Media Francis Ngannou on the problems between himself and the UFC

You think Ngannou can rack up 3 years worth of title defenses? say 4 or 5? I'm skeptical. Not even sure he'll even get past Gane. Not to mention Ngannou would make more sponsorship money in a good sized boxing match than probably during his entire UFC tenure.

When you decline the fight, you get one more tacked on to your contract. You can't wait out tolling, just like you can't wait out the champion's clause once it kicks in. I've never heard of a UFC contract that is purely based on time, as opposed to fights/time.

If he beats Gane who can beat him?
 
Anyone else? Like I said, very few.

Partly the UFC machine, mostly his performances. Just like drawing power for most stars. Also because Wilder has never had huge appeal or sought to go national/international as much as he could if I recall.

More I don't see much point in going circles on this issue.

When did I say that? I said specifically Ngannou would make significantly more cashing out in a boxing match at this point then over a couple UFC title defenses. In other news, water is wet.

It's another fight. That's how tolling works. Otherwise, fighters would just sit out the time period they are tolled and sit out their contracts. You'll notice few, if any UFC fighters have actually successfully sat out a contract.

But Ngannou has never been a huge draw either?

Chances are Ngannou doesnt make more than a couple million as a boxer. So not much more than hed make as Ufc champ.
 
Anyone else? Like I said, very few.

Partly the UFC machine, mostly his performances. Just like drawing power for most stars. Also because Wilder has never had huge appeal or sought to go national/international as much as he could if I recall.

More I don't see much point in going circles on this issue.

When did I say that? I said specifically Ngannou would make significantly more cashing out in a boxing match at this point then over a couple UFC title defenses. In other news, water is wet.

It's another fight. That's how tolling works. Otherwise, fighters would just sit out the time period they are tolled and sit out their contracts. You'll notice few, if any UFC fighters have actually successfully sat out a contract.
The talk has always been his contract is ending soon and that's why there is a contract dispute and UFC doing backhanded tactics to extend his contract. Seems like Ngannou is unhappy with the way he's being treated and wouldn't be surprised if he lets his contract end and does boxing. He'll get big pay days and he can jump right in the deep end right away. Plus better contracts than what he's dealing with now. Ngannou has always wanted to do boxing and it seems like he will never be allowed to do boxing while signed to the UFC. It's the same problem Anderson Silva had an GSP had currently with the potential De La Hoya fight. Only fighter that was given the opportunity was Conor and it didn't end well. UFC/Dana doesn't want to do boxing fights to ruin their brand and image. Their UFC fighters have been losing to Jake Paul and it isn't an overall great look for mma/UFC, it's hurts their brand.
 
If he beats Gane who can beat him?
Lewis, and both matchups have big potential to be stinkers regardless of who wins. It's also HW, there's a reason you have so few dominant champs.
But Ngannou has never been a huge draw either?

Chances are Ngannou doesnt make more than a couple million as a boxer. So not much more than hed make as Ufc champ.
Not yet, but he has serious potential. The goods inside the cage (most important aspect of drawing), a HW, decently charming, some mainstream appeal, speaks multiple languages. He ticks a lot of boxes and is a promoter's dream in many respects.
The talk has always been his contract is ending soon and that's why there is a contract dispute and UFC doing backhanded tactics to extend his contract
Yes, soon meaning he owes x fight(s) over a certain time period (generally 6 months per fight). Those 2 units are linked, you can't just have one or the other, or again, fighters would have the option to wait out the UFC.
Seems like Ngannou is unhappy with the way he's being treated and wouldn't be surprised if he lets his contract end and does boxing.
Agree on the first, but I doubt the UFC lets him go, even if he loses the belt.
. He'll get big pay days and he can jump right in the deep end right away. Plus better contracts than what he's dealing with now.
Again, no disagreement here, other than it would be a singular cash out. He's not got what it takes to be a consistently ranked/drawing contender making good money, even at HW.
UFC/Dana doesn't want to do boxing fights to ruin their brand and image.
Has nothing to do with this, it's because Zuffa boxing is a terrible idea and would cause labor unrest on the mma side and expose the entire business to the Ali Act.
Only fighter that was given the opportunity was Conor and it didn't end well.
It ended great for all parties involved. It was such a windfall for the UFC that revenue the next year was down because of the lack of MayMac.
 
