18 July 2023 , 18:04
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Francis Ngannou has explained that he feels the UFC's massive $8million contract offer to fight Jon Jones which he turned down earlier this year was a "trick".
The world heavyweight champion left MMA's top promotion without ever losing the belt after defending against Ciryl Gane, despite a massive money offer that would have seen him overtake Brock Lesnar as the highest-paid 265lb fighter in history. Instead, he opted to sign with the sport's No.2 promotion PFL and pursue boxing, where he has just inked a deal to face Tyson Fury.
Speaking on The MMA Hour yesterday, Ngannou was asked about reports of the UFC's offer, insisting that all was not what it seemed with the massive payout. Having last fought for just $600,000 as the world champion in front of a packed KIA Forum on pay-per-view, the heavyweight feared he was being taken advantage of by the new offer.
“I have heard so many times people say, ‘Oh, they offered him $8 million to fight, they offer him this and that’, which is not exactly [the truth]," Ngannou explained. “There was a trick there, and it was a bit because it was just in order for me to put the pen on the paper. There was like one big number, and behind it, there was nothing. The paper was blank pretty much.”
He will now earn over $10million to face Fury in an unprecedented crossover fight that pits the No.1 heavyweights in the world from MMA and boxing against one another in their primes. Bookies and experts have insisted that the fight won't be competitive, but Ngannou is confident of getting a result.
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He is expected to make more for this one fight, which has a rematch clause in case of a shock victory, than his entire UFC career. "Definitely, yes," he replied when asked if he would pocket more for the boxing fight than his entire 14-fight run in the octagon. "Oh, 100 per cent yes.
"I mean, I didn't make that much in my entire UFC career basically after turning down all those contract that could have made me more money. But yes, if we counted, absolutely [more money to make his boxing debut]."