Francis Ngannou reveals nasty things about professional MMA business

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Cameroon’s Francis Ngannou said that the professional MMA business can be more nasty than many fighters know, and went a little further.

Ngannou who sees himself as a businessman is a familiar name following his stunning performance against Tyson Fury last year’s October.

Coming into boxing’s heavyweight division as a debutant and also a self-dethroned MMA heavyweight, Ngannou nearly beat WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury before a narrow split decision came to the rescue.

The match was made possible after he left the UFC, following disagreements over financial matters. Speaking on his YouTube channel recently, the new heavyweight boxer said:

‘I had a lot of controversial opinions about my career decisions because most of those things was about my career this year.

‘Then negotiations with different organizations that were interested. 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. But it’s a good part of the learning process.

‘Becoming a fighter and stepping into that position is something you are not educated about. Most fighters never get educated, and that’s wh,y for the most part, fighters keep getting screwed.’

Several companies came to woo the MMA professional, as he said, but he accepted the Professional Fighters League (PFL). One of the things the company offered was a chance for pro fighters to participate in boxing and MMA at the same time.

Ngannou’s decision to join them might have been linked to his dream to be a pro boxer. His choice also brought him opportunity to become the most respected fighter in the PFL and the potential manager of PFL Africa.

‘I’m lucky I got into the position where I had to learn that, and then comes the PFL with a great offer, a great contract and a great opportunity that I couldn’t turn down,’ he later added.

Ngannou had several fight propositions last year from fighters like Deontay Wilder, Derek Chisora, Anthony Joshua, and Zheilei Zhang. However, the businessman announced he was not going to box anymore till after a rematch with Tyson Fury.

This rematch might take long to come by since the Brit has his plate full after having to fight Oleksander Usyk this coming February, and to either defend the IBF belt next or have a rematch with Usyk.

This could possibly make Fury unavailable all year, but Ngannou intends to confine his competitions to the octagon as he awaits his rematch.