The Great Divide is a recurring feature here at MMA Fighting in which our staff debate a topic in the world of MMA — news, a fight, a crazy thing somebody did, a crazy thing somebody didn’t do, or some moral dilemma threatening the very foundation of the sport — and try to figure out a resolution. Please join the conversation in the comments.
Francis Ngannou overcame the odds to defend his heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane on an injured leg at UFC 270, but his biggest battle has just begun. In an eye opening and extensive interview with MMA Fighting on Monday ,, “The Baddest Man on the Planet” opened up about his conflict with the UFC. He discussed his struggle with the promotion and how he wants to have more control over his career.
What does Ngannou vs. the UFC mean for MMA, and will he still be a UFC fighter by the end of 2022? MMA Fighting’s Shaun Al-Shatti and Steven Marrocco discuss the unprecedented circumstances of Ngannou and predict where they might go in the next edition of The Great Divide.
Al-Shatti: Thanks to the exhaustive grind of Bloody Elbow’s John Nash, we have an idea of what Ngannou’s team is working with, at least as it relates to the sunset clause at the center of this debate. Sometime around 2017, seemingly as a reaction to the ongoing antitrust lawsuit against the UFC, the promotion’s contractual language shifted to include a five-year maximum period, which would — at least theoretically — supersede the UFC’s long-discussed champion’s clause. That is why Ngannou’s team is so confident the heavyweight king will be able to walk straight into free agency regardless of his status as champion, because the end of 2022 would mark the end of that five-year maximum period.
The reason Ngannou is the first major UFC fighter to test these new-ish limits is mostly because of the cost it takes to get there. Ngannou said it himself — he had to give up multiple major paydays and lucrative contract offers (to the tune of an estimated $7 million loss) over his last several fights, simply because accepting any of those deals would’ve reset the five-year maximum period back to zero. A few fighters in MMA can afford to decline life-changing income during their prime years. But, they also have the ability to make long-term decisions that are more important than short-term gains.
This is why Ngannou’s argument seems so compelling. It could, at the very least, have a significant impact on the future of MMA. Anyone who watched Ngannou’s interview on The MMA Hour this week saw a man who doesn’t appear to be wavering from those principles anytime soon. This is no longer a fight over money; it’s a fight over respect.
Ngannou’s knee injury will likely keep him sidelined for the rest of 2022 anyway, so the champ’s work is basically done. He’ll either be able draw unprecedented concessions form the UFC and lay out a plan for future champions with Ngannou following his example, or he will walk into the open market unassisted as the Baddest Man on Earth and the greatest credentialed agent in MMA history.
My bet? I’d put money on the former, if only because it’d be lunacy to cut bait with a heavyweight champion who was molded by the blood gods themselves, with all the tools and promotional elements needed to become a true mainstream superstar. The UFC has shown many times that it is willing to accept a short-term loss in order to keep its grip on the long-term. This could be the ultimate example. Regardless, the result may shape the tenor of these sorts of contractual disputes for years to come.
Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images
Marrocco: I second Shaun’s statement that the reason we’ve arrived at what could be a watershed moment for the MMA industry is directly attributable to the persistence of a part-time journalist with a gift for business reporting (thanks, Nash), and, of course, to the ongoing anti-trust case (thanks Quarry, Le, et al). We know from experience that UFC’s decision not to extend its contracts in order to reduce its exposure to lawsuits by hundreds more for anti-competitive acts had real implications for the UFC. The debate is over whether they are short-term or long-term and big or small.
I can’t imagine the UFC would have made this move in the first place if it didn’t anticipate this day would come. It was obvious that there would eventually be a champion who didn’t want to take the money. There would also be an artificial void at top of each division. They would get some negative press. If they didn’t, well, that would be hubris, and just so … UFC.
Still, it’s rich that the fighter on the verge of this unusual finale trains at the gym founded by the guy who famously resigned from the promotion to get a fight with Fedor Emelianenko. Many have cited Randy Couture as a precedent for all this. The difference between then and now, however, is that the UFC’s business was more reliant on pay-per-view back in 2007. Couture was important to the company’s bottom line. In 2022, with so much of the promotion’s revenues guaranteed via broadcast contracts, the UFC is less reliant on individual stars. When they limited fight deals to five years, they essentially made a bet that no fighter is bigger than the brand. That’s what Dana has been saying for years, anyway. It’s been on the fighters and the public to prove him right or wrong, and the way it’s been going these days, it seems more the former.
