The wait is over and the PFL might’ve just signed the biggest free agent in MMA history. Early this morning, the promotion sent out a press release announcing that former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou (17-3) was going to me the PFL his exclusive MMA home.
Back in January, it was announced that Ngannou and the UFC had parted ways after failing to reach a new agreement. From there, all the major promotions were after the services of the former UFC champion. PFL, ONE Championship, Bellator, and BKFC all expressed serious interest in Ngannou.
However, as time went on, the list started to narrow. Not too long ago, Ngannou revealed that he was down to either ONE Championship or the PFL. A couple of weeks ago, Ngannou met with ONE Championship and the promotion and him parted ways at the negotiation table after their discussion.
While ONE stated that they pulled their offer, Ngannou told Ariel Helwani that he had already given a verbal commitment to another promotion, but wanted to hear them out. I think the truth is somewhere in the middle on that one. Nevertheless, after that, the writing was on the wall for Ngannou and the PFL.
Francis Ngannou’s PFL Deal
This is such a massive deal for the PFL. The UFC has always had the best talent in the world. Recently, Bellator has been really adding to their roster and their talent is getting very strong especially amongst their champions. However, PFL might be able to say now that they have the baddest man on the planet in Francis Ngannou.
Jon Jones and Ngannou are 1A and 1B in terms of the best heavyweight in the world. Ngannou never lost his title and Jones won the vacant title with ease. Unfortunately, this deal likely signals that we will never see the dream matchup between the two men. For the UFC, it’ll go down in history just like Brock Lesnar – Fedor Emelianenko.
Let’s move to Ngannou’s new deal. What’s interesting is that Ngannou is not expected to debut in MMA until next year. Ngannou has stated that he wanted to box and it appears that he’s heading for a boxing matchup later in the summer or early fall before turning his attention back to MMA.
Ngannou will compete for the PPV Super Fight Division which currently includes Jake Paul and Kayla Harrison. He will also sit on the PFL’s Global Advisory Board. In addition, Ngannou will be an equity owner and chairman of PFL Africa as the promotion looks to expand operations into Ngannou’s home continent.