Francis Ngannou got away and we’re so very happy he did. Going from a $600K payday in the UFC—all because of the UFC’s hard-nosed tactics at the negotiation table—to a 10-figure purse in your second boxing match is unheard of unless your name is Conor McGregor. Ngannou may be giving the Irish superstar a run for the money in that regard very soon, and might even wind up on the coveted Forbes List this year. But how did he get there?

The long and the short of it is that he bet on himself and waited for the terms of his sunset clause to come to their conclusion, and then he took the Francis Ngannou show on the road. First stop, Riyadh, where he took the lineal heavyweight boxing champion of the world to a split decision that many in the community felt he won. He even put the champ on the canvas. Impressive for a pro debut, to say the least.

Now, he’s set to take on the number one contender in the world, a former champion in Anthony Joshua, and he’ll be doing it for a huge payday. After it’s all said and done, Francis could be looking at a $30M - $40M payday in his second pro bout. And the best part is he doesn’t have to give up a percentage of that to his MMA promoter, as the UFC requires.

Let’s take a look at some of the topics we covered in this episode:

1. How much do we think Ngannou is making for this fight?

2. How much is Joshua making?

3. What is PFL going to be watching to come out of this match?

4. There is a Harvard case study that came out, what does that say about Ngannou's PFL contract? Does it give us any info on what the terms are? How much he is getting paid?

5. When we look at what Ngannou is making, one would think other fighters would try to follow his path. Why haven't we seen other UFC fighters do what he did?

6. What are the changes the UFC made in their contracts that prevents other fighters from doing what Francis did?

You know you can count on us for quick, consistent quality UFC coverage. The MMA Draw is an independent, reader supported publication. Please subscribe to our newsletter to keep up with our best work and learn how you can support the site. We’re constantly refining to try and provide our readers and listeners with the best, most current MMA news and opinions.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com/subscribe