In general, the UFC has been letting go of more fighters than ever, either by letting them fight out their contracts or by releasing them to ply their trade elsewhere (this comes in handy when your entire business model is being questioned in court and you want to give the impression of a competitive marketplace). Jake Paul has been the source of most negative press, with a few hand-wringing. Is it changing anything?
Of course
Ngannou is the heavyweight champ of the world. If there was a person qualified to lead the charge in changing the business, he seems the perfect candidate. He isn’t a disruptive enough fighter to make the change, though he has hundreds of others fighting behind him. I think the UFC has already told us he isn’t (see: Lewis vs. Gane at UFC 265). Ngannou is an amazing talent with an amazing story. He is also a rare fighter in the fight scene: A man with principles. He is also a relatively new champion in a division with a revolving door. He and his team have very publicly put the UFC’s business out in the streets. This is not a sign of a long-lasting relationship.
I wish it weren’t so. It would be great to see Ngannou against Jon Jones. But unless Ngannou is willing to bend on his contractual demands, I see him sitting out and moving on to his next promoter. There’s a certain air of inevitability that hangs over the whole thing.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Martin: It’s awfully hard to believe Francis Ngannou will still be a UFC fighter when 2022 is finished, unless the promotion somehow caves to his demands for more freedom within his contract, which would mean allowing him to pursue outside interests like the potential boxing match against Tyson Fury he’s talked about quite often in recent years.
Although Ngannou’s exact desires to remain in the UFC are not known, it seems that he is tired of restrictive contracts which give the promotion almost unrestrictive power over fighters’ careers. Ngannou, who is probably the most prominent fighter of recent times, has been open to fighting the UFC until he gets what he wants.
It’s hard to imagine that the UFC would actually meet Ngannou’s needs and create a precedent for future fighters when they start to negotiate a contract. The more likely scenario is the UFC cutting some backroom deal that would allow Ngannou to cross over to boxing to face Fury, much like what happened when Conor McGregor had the chance to earn a nine-figure payday for a match against Floyd Mayweather in 2017.
It just does not seem that the UFC will do for Ngannou, what McGregor did for McGregor.
Perhaps that’s because Ngannou is being represented by an agent who works for Creative Artists Agency — the main talent agency rival to the UFC’s owners at Endeavor — or maybe the UFC just doesn’t want to allow anybody else to get over on them so the situation repeats itself when it’s time for Israel Adesanya or Kamaru Usman to get a new deal done. Either way, Ngannou seems steadfast in his demands and the UFC appears unwilling to meet him anywhere near the middle.
It doesn’t matter what the outcome, but will it change the UFC’s long-term future? Absolutely not.
Ngannou will be satisfied with the terms of any resigning, and this will end the story. The UFC will not be letting Ngannou go. This is a clear indication that the UFC does not bend or break, even for heavyweight champions. It would be grand if Ngannou’s stance would alter the way the UFC does business with its fighters, but unless the government gets involved or the ongoing class-action lawsuit actually penalizes the UFC for unfair business practices, no single athlete is going to change the culture from within.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Lee: Fighters take heed: If the UFC heavyweight champion — regularly touted by Dana White and the promotion as “The Baddest Man on the Planet” — can be viewed as an expendable pawn, what does that mean for the rest of you?
Although it may be an exaggeration, this story about Francis Ngannou is not far from the truth. This is a fighter who has done everything the UFC has asked of him, fought when he’s been able to fight and sat when he’s been asked to sit, beaten the very best in his division, and even handled all of this public negotiation talk with grace and aplomb. He hasn’t come at the UFC breathing fire; if anything, he’s approached the conflict like the gentleman brawler that he is, sounding more like he’s ready to sit down with company execs with a fine French vintage on the table than sling mud through the media.
While there have been some comments from both sides, Ngannou only shared the frustrations with bigger stars who have faced down the UFC, like Conor McGregor or Nate Diaz. Unlike them, he wasn’t even asking to be allowed to do anything outside the confines of his existing contract. Instead, Ngannou’s goal was to complete his current deal at UFC 270 and then negotiate a new deal with expanded options for a contracted fighter. Only in the backwards world of MMA would that be considered unreasonable.
