After months of uncertainty and speculations, Francis Ngannou is edging closer to signing with an MMA promotion. After his contractual negotiations with the UFC broke down, he became the hottest property in the free agent market. While multiple promotions tried to bag ‘The Predator’, some minor differences popped up and hindered the closing of the deal.

ONE Championship was the latest entrant on the list when it pulled out from securing the Cameroonian-French fighter’s signature. The Asian promotion decided not to submit the final offer after realizing the differences with the former UFC champion. However, there was more to the story than was disclosed, as ONE Championship tried to save itself from a PR disaster.

Francis Ngannou is taking his name off the free-agent market

Ariel Helwani, perplexed at the outbreak of the ONE Championship story, reached out to the 36-year-old. He told, on The MMA Hour, how the fighter’s side of the story differed. According to Helwani, the heavyweight fighter had already decided on his future, and that revelation affected the negotiations with ONE Championship.

Helwani said, “Basically, what I can share at this time because he was very transparent. Francis is very close to signing a new deal and with another promotion. And according to Francis, he was very upfront about this.”

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However, ONE Championship CEO, Chatri Sityodtong, tried to salvage his promotion’s reputation and resorted to an old PR strategy- walking away, as opposed to not being able to close the terms.

Did ONE Championship CEO try to save his face with his statement?

The Canadian-American sports journalist then explained while Ngannou and Sityodtong left the meeting on good terms, they both knew the fighter had set his sights on heading somewhere else.

He stated, “And so they left the meeting on good terms. But both of them came to an understanding that because he had already kind of verbally committed to someone, more than likely he’s not going to ONE.”

Sityodtong said, “After careful reflection, we decided not to submit our final offer. I didn’t feel Francis, and I were fully aligned on non-financial matters. It is nothing personal.”

Lastly, Helwani also mentioned PFL emerged as a favorite, as hinted by Ngannou’s body language in the conversation.

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What do you think of this development involving Francis Ngannou? Where do you believe the former UFC champion is headed next? Let us know in the comments below.

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