The UFC would've been better off just letting Ngannou box

[killakillakilla]

The UFC held up Francis' fighting career for over a year in contract dispute because they didn't want to let him box. He eventually left the UFC and made $30 mil losing in the boxing ring to Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. He got dominated and KOd in the loss vs Anthony Joshua. Yet, despite those losses, Francis is a bigger name now than he was when he left the UFC. If they had just let Francis box while retaining his UFC contract, they would now be in the position to stage some monster fights with him. Imagine how huge Francis vs Jon would be now? So, at the end of the day, why is it that the UFC won't let their fighters box? Both Francis and Conor have shown that losing in a boxing ring does not hurt their reputations in a fighting cage. In fact, if they are able to box with famous boxers like Floyd, Tyson, or Anthony, it will likely gain them more fans whether their fighter wins or loses.

 

[usernamee]

ehm

his boxing fight with Fury gave him the opportunity for at least one more boxing fight which is another fight where UFC ain't making money off of Ngannou fighting in the UFC and now we're starting to talk about years out of the UFC to have him prepare for his first boxing fight, then the second one... and if he would've won the 2nd one... another one!?

He was supposed to fight in PFL way earlier but then boxing opportunities came flying at him after his great performance in the Fury fight and if he had beaten Joshua no way he would've had an MMA fight in PFL by now either

 

[Bend NvR Break]

No. No. No.
He's not a bigger name than ever.
And the narrative now is that boxers are tougher then MMA fighters.
Ngannou losing is exactly why the UFC didn't want to let him box. It's not a good look to have your champ unconscious lying on the canvas smelling the refs shoes after getting embarrassed and performing worse than an amateur.
Yeah it would've been good for ngannou but it would've been bad for the UFC.
Fickle, casual fans don't have very long memories.

 

[killakillakilla]

No. No. No.
He's not a bigger name than ever.
And the narrative now is that boxers are tougher then MMA fighters.
Ngannou losing is exactly why the UFC didn't want to let him box. It's not a good look to have your champ unconscious lying on the canvas smelling the refs shoes after getting embarrassed and performing worse than an amateur.
Yeah it would've been good for ngannou but it would've been bad for the UFC.
Fickle, casual fans don't have very long memories.

I think this perspective has been proven wrong and it assumes that fight fans are dumb. Do you think that fight fans are unable to differentiate between mma and boxing? I haven't heard one person claim that boxers are tougher than MMA fighters after the Francis vs Anthony fight. Francis losing to Anthony in boxing did not hurt MMA's reputation at all. In fact, it added fans to Francis' base.

 

[Bojka]

Would've set a bad precedent for other contracts. They lot Conor Box, but that was 1 fight and it was Conor. They also took a cut.

 

[haj02]

No, it was the best outcome for both parties. Francis made good money and the UFC didn't waste money on him. Every fight he's had since has been a catastrophic financial failure but Francis has been rewarded very well so good for him and bad luck for boxing promoters and the PFL.

 

[Black9]

Francis Ngannou was never a GREAT PPV draw as PFL are finding out.
Adding in, him boxing for almost 2 years with UFC not making any money through him.

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

Dana doesn't share money or we would have seen Fedor in the UFC instead of Strikeforce.

 

[CatchtheseHands]

I think this perspective has been proven wrong and it assumes that fight fans are dumb. Do you think that fight fans are unable to differentiate between mma and boxing? I haven't heard one person claim that boxers are tougher than MMA fighters after the Francis vs Anthony fight. Francis losing to Anthony in boxing did not hurt MMA's reputation at all. In fact, it added fans to Francis' base.

Have you frequented any online communities outside of Sherdog? There are so many people who are really that dumb and think because Francis got KO'ed by AJ, it means Francis is a can and loses to anyone in MMA now. You vastly underestimate the intelligence of the average fight fan.

 

[RockyLockridge]

Yes they absolutely would have they could have just let Francis box before fighting Jones come back and do the Jones fight. If they did the Jones fight after Francis Vs fury Francis stock at an all time high, lhw goat finally making the most anticipated weight class change in the history of the sport.