Lewis, and both matchups have big potential to be stinkers regardless of who wins. It's also HW, there's a reason you have so few dominant champs.

Not yet, but he has serious potential. The goods inside the cage (most important aspect of drawing), a HW, decently charming, some mainstream appeal, speaks multiple languages. He ticks a lot of boxes and is a promoter's dream in many respects.

Yes, soon meaning he owes x fight(s) over a certain time period (generally 6 months per fight). Those 2 units are linked, you can't just have one or the other, or again, fighters would have the option to wait out the UFC.

Agree on the first, but I doubt the UFC lets him go, even if he loses the belt.

Again, no disagreement here, other than it would be a singular cash out. He's not got what it takes to be a consistently ranked/drawing contender making good money, even at HW.

Has nothing to do with this, it's because Zuffa boxing is a terrible idea and would cause labor unrest on the mma side and expose the entire business to the Ali Act.

It ended great for all parties involved. It was such a windfall for the UFC that revenue the next year was down because of the lack of MayMac.
Financially yes, but not overall. The fight didn't age well and if you actually re-watch it and analyze the fight Conor had nothing for Floyd and there was a great skill gap between them that it wasn't competitive at all. Floyd just walked forward with a high guard and Conor gassed out not knowing how to handle the pressure and how to split the guard. This was when Conor's lack of an inside boxing game got exposed, but not a lot of people really noticed it and it didn't really get exposed again until the Poirer rematch. Nate exposed it briefly in their fights but didn't take advantage of it.

This was the fight that made me realize there was a significant skill gap in who was considered the greatest mma boxer at the time vs an actual elite level boxer. Made me focus more on boxing and study/analyze elite level boxers more.
 
The fight didn't age well and if you actually re-watch it and analyze the fight Conor had nothing for Floyd and there was a great skill gap between them that it wasn't competitive at all.
And? The UFC is in the business of making money, not fighters looking good.
This was the fight that made me realize there was a significant skill gap in who was considered the greatest mma boxer at the time vs an actual elite level boxer.
Same answer. Everyone laughed to the bank, including the UFC. And both sports went on just fine.
 
And? The UFC is in the business of making money, not fighters looking good.

Same answer. Everyone laughed to the bank, including the UFC. And both sports went on just fine.
Yes but the thing is UFC is a brand. They need the brand of having the best fighters. Having their fighters get blown out in boxing isn't a good look for their brand. Askren and Woodley's losses was very bad for mma/UFC branding and image.

Yes the Floyd fight was a big pay day but there's a reason why Dana/UFC isn't currently entertaining any crossover fights with boxing, it's bad for their brand if they can't get a win and they currently don't want to gamble on it.
 
Yes but the thing is UFC is a brand. They need the brand of having the best fighters.
This is like the "mma is all about respect and honor" bullshit One spews. No, the UFC's brand these days is nota bout having all the best fighters. People eat up the worst fight nights and the Contender's Series despite both being packed with objectively worse talent. You can't seriously watch the UFC showcasing top 15 HWs in the co-main and turn to yourself and say, yup, these are the best fighters in the world.
Askren and Woodley's losses was very bad for mma/UFC branding and image.
Did it hurt profitability for the UFC? I see no evidence of it, ergo it's much ado about nothing.
Yes the Floyd fight was a big pay day but there's a reason why Dana/UFC isn't currently entertaining any crossover fights with boxing, it's bad for their brand if they can't get a win and they currently don't want to gamble on it.
It's more likely because they don't want fighters getting too big for the UFC and also a lack of potential matchups that would do MayMac numbers or even close to it. Canelo has no interest in crushing a can and all 4 HWs are tied up with each other right now.
 
Francis is the man. U fight cheap just trying to lowball him
 
This is like the "mma is all about respect and honor" bullshit One spews. No, the UFC's brand these days is nota bout having all the best fighters. People eat up the worst fight nights and the Contender's Series despite both being packed with objectively worse talent. You can't seriously watch the UFC showcasing top 15 HWs in the co-main and turn to yourself and say, yup, these are the best fighters in the world.

Did it hurt profitability for the UFC? I see no evidence of it, ergo it's much ado about nothing.

