Israel Adesanya believes Francis Ngannou’s move to PFL will have an impact on other organizations.
Ngannou parted ways with the UFC after asking for multiple requirements that weren’t met for a new deal. PFL granted Ngannou those requests, which gave him equity and a leadership role within the promotion, as well as the flexibility to do boxing.
Adesanya is excited for his good friend and fellow African fighter, but he specifically didn’t like the way ONE Championship portrayed the negotiations. CEO Chatri Sityodtong said ONE withdrew from the running, which Ngannou later revealed was not true.
“Stoked,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “What I didn’t like, I’ll say, is f*cking what ONE did. Francis put it out to them first, ‘This is the offer I have on the table. Can you match this?’ They couldn’t match it and then they put out that statement saying, ‘We are withdrawing,’ and everyone tried to harp on about it. I just thought that was shady. They didn’t have to do that.”
Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion, will also serve on the PFL advisory board to represent fighter interests and has negotiated an undisclosed minimum purse for his fights, as well as a minimum of $2 million for his opponents.
“It’s good news. It’s good for the game, I think,” Adesanya said. “What I really liked is how his opponent is guaranteed a million. That’s cool. What he’s doing with PFL Africa … you can see the potential already. PFL Africa, and Francis has a seat at the board, or at the table.
“This thing about his opponent is guaranteed a million, how many fighters are gonna be like, ‘Right, I need to get to the PFL. I wanna fight Francis,’ because now Francis is the guy, the money fight. That’s another twist on it that I like.”
Adesanya expects Ngannou’s new deal to affect the UFC in some shape or form – whether now or in the long run.
“I think the UFC, they’re not dumb,” Adesanya said. “They’ll take notice. They know how to adapt, and when something like this happens in another field, it creates a big ripple in the game, and a big enough ripple can force the UFC to change the way – even like a small change.”
“… This is a big f*cking move,” Adesanya continued. “It causes a ripple that forces change.”
