As each day passes, it seems that it’s more and more likely that Francis Ngannou (17-3) will end up in the PFL. Recently, the former UFC heavyweight champion told Ariel Helwani that he had narrowed his MMA choices to either PFL or ONE Championship.
Bellator as well as BKFC had expressed interest in bringing in Ngannou. Scott Coker, Bellator President, said that Showtime Boxing could bring in Ngannou, but it didn’t appear that from an MMA perspective that Bellator would be a match.
David Feldman was asked about Ngannou yesterday while promoting his upcoming BKFC card featuring Luke Rockhold and Mike Perry. Feldman said that they’ve talked to Ngannou, but he was asking for “Unrealistic Money”. Feldman also said that with each day he views Ngannou is losing value.
Chael Sonnen was asked about Ngannou yesterday and he said that his advice would be to call Dana White as soon as he can. While what Ngannou did was respectable in terms of walking away from the UFC, the general feel in the combat sports world is that Ngannou made a really bad business decision.
Ngannou to the PFL?
Officials from the PFL said this week that they continue to have positive dialogue with Ngannou and would love for him to compete in a heavyweight season. However, they also acknowledged that Ngannou is more of a PPV guy and would likely fall into their new PPV Super Fight model.
Ngannou has been chasing a boxing match with Deontay Wilder and that does appear to have some steam. If I had to put money on anything, I’d say that Ngannou gets that boxing match next. However, if that goes terrible for Ngannou, he’s going to be looking at a near two-year layoff before he returns to MMA.
At the point he finally does return whether it be to ONE Championship or PFL, it’s hard to argue that his value hasn’t gone down. If I was managing Francis’ career, I’d try to get a deal done somewhere and fast. With each day, Dave Feldman was right in saying that Ngannou’s value will drop.