The Professional Fighters League issued a statement on Friday indicating that it has parted ways with Francis Ngannou. The deal ends after just one fight and an abundance of promises after signing in 2023.
The 39-year-old Ngannou signed with the PFL after a contract dispute with the UFC. Since then, he has had one boxing match, a loss to Anthony Joshua and a one-sided PFL MMA victory over Renan Ferreira in October 2024.
The deal was supposed to set up the PFL, but nothing has transpired from it. A part of the PFL deal had Ngannou having an equity stake in the company, on the PFL advisory board and a leading figure spearheading PFL in Africa. He also said his MMA opponents would be guaranteed at least $2 million as part of his deal.
From the Ngannou press release announcing his signing with the company.
Under the partnership, Ngannou will fight exclusively in MMA for the PFL’s new PPV Super Fight Division, joining combat sports superstars Jake Paul and Kayla Harrison. The Super Fight Division was launched to revamp the antiquated business model of MMA and to forge true economic partnerships with the sport’s top stars to compete in global mega events, offering 50% of the revenue from the PPV fights. Ngannou will make his PFL PPV Super Fight debut in mid-2024 against a major global MMA star fighter to be chosen in the future. DAZN is a partner of PFL’s Super Fight Division and will distribute events on its PPV platform in Europe and other priority international markets.
The PFL Global Advisory Board has been established for the league to closely collaborate with the greatest athletes and minds in the sport of MMA to ensure the PFL stays focused on its fighters-first mission, combined with recruiting and developing future global champions. As part of the strategic partnership with the PFL, Ngannou will serve in a leadership role on the PFL Global Advisory Board, making him the first active fighter to serve on the board and represent fighters’ interests.
We have not seen anything from the “Super Fight” Division. Moreover, both Paul and Harrison are no longer with the company. Overall, the plans never came to fruition.
Ngannou intimated a break from the company after an interview with Ariel Helwani a couple months ago. However, PFL played damaged control coming out immediately after the interview
While the PFL received headlines from Ngannou’s signing as well as Jake Paul, the return on investment seems low considering the promotion did not hold events to capitalize on the signing. The Ngannou deal will go down as one of the worst in terms of promise versus reality. A lot was expected based on the initial signing, but it only produced one fight.
We will see what Ngannou does now and how the PFL will proceed this year without him.
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