Francis Ngannou: How To Be A Winner
At UFC 260 in March 2021 Francis Ngannou knocked out Stipe Miocic, the consesus greatest heavweight in UFC history, to win the UFC heavweight belt. He then defended his belt on one lousy knee and utilized his often unneeded wrestling game to win rounds three, four, and five against Cyril Gane, who was beating him in the first two rounds. Ngannou, after successfully defeating Gane via unanimous decision at UFC 270, immediately became embroiled in contract negotiations with the UFC. After months of negotiations that led nowhere, Ngannou relinquished his Heavyweight title and became a free agent. From that point until now, Francis Ngannou was seen as a madman for leaving the UFC, but he was smarter than all of us, and he was not done winning just yet.
When Francis Ngannou walked away from the UFC on January 14th of this year, he had bigger and better things on his mind. Ngannou, ever since his tumultuous journey fleeing from Cameroon to France, wanted to be a boxer. Ngannou had fled Cameroon, found a home in France, and trained to be a boxer when his coaches told him he should try MMA. He did, and he was terrific at it. He made his way to the UFC in December 2015. and in seven years, he, and his coaches, built him into the scariest knockout puncher the UFC had ever seen. He is nicknamed “The Predator” because he can hunt his opponents down in the Octagon and figuratively rip their heads off. Dana White, who has had very few nice things to say about Ngannou in the past two years, once said that Ngannou’s power was akin to a “12-pound sledgehammer swung full force from overhead.” When Francis Ngannou knew he was likely heading towards free agency, he was asked his thoughts on a crossover into boxing, “I’m open to that. Remember, boxing was my primary dream, and I still have the fire, the dream inside me, and I believe at some point, I’m gonna make a step. I don’t want to fight Mike Tyson, but I would like to fight another heavyweight boxer such as Tyson Fury.” Near the end of his UFC tenure, Ngannou made it clear to the UFC that any deal he would sign with them had to include an option for him to box. The UFC refused to add that to the contract, so Ngannou said farewell to the UFC.
Ngannou became a free agent and was immediately made out to be a fool by many fans and even some media members. Many held the opinion that “he wants too much money and is scared to fight the best guys in the UFC.” Remember that Ngannou had already fought and knocked out the greatest heavyweight in UFC history, Stipe Miocic. In May, Ngannou signed a lucrative deal with the Professional Fighters League (PFL). The contract is groundbreaking for MMA. The agreement includes an option for Ngannou to go box whenever he wants. It also contains a clause that any fighter he fights will make no less than $1 million to fight him. Oh, and the deal is supposedly for up to $10 million per fight for Ngannou.
The work still needed to be done, though. Ngannou wanted to find himself a boxing opponent. Tyson Fury, the lineal heavyweight champion of Boxing, has been in some heated contract discussions himself. Fury was trying to schedule a bout with Oleksandr Usyk, but it ultimately fell through, so Fury needed an opponent. I’ll just cut to the chase. This past Tuesday, it was announced that Ngannou will fight Tyson Fury in Saudia Arabia on October 28th. Ngannou will not have a chance to go for Fury’s belts, as they will not be on the line in the bout, but he does have a chance to shock the world and beat the lineal heavyweight boxing champion of the world.
Ngannou spoke to Sirius XM yesterday, saying, “For some reason, I always prove Dana White wrong — even when he’s on my side. I always prove him wrong every single time. This is just our story.” Dana White smeared Ngannou’s name during the contract negotiations, saying he was scared to fight and didn’t want to fight the best anymore, he just wanted money. Ngannou turned around and signed a deal with the best heavyweight boxer in the world Tyson Fury. The money isnt bad either tho. According to Ngannou’s manager Marquel Martin, “the bag is so big he may actually just drop it on his way to the bank.” Ngannou didn’t just want money. He wanted freedom. Ngannou has had a chaotic life. He had to flee his home country of Cameroon to live out his dreams of being a fighter. He did not want to be tied down by a UFC contract that doesn’t pay him what he’s worth or give him the freedom he deserves.
Francis Ngannou won. For months he was seen as a crazy person chasing a pipe dream of fighting Tyson Fury. He got the Fury fight, he got his freedom, and he certainly got life-changing money. He won in all aspects and has shown other fighters that there are sometimes greener pastures elsewhere. Ngannou shows us that if you think there is something better for you somewhere you’re not, you should chase it and not listen to what anyone tells you. That’s the story of a winner. That’s the story of Francis Ngannou.
