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Francis Ngannou Exposes Dana White-Led UFC’s Appalling Pay Disparity to Joe Rogan – “For One Fight in the PFL…”

Published 09/25/2023, 5:52 AM EDT

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Francis Ngannou decided to make a big money move and took his interests to the PFL. His run in the UFC came to an end after failed negotiations with UFC CEO Dana White. According to Ngannou, he felt that he wasn’t being paid enough, although he was the headliner in some of the biggest main events of the UFC. However, White’s stance on this was unwavering but Ngannou had also made up his mind.

Although initially a lot of people had criticized Ngannou’s decision to move to the PFL, the naysayers quickly bit their lips once they learned of the contract that Ngannou had entered into with the promotion. Not only was he being compensated much better, but his contract had a clause that ensured that his opponents would be properly compensated as well. Months later, he seems really pleased with his decision as he explained to UFC commentator Joe Rogan on his podcast.

Francis Ngannou opens up to Joe Rogan on the pay difference between UFC and PFL

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Former UFC champion Daniel Cormier had strongly criticized Francis Ngannou’s PFL move. However, when the details of the deal were revealed, Cormier took back everything he said. Currently, ‘The Predator’ is preparing to fight WBC champion Tyson Fury. Initially, the rumor was that Ngannou would be getting $8 million for his boxing bout against Fury. However, fellow PFL signee Jake Paul clarified that he would actually be getting an 8-figure payday from the fight.

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Recently, Ngannou was seen talking to Joe Rogan about how moving to the PFL helped him create a new life for himself. “I remember once I saw a Tweet and that Tweet, stick in my mind. It was from Corey Anderson.“, started Ngannou, talking about the former UFC fighter and current Bellator MMA light heavyweight fighter, Corey Anderson. “I think he get cut or he left the UFC and then had a deal with Bellator. And then he went there, he said… he make a tweet like – UFC give me a career, but Bellator give me a life. I love  – I love that Tweet.“, he added.

Joe Rogan agreed with Ngannou and said that even he had heard that Anderson was being paid much more at Bellator than at UFC.

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Then, Ngannou went ahead and made a jaw-dropping announcement. “I wonder why. Like… after this fight, I gonna go out there, fight in the PFL and… for one fight in the PFL, I gonna be making maybe… twice or three times what I have made in my entire career – or in my entire life. So… you understand the difference between career and life.”

Moves on moves – Francis Ngannou becomes PFL Africa chairman

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Besides being one of the best heavyweight fighters in the world, Ngannou is also a great businessman, who believes in a greater purpose. That is why, he has been appointed as the chairman of PFL Africa and is also a minority equity owner of the company. He is currently surrounded by big names. For example, boxing legend Mike Tyson is helping and training Ngannou to prepare for his fight against Tyson Fury. And now, that he has revealed to Joe Rogan the scale of difference between the UFC payday and that of PFL’s, it is only natural that other fighters would find PFL offers more lucrative/beneficial.

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This means that Ngannou will be looking after expanding the business of PFL on the African continent, thereby bringing in money and opportunity to the people there. However, that is not the end. Ngannou’s PFL contract includes a clause that states that all of Ngannou’s opponents would be getting paid a minimum of $2 million for a fight against him.

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According to former UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya, this move by Ngannou will force the UFC to up their game, in order to prevent losing out on big names in the fight game. However, it seems unlikely that Dana White would pay much attention to this. Will Ngannou’s big money move affect the UFC and the fighters’ payday in the near future? Only time can tell.

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Written by:

Arghyadeep Ghosh

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Arghyadeep is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. His love for combat sports dates back to the WWF. Being a 90’s kid, he grew up fascinated by showmanship, competitive fighting, and wrestling.
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Edited by:

Yeswanth Praveen