{"id":13256,"date":"2023-05-17T10:06:23","date_gmt":"2023-05-17T10:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/?p=13256"},"modified":"2023-05-17T10:06:23","modified_gmt":"2023-05-17T10:06:23","slug":"ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-UFC Champ Francis Ngannou Signs Exclusive Contract With PFL"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-pfl-contract.jpg\" alt=\"Francis Ngannou Signs Exclusive Professional Fighters League (PFL) Contract\" title=\"Francis Ngannou Signs Exclusive Contract With PFL\" width=\"300\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-13258\" \/><strong>Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ngannou confirms exclusive contract with PFL<\/li>\n<li>The PFL deal will allow Ngannou to box and compete in MMA<\/li>\n<li>Ngannou has also been hired as the new PFL Africa Chairman<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Former UFC heavyweight champion <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/ufcs-francis-ngannou-partners-with-crypto-casino-stake-com\/\"><strong>Francis Ngannou<\/strong><\/a> received a lot of flak on social media during the last few months as multiple MMA promotions such as <em>ONE, BKFC and Bellator<\/em> dropped out of signing the baddest man on the planet. <\/p>\n<p>MMA fans thought Ngannou made a mistake leaving the UFC as none of the other MMA promotions were able to offer him a lucrative financial contract. Ngannou has now confirmed he has signed an exclusive agreement with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pflmma.com\">Professional Fighters League<\/a> (PFL).<\/p>\n<h2>PFL and Ngannou Sign Exclusive Agreement<\/h2>\n<p>With UFC, ONE, BKFC and Bellator off the table, it mean only the PFL were in the running to sign Ngannou and hence it came as no surprise when Ngannou announced that he has signed an exclusive agreement with the PFL that will allow him to compete in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/sports-betting\/mixed-martial-arts\">MMA<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/sports-betting\/boxing\">boxing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Ngannou did a lengthy interview with top MMA journalist <strong>Ariel Helwani<\/strong> and opened up about his contract negotiations with ONE, BKFC and Bellator and what went wrong. He said it made good business sense for him to sign with PFL as their visions and goals were aligned at this point in time.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position:relative;height:0;padding-bottom:56.25%\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xqZ7zji03uU?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0?ecver=2\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;left:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ngannou also took to social media to silence his doubters and haters with quotes saying <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I am not a business man, I am a business, man\u2019!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I\u2019m not a businessman, I\u2019m a business, man \u265f\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ED9wZY0Vz0\">pic.twitter.com\/ED9wZY0Vz0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/francis_ngannou\/status\/1658489647415304192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 16, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Ngannou\u2019s deal with the PFL is not a usual MMA contract that involves the fighter getting a certain amount. Ngannou\u2019s deal also guarantees that <strong>whoever fights him in MMA will receive a minimum of $2 million for each fight<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position:relative;height:0;padding-bottom:56.25%\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ti4hI7GfAIU?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0?ecver=2\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;left:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Ngannou \u2013 New PFL Africa Chairman<\/h2>\n<p>The PFL contract will also result in Ngannou becoming the new PFL Africa chairman. Ngannou who was born and raised in Cameroon continues to visit his country on a regular basis and is very keen to do more for African MMA fighters.<\/p>\n<p>Ngannou said one of the reasons why he signed with the PFL was not only because they offered him more than other promotions but they looked at him as a business partner and wer open to accommodating his requests. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/francis-ngannou-will-face-tyson-fury-or-deontay-wilder-in-a-boxing-ring-only-for-30-million\/\">Ngannou is likely to having a boxing match in 2023<\/a> under the PFL banner and will have his first MMA fight in 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Summary Ngannou confirms exclusive contract with PFL The PFL deal will allow Ngannou to box and compete in MMA Ngannou has also been hired as the new PFL Africa Chairman Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou received a lot of flak on social media during the last few months as multiple MMA promotions such as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","category-usa"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ex-UFC Champ Francis Ngannou Signs Exclusive Contract With PFL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ngannou has now confirmed he has signed an exclusive agreement with Professional Fighters League after fans thought he had made a mistake leaving the UFC\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ex-UFC Champ Francis Ngannou Signs Exclusive Contract With PFL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ngannou has now confirmed he has signed an exclusive agreement with Professional Fighters League after fans thought he had made a mistake leaving the UFC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-05-17T10:06:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-pfl-contract.