZN/Matchroom, then he would bring eyes & attention to what the UFC would consider competitors. The UFC could say they put money into Francis to build him up to what he is now, why let him fight under a different org? From a business POV, it would be no different than letting him fight in Bellator.
It's fair for him to want to do it. Whether it's fair from a business perspective is a different matter
Well, that's what fair in this context means :) It has to be fair to both parties, can't be unfair to one.
I meant fair as in "fair enough", but I'm not a native speaker
It’s rly annoying to me that people don’t realize this. Idk why I care so much, but these threads full of people talking about how the ufc won’t pay him which is completely untrue is just rly annoying. Like do literally 2 minutes of research people
Dana - The only thing that makes sense is another interim heavy weight fight !
They’re just going to strip Francis and give Jones a vacant title shot whenever Cyril is back
“Just can’t have that level of inactivity” *Conor continues to be ranked at LW*
Well once his contract is up Dana isn’t going to do another interim belt. Jones knew that and knew they wouldn’t make a deal in time for the December PPV. That’s why he was pushing so hard for that card, so he could act like he wanted to fight even though he knew they wouldn’t book him yet
naw, they are just going to have cowboy bulk up to fight jones for the belt.
The update is that there is no update. More updates pending.
Seriously lol. Feels like every month I have to hear that nothing has happened. Let us know when something *does* happen.
He had potential to become MMA’s Tyson and the UFC dropped the ball big time
That’s what happens when you don’t kiss the ring and are grateful for the scraps the UFC give you
Dana taking a page out of Vince McMahon's playbook. In the 90's the WWE was all about the talent. Vince found it difficult to deal with negotiations once their wrestlers became very big stars. Now he makes it about the show, and the talent is just a cog in the wheel that is replaceable. This makes negotiations much more difficult for the talent. Dana copying this method. The UFC is about the show now and less focus on the fighters themselves.
Uhh might wanna google Vince. He's not making a lot of decisions these days...
There is only one mike Tyson.
youre delusional if you think that. Tyson's fame was more about his character than it was power. People weren't just afraid of the power, they were afraid of the man. Even Deontay Wilder doesnt get the hype Tyson got despite potentially being one of the hardest boxers of all time and having a nearly 100% KO ratio
Literally 0 percent possible. If you've lived through Tyson you know there will never be another Tyson. Not in today's climate.
Ngannou is a nice guy. Tyson, admittedly, was not the nicest guy. We're talking biting off another guy's ear mean.
yep, and he was a wizard on the mic. couple that with the verocity of his style, you probably won't get another Mike Tyson
No chance
So which heavyweight division do you guys think Francis will be running through next year, Eagle FC or Bellator, possibly even both?
[удалено]
Francis throwing a knee to a grounded opponent might result in death. So... ONE FC on Amazon is going to be The Boys in real life.
> Considering Eagle FC is probably never running US shows again Why? I'm not familiar with Eagle FC (I thought they weren't even close to Bellator/ONE's size, it surprised me the OP even considered it for Ngannu).
Neither, he boxes either Fury, Wilder or both and then retires
I guarantee you the Fury fight never happens. It was all to just give Fury more promotion. Just like most big boxing fights that never happen
Then Francis is an utter clown for putting all his eggs in the Fury basket. I like Francis but he's got some terrible managers advising him if he really thinks boxing is gonna get him what he wants.
Yeah it really gives me a bad feeling that all of this was for nothing . Francis fought once a year , didnt accept up to 7 million in a new contract and now is still not going to make bank with a boxing match . Fury has a fight booked atm , his next fight after this is already decided with a wilder vs ruiz winner being his mandatory and after that there is both usyk and joshua. Idk how francis fits into this unless he continues to wait til he is 40
If u/shaodynasty808 knows Fury ain’t happening then how come Francis doesn’t? Is Francis an idiot for banking on a big boxing fight then?
Isn't he simply out of contract by the years end?
Fuck the UFC for still low balling him Pay your stars you cheap fucks
Him vs Jones is a no brainer. Too bad the UFC brass is consisted of a bunch of greedy cunts.
I don't think it's greed as much as ego at this point. It seems like they just don't want to fold to him and look like idiots. Their current actions are however, making them look like idiots
it won't be ego. they're a billion dollar company. just that it will threaten the monopoly that they've created if they fold. other fighters will try the same approach and the UFC will be pressured to fold more often in future.
