Media Dana shuts down Francis ever returning

[Sean_wongster_wongmastter]

So if you ever turn down their offer and choose to test free agency then you are banned forever. And they claim they are not/ trying to put a stranglehold on the sport by being a monopoly?

Plenty of people not named ngannou has tested free agency without being banned.

Ngannou was just a dick about it

 

[Goutfather]

why would they let him back in? he screwed them. theyre lucky jones was there to minimize the damage. can you imagine the damage to ufcs brand if stipe and gane fought for a vacant title as nggano gets knocked out by some guy who lost to tyson fury? it would take years to build back the credibility of ufc as the home of the baddest man on the planet.

at this point, we’ve all seen nggano’s party trick. it’s cool, sure. but we’ve also seen him lose before, several times, and im satisfied that jones would have won that fight on an average night. nggano had a punchers chance, and that’s not enough to justify risking ufcs business again.

 

[joeson]

Plenty of people not named ngannou has tested free agency without being banned.

Ngannou was just a dick about it

Which champions have tested free agency? Which fighters that the UFC wanted to keep? What did they try to do Nate Diaz on his way out?

 

[Craig Hogg]

Dana is the GOAT of being petty, even if its bad for business.

 

[TempleoftheDog]

I don’t know how many posts I’ve made pointing out the numerous lies Ngannou made through social media. While putting down Dana, and the UFC.

This is not mere pettiness by Dana. It’s odd that through willful ignorance some people still repeat Ngannou’s rhetoric and outright lies.

The one that really offended me was when he lied and said he would never fight for $500K-$600K again. Everybody was up in arms about it. Including Hunto going public saying that was ridiculous. And MANY people in here got conned by the guy.

A week later Ngannou tells Helwani he had already lost $7M by not re-signing before the Stipe rematch. NOBODY expected the UFC HW champion to fight for $600K.. Including the UFC. He chose to fight for that amount. And lied his ass off about it.

His only demand the whole time to re-sign was being allowed to box, on the UFC’s dime. That was NEVER going to happen. That healthcare, and advocacy shit didn’t exist until after the UFC told him to take a hike. It was damage control thought up after the fact by somebody WAY more intelligent than Ngannou.

So including the Jones offer. Ngannou lost $15M. Money that would be in his pockets right now.

So, yup. Ngannou stood up to Dana, I guess? So now he’s free to earn boxing Main Event money. How’s that working out for him? He’s never getting that $15M back.

And he actually tried to make an obviously ridiculous money demand to BKFC to sign there. He is screwed. He has no concept of reality and how much he is worth. Because nobody is going to pay him more than he would have made in the UFC.

“Francis Ngannou, he’s somebody we’ve certainly reached out to,” BKFC President Dave Feldman said at a press conference (via MMA Mania). “We’ve reached out to him, we’ve reached out to his team, and we just feel like he’s asking for unrealistic money, and we’re not willing to pay that kind of money for him.”

And they supposedly signed PVZ for $500K per fight. If the number was reasonable, BKFC would have signed Ngannou.

Dana lies all the time.. So does Ngannou. So let’s not make that guy out to be a martyr. He’s greedy, ungrateful, a diva, and flat out dishonest. His arrogance is over the top considering he is not a draw. He is NOT coming back to the UFC. Why would the UFC want him after all the shit he’s pulled?

 

[spinup]

This is not mere pettiness by Dana. It’s odd that through willful ignorance some people still repeat Ngannou’s rhetoric and outright lies.

The one that really offended me was when he lied and said he would never fight for $500K-$600K again. Everybody was up in arms about it. Including Hunto going public saying that was ridiculous. And MANY people in here got conned by the guy.

A week later Ngannou tells Helwani he had already lost $7M by not re-signing before the Stipe rematch. NOBODY expected the UFC HW champion to fight for $600K.. Including the UFC. He chose to fight for that amount. And lied his ass off about it.

You are completely misrepresenting the story. There was not a single lie.

Was he paid 600k ? Yes
Was he the one to bring it up? No, it was public and social media caught up on that
Has he said he would not fight again for 600k (when asked about it)? Yes
Has he fought again for 600k? No
Has he tried to hide that he could have earned more by re-signing early? No

 

[goOb]

If Ngannu ate 78 dinners on my tab, he's done working for me too.

 

[Cartiac]

Best offer in terms of what? Money? Francis wants to box. The UFC wouldn't let him do that.

Just like UFC wouldn't let Conor box? They were likely trying to talk some sense into Francis but that may not be possible. UFC is not going to do the work trying to satisfy Francis's delusional fantasy of walking immediately into the active top ranks of HW title contenders that have spent their whole lives to earn. If Francis really wants to box there is nothing stopping him from going out and getting some mid to entry level matches and working his way up, but yea it has nothing to do with money.