It's more likely because they don't want fighters getting too big for the UFC and also a lack of potential matchups that would do MayMac numbers or even close to it. Canelo has no interest in crushing a can and all 4 HWs are tied up with each other right now.
Contender series is just their feeder pool into the UFC. They bring prospects through there instead of signing them directly. This way they are a product of contender series and not whatever promotion they are coming from. It works out for them in multiple ways, they get to run a competition for a season and have extra fights/viewership each year. They have their own promotion that they use to feed into UFC so any fighter coming from contender series they make it seem like it's homegrown talent.

There is a reason why UFC/Dana isn't pursuing crossover boxing fights even if the hype and viewership for those would the biggest of all the fights they can possibly make. If UFC can't win vs boxers it's a bad look for UFC and they are not willing to gamble with it. This is why all cross over talks have been stopped by UFC even though UFC fighters and boxers want to have cross over fights. If it's about money only, you would do the cross over fights. But it isn't just about the money, because losses hurts the brand and seeing Woodley lose to Jake Paul makes them less likely to want to gamble with that. Woodley was considered one of the WW Goats not that long ago and loss to Jake Paul who hasn't fought a real boxer yet. Yes that loss hurts UFC's brand as did the Askren fight. Conor did well but it was clear Floyd was in no danger and it wasn't competitive at all after the first few rounds.
 
Contender series is just their feeder pool into the UFC. They bring prospects through there instead of signing them directly.
It is more than anyhting a way to sign cheap talent to cheap contracts (instead of a better deal, here's 15 mins of fame), and the entire thing is branded as part of the UFC. A casual viewer would not be able to distinguish between the Contenders' series and the main UFC brand given that most casuals will think UFC=mma.
They have their own promotion that they use to feed into UFC so any fighter coming from contender series they make it seem like it's homegrown talent.
It is absolutely not a separate promotion. Zuffa is Zuffa.
f it's about money only, you would do the cross over fights. But it isn't just about the money, because losses hurts the brand and seeing Woodley lose to Jake Paul makes them less likely to want to gamble with that.
Show me actual evidence of this, you're just dropping your feelings here and assuming casuals who don't know jack shit feel the same.
Yes that loss hurts UFC's brand as did the Askren fight.
Nope. I think you fundamentally misunderstand what the business of the UFC is. It's literally making money, and by nearly every metric they are improving.
Conor did well
Also nope.
 
Big Frank should knock Dana out cold in the octagon when Dana puts the belt on him next time. Leave the UFC on his terms and become a legend.

Then shoop Dana's KOed face into a logo and make it a symbol of a newly formed fighter's union.


This is pretty epic...
 
It is more than anyhting a way to sign cheap talent to cheap contracts (instead of a better deal, here's 15 mins of fame), and the entire thing is branded as part of the UFC. A casual viewer would not be able to distinguish between the Contenders' series and the main UFC brand given that most casuals will think UFC=mma.

It is absolutely not a separate promotion. Zuffa is Zuffa.

Show me actual evidence of this, you're just dropping your feelings here and assuming casuals who don't know jack shit feel the same.

Nope. I think you fundamentally misunderstand what the business of the UFC is. It's literally making money, and by nearly every metric they are improving.

Also nope.
That's the point I'm making, but you miss out on the point. They label any fighter from Contender series as a Contender Series fighter. Completely disregarding their professional career before that point. They are now considered Contender series fighter and were brought into UFC from Contender Series, not from another organization. It's their feeder promotion, just another way for them to have fights and feed fighters into the UFC and being able to label them as homegrown talent coming from Contender Series. Those are the main details that you are missing. Even if they have them fight for cheap in contender series, they will be paying more when they sign them to UFC so they are paying double instead of just signing them right away from their previous promotion. So it's not just about having them fight for cheap at Contender Series.

Contender Series is also featured in ESPN+ so it's part of the deal of number of fights and viewership that UFC is bringing in for ESPN+. That's why it's on ESPN+ and not on Fight Pass.

Nah nothing about my way of thinking runs on emotions. Like I said before, where are the other cross over boxing vs mma fights? If it's about the money the fights would be made, lots of money there to be made. So why is there no fights being made when the boxers want it, and UFC fighters want it? Think about it and figure it out on your own as to why would UFC/Dana not want to do it.
 
Ngannou needs to get the fuk out of the UFightCheap UFC asap and earn some real money. He can always comeback later. He really needs a ko over Gane to drive up his asking price.