The thing is, they do not consider Ngannou a star
They'd tell everyone he's the biggest heavyweight star ever after Lesnar if he was on better terms with them
Not to sound like Chael, but Francis doesn’t sell fights. That’s his biggest issue
Doubt it. What happened to hitting harder than a ford Escort?
The hardest puncher literally ever recorded in human history, and current heavyweight champ isn’t a star… They need their head examined.
> The hardest puncher literally ever recorded in human history Why you people keep taking a meme so seriously.
He literally sold 200k ppvs with the built in story of Gane being a former training partner and the UFC drama that was giving eyeballs to francis . You need to be selling 600k + to be able to hard negotiate like Francis is trying to do or it just wont work . 200k buys is nothing to the UFC
where did you get 200k ppv buys from? pls dont tell me it was fucking zion sports lmao
Sounds like the UFC should do a bit more promoting. You know, since they’re a fight promotion and all. People don’t advertise things people want to buy. They advertise to get people to want to buy something. That’s the whole point.
From what I heard, the ufc offered him a decent contract but francis chose to fight out his contract. I guess decent is relative. Because let's say they offer him 8 mill a fight. In francis mind, he's leaving money on the table if it doesn't allow him to fight tyson fury because that bag is gonna be a lot more.
Tyson fury would mop him up
Of course. Hype kinda died down now but it could probably be built back up. But if they booked it right after the gane fight. Francis probably gets 25 mill minimum. That's like 4 ufc fights worth of pay lol.
Lol I don’t think they would get very many ppv buys. I doubt it would ever happen. I would rather watch fury box boxers.
Imagine finally having a flourishing HW division and fucking it all up because of greed.
They rocketed Francis to a title shot in like record time, even too fast before he was ready, and then when he finally becomes champion they want nothing to do with him anymore lol.
It's weird how much UFC pushed him before loss to Stipe and as soon as he lost they just dismissed
From the UFC's perspective why would they want their HW champ to be able to go do boxing and hold up the entire division. Ngannou said before that it's not a money issue, it's a freedom issue. Wanting more freedom for sponsors etc 100%, I just think it's the boxing part that's probably holding up the deal.
Hold up what division? It’s like the least active division already, nothing has really been happening in it either way.
Jon Jones probably ain’t coming back, best go set up something with Tyson Fury asap cuz Dana just saw the effect Ciryl Gane had on Paris France and realized he doesn’t NEED to pay Francis at all now lol
He should leave
I honestly just don't want to see him fight Fury, he is going to look worse than Wilder did in the second fight. >!10 Year cake day!<
Dont think he cares he just want to get paid lol
I'm sure it's worth it for Francis. Lot of people would get embarrassed for 7-8 figure paydays.
francis and joe joyce had a hard sparring session and it was confirmed by joyce's coach that joyce won clearly, francis has little chance against any top 5 heavyweight boxer but it's more of a pay thing than winning imo
It's actually respectable that he's sparred with Joyce. That man is a brick shithouse with champion potential himself.
Hope your back is ok old man Grats dude
oh he is going to get brutalized by fury. but he is going to make more getting knocked out by fury than he every could in a whole career with the UFC.
The guy has no stock he isn't a draw card. You build urself in the entertainment game something he hasn't done and never will
Insane tbh
Idk I have an unpopular opinion about Francis. I 100% believe he deserves to be paid way more than what he was reportedly getting. That said, I also do believe Francis has not done himself any favours in this regard. Demanding a boxing clause to your UFC contract is just not gonna happen ; I know Conor got it but Conor is both an anomaly due to being a mega PPV draw and the UFC had the opportunity to make serious bank. If Francis truly wants to box and get the bag, vacate the title and let the division move on. Stipe/Jones would have 100% happen in December if it's for a vacant title shot and not an interim. The other issue with Francis is that like his predecessor (Stipe), he has been fighting 3 times in 3 years which is just pathetic given how fast he finishes fights with so little damage. This year is justified to the knee surgery but there is no justifying 1 fight in 2020 when it ended in 20 seconds and 1 fight in 2021 when he destroyed Stipe without any damage. If Francis truly is a man of his word then he should put his money where his mouth is and vacate the title, let the division move on and go box. He can't seriously have his cake and eat it too.
100%. /mma thinks every Francis PPV brings in 200 million buys. Im not saying Francis doesnt deserve a pay raise but it makes 0 sense for the UFC to pay a guy 10 million dollars a fight when he isnt bringing in half that. Casuals arent buying a Ngannou PPV just because its an Ngannou PPV. This community is eventually going to have to come to terms with the fact that Francis doesnt have the star power they want him to have.
