The name Francis Ngannou is mentioned whenever people talk about devastating heavyweight finishes inside the cage. Ngannou͏ is at the top of his career. The fighter ͏has battled two of ͏the best ͏heavyweight box͏ers in the world, bringing down the great Tyson Fury in his debut pro boxing but losing the fight by split decision. He has some scary knockouts and this too has fetched him some fortune.
Ngannou is returning to MMA to fight in memory of his late son, Kobe, but he also has to proof that he remains the king of MMA and also make some money too. He also marks his debut with the Professional Fighters League (PFL) where he signed last year.
The promotion launched the first PFL Super Fight Championship Belt, which brings two title contests, between former UFC heavyweight champion and Renan Ferreira in the main event of the ‘Battle of the Giants’ that will also feature female MMA stars Cris Cyborg and Larissa Pacheco at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on October 19.
The PFL payouts for the ‘Battle of the Giants’ where the former UFC champion will face Renan Ferreira will be the promotion’s highest paid ever, according to media reports.
No exact figures have been published by PFL, but Forbes reported that Ngannou will pocket over $10 million, that is approximately six billion FCFA and his opponent $2 million, which is about 1.2 billion FCFA – the amount “The Predator” negotiated for all his opponents.
Mathematically, in that single fight, the MMA star will pocket over 24% of the total budget of the Cameroon Ministry of Sports and Physical Education, which stands at circa 24.8 billion FCFA. This is huge, isn’t it?
When Ngannou signed with PFL in May 2023, he did not only negotiate a seven-digit deal for himself, but also made sure that each of his PFL opponents would receive a purse of $2 million, Forbes reported. The contract also includes equity in the company, a role on the PFL board of directors and as chairman of PFL Africa, plus the freedom to box.
Ngannou has not fought in an MMA bout since he successfully defended the UFC heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 in January 2022. Ferreira has been enjoying his status as king of the sports while Ngannou has been away.
Touted as the biggest MMA event of the year, Jake Paul, co-founder of the Professional Fighters League Super Fight Division told The National that it is going to be an “absolutely massive” event, confirming the giants will make huge money too, though he did not detail on the figures.
“These guys are huge and I believe someone’s gonna get knocked out. Yeah, that’s an exciting fight and you have two title fights with the co-main event being the Pacheco versus Cyborg,” he told the online publication.
