Full article:
https://www.mmafighting.com/2023/4/...ot-himself-in-the-foot-leaving-ufc-boxing-mma
Aldo spoke with MMAFighting Portuguese Podcast.
“With all humbleness, I think Ngannou shot himself in the foot, He had everything to sign a great contract, the biggest in heavyweight, but this desire to be a boxing champion or to fight in boxing… People see the top of the boxing pyramid getting paid big numbers but forget that the lower part is paid so little. I think the UFC has bigger salaries than boxing."
"I see Ngannou tripping about a fight with Tyson Fury, a champion, who heavyweights aim at but don’t come anywhere near. It’s like saying I wanna play soccer because they get paid million but forget only five percent gets paid millions, the rest make way below that. People say that the UFC doesn’t pay that well, but it does. That’s why it’s the biggest organization. You can make money like big boxers can. Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey. People say women don’t make money and she’s made it, right?”
“He’s leaving the UFC and you can be sure that 50 percent of everything he is is off his name now. Ronda, in order to make her movies, she had to be in the UFC. No one talks about Ronda now because nobody remembers her now. The UFC is elevated alongside the athlete. You need to be in there. You can have a partnership like Conor did with the UFC for Mayweather and that’s how he made millions.”
“I don’t know who’s wrong, if it’s Ngannou or the UFC, so it’s hard to judge. We weren’t participating [in the negotiations], so [I’m talking] based on what we heard, but they could have been more flexible. Ngannou conceding, but saying, ‘I have full capacity to go there and face any boxing champion and represent UFC’s brand.’ It’s all about the negotiation. I had the opportunity to sit down with them and negotiate that and it didn’t happen at the time, I stayed in the UFC and got to a point where I am today. I hope he can continue doing what he does best, which is fight MMA.”
“I see several athletes imagining they can go to boxing and they don’t even have good boxing,” Aldo said. “Ngannou has heavy hands, but if you look at his punch, it’s not a classic boxer that makes you think he will go in there and throw a punch like he does in the UFC and knock someone out. It’s a completely different sport, it’s a completely different fight. These guys are used with that.”
Conor Mcgregor also said the same thing when he last visited MMA Hour. It's hard to know for sure right now, cause it's still too early. But I think I agree with Conor and Jose. A lot of Conor's and Ronda's huge payday outside of the UFC is caused by their affiliation with UFC. Without the status of HW champ Francis might not worth that much. Aldo's comparison with boxing and soccer seems spot on to me.