However, that is the world we inhabit, and legally the UFC controls Ngannou’s fighting future, at least until December. Then he’s free to walk, presumably into the realm of boxing where a tantalizing — but still strictly theoretical — matchup with Tyson Fury awaits. Ngannou’s team and he should still be able secure at most a handful of significant paydays in boxing for this highly-marketable heavyweight.
As harsh as it sounds, the UFC will be fine with letting Ngannou go. MMA is arguably the ultimate “what have you done for me lately” business, and with Ngannou guaranteed to be on the shelf for the better part of the year as he recovers from impending knee surgery, you can bet the gears are already in motion to make him a distant memory. It took less than a year for Ciryl Gane to become the man to beat at heavyweight, remember?
Imagine if Jon Jones finally makes his heavyweight debut or if Gane gets right back on the winning track, or Stipe Miocic comes out of hibernation or they strike gold with one of the emerging names in the division like Tom Aspinall, Alexandr Romanov, or Tai Tuivasa. Then White will be happy to wish Ngannou a hearty farewell and a “don’t let the door hit ya…”
Fans will likely be following Ngannou’s next venture with much interest. But they won’t be demanding his return to the Octagon. Not as long as the UFC always has another warm body to throw in there.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Meshew: Man, this has really been a party in here, huh? When the most optimistic opinion voiced is “maybe the UFC won’t cut off their nose to spite their face this one time, but it’s 50/50,” you know the situation is bleak. Do not be discouraged, friends. I’m here to lift your spirits with the most dangerous and rare of things: hope!
Because I believe that this will be a turning point moment for the UFC. It’s not the seismic, paradigm-changing shift of the UFC finally compensating fighters fairly for their services — this is still many years away if ever happens — but something subtler, but nevertheless important. This will make the UFC stop worrying about the small things.
While the UFC’s business-minded leadership is not new, the UFC has made significant changes since its pay-per view deal with ESPN. This deal guarantees the UFC an annual payout and has made them less dependent on fighters. That, coupled with the influx of cheap talent entering the UFC on 10-and-10 deals off the Contender Series, has created one of the most hostile environments for workers we’ve seen since the Rockefellers. This is why the UFC has cut all ties with many of its fighters in recent years. Why would they pay Anderson Silva so much money when they can get the same function for half the cost? As with all predatory business practices, there is a point where you can no longer return. I think Ngannou represents this.
As other’s here have noted, Ngannou is the Baddest Man on the Planet, widely regarded, and imminently bankable as a promotional tool. He has also handled the entire thing as graciously and respectfully as possible, even though the UFC was not so subtly discrediting him. Ngannou does not ask for unreasonable compensation. Certainly, Ngannou wants to be paid more, but his core request is that he be treated with respect by the company that he literally bleeds for and that he be allowed to pursue other non-MMA business interests, aka boxing. There is no good reason for the UFC to deny him either, especially as Ngannou has made it clear he wants to box with the UFC’s promotional help and not on his own. That, my opinion, will be what makes all the difference.
Perhaps I’m naive, but at some point, rationality has to win out here. Ngannou’s request is ridiculously low in price. Ngannou wants to be treated as a person and to participate in an event that will undoubtedly be a cultural landmark for the UFC. It would be foolish to believe that Dana White is not willing to pay this price to please his ego, or to hold on to a hardline stance regarding co-promotion.
White still runs the UFC, but with the company on the precipice of a mass exodus of stars soon with Ngannou, Nate Diaz, Dustin Poirier, and Conor McGregor all potentially shorting the gate in 2022, at some point they are going to have to take a good hard look at how they run things, because while Ngannou has been respectful thus far, just wait to see what he and Diaz and McGregor have to say about Dana White and the UFC when the organization no longer has any sway over them. The biggest stars in the sport all running the UFC down in public while Jake Paul continues to put their woeful fighter pay in the spotlight is A LOT of bad press for Endeavor to stomach.
Although fighting is more rewarding than subjugating them, it’s still worth the effort. I hope that Ngannou will help the brave guys win a fight.
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