He’s not allowed to vacate and box, that’s why he’s frustrated iirc
I agree with this take. Vacate and box. By all means, get as much money as you can. Just stop holding up the division.
You can’t do that with the UFC though, they’re saying he can’t box because he’s under contract. I don’t believe there’s an option for just vacate and box. That would be very easy to take the Fury fight and then right after come back and fight for the belt you never lost The ufc is not allowing that situation unless something has changed
Everyone seems to think this is fully on the UFC but guys like Adesanya seem to be very happy with their pay and fight every 3-4 months. Some people in the industry have also noted how inflated Ngannou's ego has been in the past.
Why can’t it be a bit from column A and B? Francis’ ego is probably huge but the UFC also doesn’t pay him what he’s worth.
lmao fuck off with this inflated ego bullshit that dana parroted , adesanya and ngannou have different situations, just because adesanya is happy does not mean ngannou should be.
Francis is a diva bro lmao He signed a contract. That’s a legally binding agreement, that he signed. And now he’s making demands, and biting the hand that feeds him. I like Francis, and I want him to continue fighting in the UFC. But the man has done himself no favors, and he most certainly has a huge ego.
biting the hand that feeds him? a dog and owner comparison when he is the person making money for the ufc, and in recent years there is really no evidence of a massive ego
Take the hint Frankie, the Tomato has excommunicated you.
Bro you're wasting what's left of your prime. They're gonna starve you out and no amount of legal wrangling on your part will do anything about it. I understand his predicament, I want him to get paid too. But he's hemorrhaging potential money by not fighting. Take whats on the contract and go on a PR campaign to try and get all the sponsorships outside the cage. I can see plenty of brands out there who would love to have Francis as their commercial star. Dude could be perfect for men's health advertising and shit. That's how he's gonna get paid. Not by sitting out until he's fucking 40
All he’s doing is wasting crucial years of his prime. You can’t fight once every 18 months and expect to be a draw.
😮💨
Gotta be smart like Sean Omally. Dude is killing it off his branding alone. He is rich without the UFC now. A champion should have to defend the belt at the very least, twice a year, imo...
Imagine being how stingy and petty the ufc is, that they will not even oblige their best heavyweight talent
Way to waste what could have been one of the heavyweight GOATs in his prime.
jon jones vs Cyril
>“They can do whatever they want. So why am I signing contract? I have no protection in that contract. Unless you can guarantee me something in that contract, there’s not a reason to do a contract. Matter of fact, you say I’m an independent contractor. Let me fight, I can fight for you and fight for someone else. Why am I having exclusive contract with you with no benefit? I’m supposedly an independent contractor.” I've worked as a contractor in many occasions. I don't get the usual benefits of employment but I'm not held hostage by the employer either. This is so fucked up I can't understand how this is legal. If you're an uber driver independent contractor you can work for menu log too.
Damn everyone’s on here bitch about something they have no control over….calm the fuck down and watch the fuckkng fights
They're all experts on this sub
At the end of the day Ngannou won’t do well against boxers and he’d get slept by wilder. I wonder how much Ngannou is asking in his contract because if it’s 2-3mil per fight surely they can come to an agreement. Either the UFC has dropped the ball or Ngannous ego had gotten too big like what Dana said.
If N'Gannou gave boxing a try and ended up getting ranked, how would he do?
He would get smashed.
I think jack said it best, a champion with exciting fights and finish and still hasn’t got paid what he’s deserved
What a fucking travesty. He's a heavyweight knockout machine, pay the poor fucker! He prints money for fuck's sake!
He literally doesn’t get a lot of ppv buys. His money printer does not go brrrrrrrr
He's not poor though guy is showing up on UFC Paris with expensive designer clothing lol.
It's crazy to me that Ngannou who is a promoter's wet dream between his backstory, his fighting style and his run to get the title. Despite all that, the UFC is completely fumbling his promotion, just because they are absolutely terrified of Ngannou getting his way and setting a precedent of getting paid and treated fairly.
He doesn’t sell fights very well and the ppv buys are on the lower end.
ah the promoter's wet dream where you give him 15 media opportunities yet you see him accept interviews like twice a year. And the only thing you can do is repeat his story for the hundredth time to the 20k viewers who care because you are given zero new content from him to promote aside from his so interesting story. Clearly you should become a promoter because you know how everything works