BY: COLIN BISH, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Despite his loss, Francis Ngannou has made all his doubters eat their words, especially UFC president Dana White. He bet on himself and accomplished everything that he wanted to.
Nearly ten months ago, Ngannou was stripped of his UFC Heavyweight championship and subsequently released by the UFC. Leading up to the Heavyweight championship fight between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane back in March, White declared that Ngannou would never again fight in the UFC.
When Ngannou signed a lucrative deal with the Professional Fighting League, which granted him incentives like a seat on the company’s board of directors, White still criticized the Cameroonian-born fighter.
White said, “And the day that we released him, I knew exactly what was going to happen. Francis wants to take zero risks, doesn’t want to take any chances, and he obviously didn’t want to take a chance with Jon Jones.”
However, Ngannou would take a massive risk, inking an agreement back in mid-July with World Boxing Council Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury to fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
White has also criticized Ngannou’s attempts to box with a high-profile opponent, calling it a “gimmick” fight and saying a boxing match with Ngannou would pale in comparison to the mega match between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor.
A surprising amount of fans would back White in his tirade against the former champ. Many began to label Ngannou as a boring fighter, saying he could only win off one good punch. They discredited his skills not only as a mixed martial artist, but as a boxer, too.
Despite all the naysayers, Ngannou fell short in a narrow split-decision, but he competed and traded with Fury, one of the best Heavyweight boxers of all time.
Considering the track record of MMA fighters boxing, whether it be McGregor losing to Mayweather or YouTuber Jake Paul defeating many former mixed martial artists, no one expected Ngannou to make it competitive. Yet he went toe-to-toe and exchanged punches with one of the best Heavyweight boxers in the world. Ngannou also knocked down Fury in the third round, becoming the second fighter ever to knock down Fury. The first man was former Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, so Ngannou joined an exclusive club.
He got his boxing payday, but he also proved to everyone that he can box with the best Heavyweights. He got the contract and incentives he wished for with the PFL. His contract allowed him to negotiate with PFL executives to pay fighters accordingly and made him chairman of the newly created PFL Africa, allowing for more opportunities for African fighters to be exposed to a larger audience.
When it comes to Dana White, his statement that Ngannou wasn’t willing to take risks is a horrible look. He continued to doubt Ngannou ever since his departure, and the result of Ngannou’s performance likely cost the UFC millions of dollars in PPV buys and more exposure for the company to casual viewers.
bishcj22@bonaventure.edu
