How has your POV on Francis changed recently?

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Lee_

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For me, Francis has gone from a fighter I liked up to an elite favorite in light of recent events. Here is why:

I am wildly impressed with what he has done. If he had wussed out and crawled back to the security of the UFC and allowed himself to be punked by Dana, he would have lost out in a huge way. So many (on Sherdog and elsewhere) were saying that he was going to end up with nothing if he didn't take the UFC's offer.

Francis has king-sized balls in walking away from that. After walking away, he then pulled some real magic in getting a big money deal to fight the HW champion as well as the PFL. And he has guaranteed money and the company involvement that he wanted and never got with the UFC when he resumes his MMA career. His UFC contract would have given him a chance to make 8 million, but no guarantees beyond that, and if lost he would be back to peanuts; obviously a far shittier deal.

While unlikely, imagine the huge payday Francis would get in his next fight if he did hit the lotto and catch Fury with a KO punch. Yet another opportunity that he wouldn't have with the pink goof.

While some try to diminish his altruism and outreach to other fighters, the fact is, what he is doing matters. He has planted the seed that fighters don't always need the UFC and can look out for one another. Whether or not you think Francis is sincere in these sentiments is irrelevant- his actions have already spoken, and that is what is necessary for eventual change.
 
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Xanzito said:
Still an inactive diva, soon to be a rich one too.
GL to PFL to make him fight again after getting paid. Ask Dana and McG how It works.
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Francis is getting some great money and a contract for the PFL you can be sure, so I am thinking he gives us some good fights before he gets too old.

Good article with Randy talking about Francis standing up for the sport:
Randy Couture praises Francis Ngannou scoring Tyson Fury fight: "He stood up for our sport" | BJPenn.com
 
Lee_ said:
Francis is getting some great money and a contract for the PFL you can be sure, so I am thinking he gives us some good fights before he gets too old.

Good article with Randy talking about Francis standing up for the sport:
Randy Couture praises Francis Ngannou scoring Tyson Fury fight: "He stood up for our sport" | BJPenn.com
Click to expand...
As a symbol what he did, prove that you can stand up to the UFC was awesome, but viewing this as a fan, kinda sucks.
We get a great fighter in his prime/early end of career sparring Fury and crushing cans.
Win for Francis, loss to us, imho.
 
Xanzito said:
As a symbol what he did, prove that you can stand up to the UFC was awesome, but viewing this as a fan, kinda sucks.
We get a great fighter in his prime/early end of career sparring Fury and crushing cans.
Win for Francis, loss to us, imho.
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It's good for fans in the long run to have a better paid sport with a bigger talent pool.

I'm not so sure they aren't going to lure someone decent for Francis to fight. We will see.
 
Lee_ said:
For me, Francis has gone from a fighter I liked up to an elite favorite in light of recent events. Here is why:

I am wildly impressed with what he has done. If he had wussed out and crawled back to the security of the UFC and allowed himself to be punked by Dana, he would have lost out in a huge way. So many (on Sherdog and elsewhere) were saying that he was going to end up with nothing if he didn't take the UFC's offer.

Francis has king-sized balls in walking away from that. After walking away, he then pulled some real magic in getting a big money deal to fight the HW champion as well as the PFL. And he has guaranteed money and the company involvement that he wanted and never got with the UFC when he resumes his MMA career. His UFC contract would have given him a chance to make 8 million, but no guarantees beyond that, and if lost he would be back to peanuts; obviously a far shittier deal.

While unlikely, imagine the huge payday Francis would get in his next fight if he did hit the lotto and catch Fury with a KO punch. Yet another opportunity that he wouldn't have with the pink goof.

While some try to diminish his altruism and outreach to other fighters, the fact is, what he is doing matters. He has planted the seed that fighters don't always need the UFC and can look out for one another. Whether or not you think Francis is sincere in these sentiments is almost irrelevant- his actions have already spoken, and that is what is necessary for eventual change.
Click to expand...

Here's a comparison for you.

Francis pulled on his big boy pants, and Dana tried to shout him down.

But another heavyweight who pulled on his big boy pants long ago was Josh Barnett - here's what Dana had to say about him:

“He’s a big boy. He’s been around a long time. He kind of flies by the seat of his pants, anyway. I mean, even after he won the [UFC] title, imagine if Josh Barnett stayed in the UFC his whole career, what he could have accomplished, the money he could have made, and all the things that could have happened. But he’s his own guy, he wants to do his own thing. I got no problem with that.”

Dana's actual words.

Francis is probably too old to ever get that commentary from Dana, as he probably won't be coming back, but that's the reality.

Francis is a big boy. He's doing his own thing. And deep down, Dana respects the shit outta that, no matter what he says.

There's the truth for ya.
 
Didn't care about him before. Don't care now. Dude has 0 charisma.
 
Not exactly a fan but I give him props for sticking it to Dana.
 
Pretty much unchanged. He's a prizefighter. He's chasing the biggest prize he can get. I don't blame him for it.
 
Lee_ said:
For me, Francis has gone from a fighter I liked up to an elite favorite in light of recent events. Here is why:

I am wildly impressed with what he has done. If he had wussed out and crawled back to the security of the UFC and allowed himself to be punked by Dana, he would have lost out in a huge way. So many (on Sherdog and elsewhere) were saying that he was going to end up with nothing if he didn't take the UFC's offer.

Francis has king-sized balls in walking away from that. After walking away, he then pulled some real magic in getting a big money deal to fight the HW champion as well as the PFL. And he has guaranteed money and the company involvement that he wanted and never got with the UFC when he resumes his MMA career. His UFC contract would have given him a chance to make 8 million, but no guarantees beyond that, and if lost he would be back to peanuts; obviously a far shittier deal.

While unlikely, imagine the huge payday Francis would get in his next fight if he did hit the lotto and catch Fury with a KO punch. Yet another opportunity that he wouldn't have with the pink goof.

While some try to diminish his altruism and outreach to other fighters, the fact is, what he is doing matters. He has planted the seed that fighters don't always need the UFC and can look out for one another. Whether or not you think Francis is sincere in these sentiments is almost irrelevant- his actions have already spoken, and that is what is necessary for eventual change.
Click to expand...

My POV hasn't really changed. I thought he would never get the Fury fight and I am glad I was wrong and he is getting his payday. I actually doubt he beat Jones after watching him v Gane so I think he left at the right time to maximize his value.

I am little shocked how much care there was about what Francis was doing considering he was failing at being a draw for the UFC and his PPV numbers were pretty bad. I wonder if he will draw better in PFL where his now the man. Will be interesting what this means for Kayla who is no longer the biggest PFL name and her contract up this year.

I don't think Francis will lead to any meaningful change for fighters and I don't think his sincere. It is just a sideshow for getting the biggest value for himself he can and planning for a post-fight career.
 
Never hated him for this move. Francis joined the UFC and gave us plenty of great fights. He was one of those guys who always wanted to stay active but unfortunately the division lacked the necessary depth.

After losing to Stipe, it took 2 years and 3 months to get another TS and by that point the dude was already pushing 35. If history has taught us something it's that by 35 years old you don't have much time left in your very best form. It's only a matter of time. And having torn his MCL/ACL it's probably a sign of more things to come.

Originally I don't think Francis planned to leave the UFC at all. I suspect he wanted to maximize his finances because he felt like his time was coming to an end. In a perfect world Francis probably envisioned fighting Tyson fury, Jon Jones and another rematch with Stipe
 
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