It’s called prize fighting for a reason. Until the UFC is ready to spend real money luring a level athletes to the show, the fighters need to be as ruthless as Uncle Dana.
 
This is like the "mma is all about respect and honor" bullshit One spews. No, the UFC's brand these days is nota bout having all the best fighters. People eat up the worst fight nights and the Contender's Series despite both being packed with objectively worse talent. You can't seriously watch the UFC showcasing top 15 HWs in the co-main and turn to yourself and say, yup, these are the best fighters in the world.

Did it hurt profitability for the UFC? I see no evidence of it, ergo it's much ado about nothing.

It's more likely because they don't want fighters getting too big for the UFC and also a lack of potential matchups that would do MayMac numbers or even close to it. Canelo has no interest in crushing a can and all 4 HWs are tied up with each other right now.

So where are these better fighters? Because outside a few guys in Bellator and sone relatively unknown fighters in Russia the Ufc has a huge percentage of the top fighters.
 
Completely disregarding their professional career before that point.
They've historically done this more often than not. aka "champion in other orgs"
Even if they have them fight for cheap in contender series, they will be paying more when they sign them to UFC so they are paying double instead of just signing them right away from their previous promotion.
If it's anyhting like TUF, it's a big cost saving since those contracts are usually longer and therefore cheaper than normal UFC starting deals.
That's why it's on ESPN+ and not on Fight Pass.
Yup, and also because Fightpass is a hilariously dogshit service.
ike I said before, where are the other cross over boxing vs mma fights?
I think you're missing the part about what boxer/UFC fighter cross over match is to there to make that pulls in 2 million buys? Most of boxing's draws and tied up and in weight classes that don't match up with UFC stars.
So where are these better fighters? Because outside a few guys in Bellator and sone relatively unknown fighters in Russia the Ufc has a huge percentage of the top fighters.
You missed the part where I said "all the top fighters." The UFC still has the vast majority of elite talent, it's just a bit less than during the Fertita era when management was obsessed with Got to Catch em all. These days, the UFC is a little more chill on that.
 
Sounds about right for a cut throat business.

All I can say is bet on yourself, fight out the contract ASAP, win and give yourself more leverage then ever at the bargaining table.
 
They've historically done this more often than not. aka "champion in other orgs"

If it's anyhting like TUF, it's a big cost saving since those contracts are usually longer and therefore cheaper than normal UFC starting deals.

Yup, and also because Fightpass is a hilariously dogshit service.

I think you're missing the part about what boxer/UFC fighter cross over match is to there to make that pulls in 2 million buys? Most of boxing's draws and tied up and in weight classes that don't match up with UFC stars.

You missed the part where I said "all the top fighters." The UFC still has the vast majority of elite talent, it's just a bit less than during the Fertita era when management was obsessed with Got to Catch em all. These days, the UFC is a little more chill on that.
The point is from Contenders, you are using examples not from Contender Series so yes they are using their success in other promotions because they signed them as either champions from another organization. So that still doesn't prove your point, but it does prove mine.

Yes it's like TUF without the reality show and more fighters and fights. TUF is also a feeding system into the UFC. More homegrown talent since they are TUF fighters, same thing they call Contender Series fighters. When they promote these fighters they promote them as either TUF contestants or Contender Series contestants. Which proves my point.

It's called contracts, and the contract is for ESPN+

No boxers weight classes match perfectly with UFC because most are multi-division champions in boxing. They have a lot of fighters they can choose to fight between weight classes in UFC. You think Conor vs Floyd is the only big fight that can be made from boxing vs mma? Jake Paul is pulling numbers and he's not boxing's biggest draw. Champion vs Champion boxing vs mma would draw numbers. Like I said explain why the crossover fights aren't happening when the boxers and the UFC fighters want it. The money is there, the hype is there, the ppv viewers are there. So if it's only about money the boxing vs mma fights would've been done over and over again. It's not being made because UFC/Dana is scared to gamble with their fighters that's why they stop everything in relation to boxing. Exact reason Ngannou is having issues with his contract, he wants to box and UFC/Dana won't allow it.

UFC does have the majority of the top talent, I never argued against that.
 
Jake Paul is pulling numbers and he's not boxing's biggest draw.
He's not boxing's biggest draw. Nowhere the power Canelo or AJ have let alone those guys in good matchups. You'll notice how neither Canelo or AJ have any interest in freakshows right now.
 
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