Conor wanted to box too, so he worked very hard to get a retired boxer that had given up his titles to come back to the ring so he could live that dream by showing him a $100m dollar check backed by UFC and Floyd's promotion company just for getting out of bed one day to share the ring with him.

 

[Xanzito]

You guys really believe Francis did all of this for his love of boxing and fighters rights?
Some of you might've missed his tweets about celebrity boxing payouts...
And btw, he stirred the pot so much on his way out, i really believe he was Couture'd. Maybe even Shamrock'ed.

 

[Prex32]

francis is the real champ

 

[Fox by the Sea]

UFC 300 jones vs ngannou

 

[Givvee]

He said the same thing about Tito back in the day and he returned haha....the UFC pay compared to boxing is garbage, Yeah I know they have a different business model and a huge roster, but still, look what guys like Dylian Whyte and Povetkin made in their fights compared to guys like Kamaru and Leon Edwards....Kamaru made 532 k in his last fight as one of the most successful champions of all time.....

 

[Oeshon]

It's possible, he's gone back in his word like this in the past.

For now it makes sense. It removes Francis's ability to leverage the UFC's offer in his negotiations. If he comes back to the table to the UFC, his position is greatly diminished

Francis made his play. It's now sink or swim

 

[SlimBucketz]

When the UFC gives you the best offer, by a wide margin, and you still don't accept, then you're just playing fucking games.

The UFC offered Ngannou what he was worth.

Ngannou truly F’d up imo…

 

[BEATDOWNS]

Don't cross the boss

 

[lsa]

He said the same thing about Tito back in the day and he returned haha....the UFC pay compared to boxing is garbage, Yeah I know they have a different business model and a huge roster, but still, look what guys like Dylian Whyte and Povetkin made in their fights compared to guys like Kamaru and Leon Edwards....Kamaru made 532 k in his last fight as one of the most successful champions of all time.....

Base pay. In reality we do not know what he actually make


"As always, these figures do not represent a fighter’s total earnings, as certain sponsorship incomes, pay-per-view bonuses, or discretionary post-fight bonuses are not publicly disclosed."

 

[Tweak896]

Lets be real. When has a fighter late in his career that beefed with the UFC hard about negotiations and tried getting out of their contract, ever returned and become their golden goose again? Some guys like Randy did a few fights after a split or GSP did a one off with Bisping, but they never came back to perform like they used to. You never see guys in these positions ever come back and do 2-3 fights a year against top competition. Dude was offered better pay than Brock while coming off knee surgery.

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

The claim is that the UFC is a monopsony, not a monopoly. A monopsony is when there is a single purchaser. That makes it about the fighters, not the fans. The UFC is the sole purchaser of their services, at least the sole purchaser of any consequence.

If the competition can’t put forward even a competitive offer, the UFC isn’t just the best option it’s the only one. Is everyone saying Francis made a mistake because the offers are really close and the UFC is just the best option or because the UFC is the best option by a landslide?

The UFC aggressively discouraging free agency for their best fighters and Dana trying to ruin their careers is anticompetitive and absolutely relevant. How is there supposed to competition if the other orgs can’t get a pipeline to decent talent? The UFC’s restrictive contracts prevents any movement, even years after retirement. The sunset clause that allowed Ngannou to walk was only put in place a few years ago as a result of the antitrust suit. Before that the champion clause meant contracts renewed in perpetuity, which is very likely illegal. It’s the reason GSP couldn’t box DeLaHoya years after retirement.

I know that’s an argument that’s made but I just don’t see it. Free agents leave the UFC all the time. Eddie Alvarez, Gegard Mousasi, Shane Burgos. They got better deals elsewhere. Other stars that the UFC would like to have never arrive. Fedor, Pitbull, McKee.

Many industries have a company that pays the best and is regarded as the most attractive. That’s not anticompetitive. If anything it forces organizations like Bellator to have to dig deeper to be competitive.

You’re right that they’ll get some concessions here and there and that’s fine. But I don’t see the structural problem with having one organization that outperforms the others.

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

Which champions have tested free agency? Which fighters that the UFC wanted to keep? What did they try to do Nate Diaz on his way out?

I agree with you but these guys have agents and they talk to other organizations.

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

It's possible, he's gone back in his word like this in the past.

For now it makes sense. It removes Francis's ability to leverage the UFC's offer in his negotiations. If he comes back to the table to the UFC, his position is greatly diminished

Francis made his play. It's now sink or swim

And there’s the metagame to consider. If Francis returns, the UFC will profit from it. If he never returns and is perceived to have screwed himself, what sort of incremental gains will the company have in future negotiations with others? They’d love to be able to point to a cautionary tale when playing their carrot and stick game.

The whole thing is unfortunate. Ngannou vs Jones would be a giant fight right now.