Francis Ngannou is living his best life.
The former UFC heavyweight champion surprised many on Tuesday by securing the boxing superfight he’s long coveted against undefeated WBC champion Tyson Fury. The two heavyweight titans are now scheduled to collide on Oct. 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and according to Ngannou’s longtime representative Marquel Martin, “The Predator” is set to make the kind of payday that most combat sports athletes only dream of.
“Let’s just say this: The bag is so big, he may actually just drop it on the way to the bank,” Martin said Wednesday on The MMA Hour. “Let’s just say that. I don’t know what the haters are trying to say right now, I kind of just blocked it out, but they’ll just be proven wrong again. This is life-changing. This is exactly what we planned and visualized, so we’re happy.”
Martin said Ngannou is expected to earn more for the Fury fight than he would’ve earned throughout the life of the UFC’s final contract offer to Ngannou, which included a blockbuster defense of his heavyweight title against Jon Jones.
When asked if Ngannou is set to earn more for his boxing debut than he made in his 14 prior UFC bouts combined, three of which were title bouts, Martin answered in the affirmative.
“Oh my God. I mean, by far. By multiples,” Martin said.
“Just to make [this money] even while being champion, he would’ve had to fight multiple times just to [be in this ballpark].”
Ngannou’s desire to box was one of the major factors that led to his unprecedented UFC departure while holding the promotion’s heavyweight title. UFC officials declined to allow the Cameroonian to chase a payday in boxing while under contract, however the Fury fight has long been on Ngannou’s radar. Ngannou even made a surprise appearance in the ring alongside Fury in April 2022 following Fury’s win over Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium.
Ngannou is generally regarded as one of the most devastating knockout artists in MMA history. He captured the UFC heavyweight title in March 2021 with a brutal knockout of Stipe Miocic, then defended his title once, taking a decision over Ciryl Gane despite fighting on a torn ACL. Eleven of Ngannou’s 12 UFC victories ended in stoppages, including knockouts of Alistair Overeem, Cain Velasquez, Curtis Blaydes (x2), and Junior dos Santos.
Fury is the No. 1 ranked heavyweight in boxing. He holds notable wins over Deontay Wilder (x2), Wladimir Klitschko, Whyte, Derek Chisora (x3), among many others.
Martin on Wednesday refuted the recent claims of rival promoter Eddie Hearn and confirmed that Fury vs. Ngannou is set to be contested under traditional boxing rules, with knockdowns permitted over the course of 10 three-minute rounds. Martin is still unsure if the bout will technically be considered an exhibition or a professional fight, as Ngannou’s lack of a WBC ranking currently makes him ineligible to win Fury’s heavyweight title, however he indicated that work on that front is still being done on both sides.
“It’s just crazy. Again, promoters will be promoters and try to devalue the other side as much as they can, but this is by all accounts a real fight,” Martin said. “We are not signing up to do some, like, go out there and play patty-cake. No, no, no, this is an actual fight. What happens with the WBC belt, we plan on talking with the WBC to get licensed. That’s our plan. And we never know, we may have the opportunity to maybe put his [belt] on the line. I don’t know, that’s for his side. But I know that, from our side, we plan on hopefully having those conversations and making sure that we do everything in our power to — we want this to go on on [Fury’s professional] record.”
“But again,” Martin added, “I’ll set the record straight. This is a real fight.”
The Fury news comes on the heels of an already unprecedented contract Ngannou signed with PFL that includes equity in the company, a role on the PFL board of directors, makes Ngannou the chairman of PFL’s expansion into Africa, gives him the freedom to pursue his own sponsors, and guarantees $2 million purses for each of Ngannou’s PFL opponents.
Martin confirmed that Ngannou is still targeting the first quarter of 2024 for his PFL debut.