Would have been one of the biggest fights ever made but the UFC didn't see Francis value unfortunately

 

[killakillakilla]

Have you frequented any online communities outside of Sherdog? There are so many people who are really that dumb and think because Francis got KO'ed by AJ, it means Francis is a can and loses to anyone in MMA now. You vastly underestimate the intelligence of the average fight fan.

lol maybe you’re right, and I’m sure there are dumb people that feel that way. But I don’t think that’s close to the average fight fan’s opinion and I feel like, overall, mma’s reputation wasn’t hurt. In fact I suspect it brought more fans to MMA that were previously just boxing fans.

 

[RockyLockridge]

Francis Ngannou was never a GREAT PPV draw as PFL are finding out.
Adding in him boxing for almost 2 years with UFC wouldn't be making any money through him.

Lol you're missing the point entirely, UFC could have been in on the Francis fury fight and made bank on it while also being able to make Francis Vs Jones. UFC machine behind the francis Vs fury fight with Francis holding the UFC title would be good for them they just wouldn't because reasons.


Francis was never a great draw but the UFC had a chance to make him a star with this play they blew it

 

[NicholasJBasile]

The UFC held up Francis' fighting career for over a year in contract dispute because they didn't want to let him box. He eventually left the UFC and made $30 mil losing in the boxing ring to Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. He got dominated and KOd in the loss vs Anthony Joshua. Yet, despite those losses, Francis is a bigger name now than he was when he left the UFC. If they had just let Francis box while retaining his UFC contract, they would now be in the position to stage some monster fights with him. Imagine how huge Francis vs Jon would be now? So, at the end of the day, why is it that the UFC won't let their fighters box? Both Francis and Conor have shown that losing in a boxing ring does not hurt their reputations in a fighting cage. In fact, if they are able to box with famous boxers like Floyd, Tyson, or Anthony, it will likely gain them more fans whether their fighter wins or loses.

Agreed -- they allowed McGregor to box but no one else? Not fair imo

 

[Black9]

Lol you're missing the point entirely, UFC could have been in on the Francis fury fight and made bank on it while also being able to make Francis Vs Jones. UFC machine behind the francis Vs fury fight with Francis holding the UFC title would be good for them they just wouldn't because reason

Would UFC have been backing him? As with the PFL deal, him boxing was entirely him pocketing the money.

That and him losing back to back would have hurt the stock of their current UFC HW champion.

 

[RockyLockridge]

Would UFC have been backing him? As with the PFL deal, him boxing was entirely him pocketing the money.

That and him losing back to back would have hurt the stock of their current UFC HW champion.

Did you even watch fury Vs Francis? It was the absolute best case scenario for Francis didn't win the fight but looked good and can definitely claim a spiritual victory. It was definitely a loss that increased his stock.


The UFC could have co promoted like they did with McGregor maywayther and made money

 

[killakillakilla]

Would UFC have been backing him? As with the PFL deal, him boxing was entirely him pocketing the money.

That and him losing back to back would have hurt the stock of their current UFC HW champion.

I don’t know if the UFC even gave the option of co promoting Ngannou boxing or getting a cut from the profits. Maybe Francis might’ve agreed to that.

I don’t agree that Francis losing back to back boxing matches hurt his stock in mma. From what I see his stock has only grown.

 

[JBJ was here]

If the UFC had given in to Ngannou's demands and Ngannou had pulled out the win, I wonder what the complaining about Ngannou holding up the title for 2-3 years while he went off to box would have been like. Probably not as loud as the complaining about Jones holding up the title by having surgery and fighting his scheduled fight, but a lot more justified.

 

[CatchtheseHands]

Francis was never a great draw but the UFC had a chance to make him a star with this play they blew it

I have no idea how Francis was never a great draw. Especially with the highlight reel that he has and with his story.

 

[checktheknuckles]

ehm

his boxing fight with Fury gave him the opportunity for at least one more boxing fight which is another fight where UFC ain't making money off of Ngannou fighting in the UFC and now we're starting to talk about years out of the UFC to have him prepare for his first boxing fight, then the second one... and if he would've won the 2nd one... another one!?

He was supposed to fight in PFL way earlier but then boxing opportunities came flying at him after his great performance in the Fury fight and if he had beaten Joshua no way he would've had an MMA fight in PFL by now either

Only reason ufc fighters want to box is to actually get paid money. UFC loves paying them peanuts and rebook coupons so this will always continue to happen.

 

[HHJ]

The way UFC's structured it really does not allow for main event talent to go to other sports. It just does not benefit them in any way whatsoever to do that.

"Oh yes just go and do that for two years."

If they are the world champ like Francis, it's even worse.