This is just my own (long form) opinion, mixed with personal experiences, so I'll start with that disclaimer.
Over the years, Dana has always found an avenue to downplay a fighter's worth when it comes time to negotiate. The truth is secondary. The Diaz brothers "don't move the needle", for example.
In the case of Francis, I believe it has very little to do with the fighter himself, other than him being told what he's actually worth by people outside of the UFC's influence that do know what he's actually worth, and more to do with Dana & Co's long and rocky history with said people.
Francis is represented by Creative Artists Agency (CAA). For those of you that don't know, CAA has represented a lot of top UFC fighters over the years, starting long before the WME buyout.
Also, CAA and WME have been bitter rivals since the formation of CAA, by five former WME agents, in 1975.
Some of the most notable names on CAA's MMA roster have included, but are not limited to: Cain Velasquez, Rory MacDonald, Georges St. Pierre (and his coach, Firas Zahabi), the Shevchenko's, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, TJ Dillashaw, Kevin Lee, and Tim Kennedy.
Since the beginning of CAA's dealings with UFC, there have been quite a few bumps in the road when it comes time to negotiate a new contract for a lot of CAA's most popular fighters. The biggest example obviously being GSP, and a constant one since they began representing him all the way back in 2008.
Dana recently stated that he places the majority of blame on Ngannou's agent and agency in not easily being able to come to terms on a new deal. His claim is that "this is what happens when you get a guy that's repped by an agency that isn't soley an MMA agency; they have no idea what they're talking about".
However, he doesn't seem to feel the same way about the roster of UFC fighters repped by WME's own talent division, whom had only one fighter on their roster prior to purchasing UFC - Ronda Rousey, signed shortly after her first UFC fight in 2013.
Not to mention that he's dismissing the fact that, although CAA represents all forms of entertainers (as does WME), they have been representing UFC/MMA fighters (prospects, title contenders, and champions) for more than a decade. At this point, CAA is very familiar with the business side of MMA and UFC, and very much know what they are talking about.
In all fairness, Dana has dealt with plenty of agencies outside (and within) the MMA bubble that are content to just ride the current. So, those agents and managers helped set his expectations.
For example, I was lined up to film and distribute a documentary series that featured, individually, some of the cast members from season one of The Ultimate Fighter, well known UFC fighters, as well a number of non-UFC fighters. It was set to begin production shortly after the TUF 1 finale.
The first TUF cast member I had on board was Stephan Bonnar. When Stephan and I first began talking about it, money wasn't really on his mind; he had just been awarded a "six figure contract" and was simply interested in the concept of my proposed series. He was going to be fairly compensated, and he knew that.
A couple months after Stephan and I started talking, he was approached by and signed a deal with a major sports agency - Sports Entertainment Group (SEG). Stephan gave his agent my contact info, and I received a call shortly after.
Stephan had already told me how much he was being paid to fight, so I wasn't surprised when the agent was looking for similar numbers for Stephan's involvement in my series. He was the first MMA fighter that they had signed, and he was going into his first UFC contract, so the agent didn't have much else to base his expectations on. He was content to just ride the current.
I was fine with the numbers from the agent. In fact, they were actually less than what Stephan would've been paid by me for his involvement in the series. Based on my own conversations with UFC, to secure various permissions and licenses for my series - which did eventually get worked out - they barely wiggle, let alone budge. That was when UFC was just getting back on the map, I can't even imagine what those conversations would be like now.
Anyway, I digress, I'm not here to talk about the series, that's just an example to point out, from my own personal experience, the types of "MMA agents" that Dana is comparing CAA to. And although SEG fit that bill, they no longer rep MMA fighters, and haven't for a long time.
Either way, he likes the ones that are willing to just go with the flow to ensure a consistently solid relationship with UFC itself, but CAA has never been that way, and isn't willing to just accept whatever offer hits the table.
Now, one could argue that CAA playing hardball has a negative impact on their fighters, but with the exceptions of a few non-CAA fighters like Ronda, Conor, Anderson, and Jon, one could also argue that it has lead to quite a few of CAA's fighters having rather successful MMA careers (opportunities).
TLDR - The majority of heated negotiations and fall outs with top fighters that the UFC has had over the years have revolved around Dana's 13 plus year pissing match with CAA, further escalated by WME's purchase of UFC; mostly due to CAA being concerned more with their clients' best interests than those of UFC and WME. Which is exactly what anyone, in any industry, should fully expect from the agency that represents them.
Big thanks to anyone that read the whole thing.
Fun Fact: For all of you that are unsure why Dana is giving Jake Paul so much attention - Jake's "Warlock" manager that Dana mentioned recently is UFC's former Chief Financial Officer (2011-2016), and both Jake and his brother, Logan, are clients of WME's talent division. Logan was signed to CAA prior to joining his brother on WME's roster - It's all relative.
