Conor McGregor has offered Francis Ngannou a spot on his management stable after the UFC heavyweight champion decided that he was leaving MMA's No.1 promotion.
Ngannou came to the end of his contract having never lost his UFC title, meaning that he had considerable leverage in a negotiation with the company for his new deal. However, terms could not be agreed between the parties and the Cameroonian decided that he would leave, with the promotion offering him an immediate release.
And McGregor has taken to social media to offer Ngannou help, telling him that he must seek out his Paradigm Sports management company, where he is the star client. Paradigm is home to some of the biggest fighters in the world, and the Irishman seemed surprised upon hearing that the heavyweight champion had represented himself in negotiations.
Responding to a post from MMAFighting, who were quoting Ngannou's interview on The MMA Hour last night which was his first public comment since leaving the UFC, McGregor wrote in an Instagram story: "Correct representation is imperative. Seek Paradigm Sports!"
Ngannou had made a number of demands beyond simply being paid better, having made just $600,000 for his last world title defence against Ciryl Gane. He would have been paid in the region of $8million to face legendary light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones had he signed, which would put him above Brock Lesnar as the highest paid heavyweight in UFC history.
But he wanted more than simply money, instead demanding long-term changes for fighters as well as an unique contract that would have allowed him more freedom as an 'independent contractor'. All UFC fighters are technically contractors, not employees, but sign rigid exclusive deals with the promotion that bar them from doing much outside of the the promotion's own octagon.
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"There was a lot of them," he responded when host Ariel Helwani asked what the sticking points were in his negotiation. "What I have learned is that you don't go to the negotiation table expecting to get everything that you want. But at least you want the other side to show a willingness to at least try.
"I asked for a lot of things, which doesn't mean I was expecting all of those things, but I expected at least one or two of those things. I asked for a right to sponsorship, which we've been ripped of, we can't have sponsorship. I asked for health insurance, which we don't have, and I asked for somebody in the board meetings, a fighter advocate.
"I couldn't have that stuff that I asked for, but I just wanted to know that some stuff that I do want would at least be in consideration. They said, 'no, we don't do business like that'. I said, 'yes, I can pay my health insurance', because at this point for me it's not a problem, but how about those guys that are at the bottom making $10,000 plus $10,000, or if they lose a fight $10,000? They can't really afford that."