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Landon Wheeler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Landon Wheeler\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Landon Wheeler\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7735831f7fb7440b065c8376a41cf88d\"},\"headline\":\"Ex-UFC Champ Francis Ngannou Signs Exclusive Contract With PFL\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-17T10:06:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":425,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/05\\\/francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-pfl-contract.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\",\"USA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ex-UFC Champ Francis Ngannou Signs Exclusive Contract With PFL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/05\\\/francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-pfl-contract.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-17T10:06:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7735831f7fb7440b065c8376a41cf88d\"},\"description\":\"Ngannou has now confirmed he has signed an exclusive agreement with Professional Fighters League after fans thought he had made a mistake leaving the UFC\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/05\\\/francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-pfl-contract.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/05\\\/francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-pfl-contract.jpg\",\"width\":380,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"Francis Ngannou Signs Exclusive Professional Fighters League (PFL) Contract\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7735831f7fb7440b065c8376a41cf88d\",\"name\":\"Landon Wheeler\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/46a3d81b7d342ca0efc5534703b4ff788fb760adae2a0a1be536a2b1a075d464?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/46a3d81b7d342ca0efc5534703b4ff788fb760adae2a0a1be536a2b1a075d464?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/46a3d81b7d342ca0efc5534703b4ff788fb760adae2a0a1be536a2b1a075d464?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Landon Wheeler\"},\"description\":\"All things casino related are what interests Landon, and having been involved in that industry for the last thirty years and having actually worked in several different roles in the casino industry he is definitely very well placed to keep you in the know in regards to what is happening in the casino industry as a whole.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/author\\\/landon-wheeler\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ex-UFC Champ Francis Ngannou Signs Exclusive Contract With PFL","description":"Ngannou has now confirmed he has signed an exclusive agreement with Professional Fighters League after fans thought he had made a mistake leaving the UFC","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ex-UFC Champ Francis Ngannou Signs Exclusive Contract With PFL","og_description":"Ngannou has now confirmed he has signed an exclusive agreement with Professional Fighters League after fans thought he had made a mistake leaving the UFC","og_url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\/","article_published_time":"2023-05-17T10:06:23+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-pfl-contract.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Landon Wheeler","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Landon Wheeler"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\/"},"author":{"name":"Landon Wheeler","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/7735831f7fb7440b065c8376a41cf88d"},"headline":"Ex-UFC Champ Francis Ngannou Signs Exclusive Contract With PFL","datePublished":"2023-05-17T10:06:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\/"},"wordCount":425,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-pfl-contract.jpg","articleSection":["Sports","USA"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\/","url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\/","name":"Ex-UFC Champ Francis Ngannou Signs Exclusive Contract With PFL","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-pfl-contract.jpg","datePublished":"2023-05-17T10:06:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/7735831f7fb7440b065c8376a41cf88d"},"description":"Ngannou has now confirmed he has signed an exclusive agreement with Professional Fighters League after fans thought he had made a mistake leaving the UFC","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/ex-ufc-champion-francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-contract-with-professional-fighters-league\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-pfl-contract.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/francis-ngannou-signs-exclusive-pfl-contract.jpg","width":380,"height":250,"caption":"Francis Ngannou Signs Exclusive Professional Fighters League (PFL) Contract"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/","name":"","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/7735831f7fb7440b065c8376a41cf88d","name":"Landon Wheeler","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/46a3d81b7d342ca0efc5534703b4ff788fb760adae2a0a1be536a2b1a075d464?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/46a3d81b7d342ca0efc5534703b4ff788fb760adae2a0a1be536a2b1a075d464?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/46a3d81b7d342ca0efc5534703b4ff788fb760adae2a0a1be536a2b1a075d464?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","caption":"Landon Wheeler"},"description":"All things casino related are what interests Landon, and having been involved in that industry for the last thirty years and having actually worked in several different roles in the casino industry he is definitely very well placed to keep you in the know in regards to what is happening in the casino industry as a whole.","url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/author\/landon-wheeler\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13256\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}