ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong has discussed his meeting with Francis Ngannou.
‘The Predator’ is reportedly in the process of ending his long-discussed free agency. Ngannou famously left the UFC in January due to a litany of complaints pertaining to a lack of health insurance, proper pay, and the ability to have a boxing match. He vacated the heavyweight title upon his departure but discussed his hope for a high-profile boxing match.
To this point, that hasn’t materialized. Ngannou and Deontay Wilder have both teased that they could potentially have a two-fight series, one in MMA, and one in boxing. That second bout could even fall in Africa on 50th the anniversary of ‘The Rumble in the Jungle’ next year. However, those plans have since been dropped as ‘The Bronze Bomber’ has entered talks with Anthony Joshua.
Moreover, Francis Ngannou is still a free agent in MMA as well. While many promotions have reached out to the former heavyweight champion, he hasn’t been signed as of now. However, his free agency could reportedly end this week, as ‘The Predator’ is in deep talks with PFL.
Earlier this week, ONE Championship’s Chatri Sityodtong announced that the promotion wasn’t going to submit a final offer to the heavyweight. While he stated the issues were non-financial at the time, he’s since clarified his comments in an interview with DailyStar.
There, the promoter stated that they offered the former UFC heavyweight champion $20 million dollars. Sityodtong didn’t clarify if that was for one fight or several but did allege that Ngannou requested an executive role in the company.
Chatri Sityodtong discusses meeting with Francis Ngannou
“He was asking for a seat at the board of directors,” Chatri Sityodtong stated in the interview. “He was asking for him to determine his opponent’s pay. We offered him £16million [$20million] guaranteed, the money wasn’t enough, he wanted all of these other non-financial terms that didn’t make a lot of sense.” (h/t DailyStar)
“We obviously can’t give a seat at the board of directors, that doesn’t make any sense, he would be a fish out of water [in that position].”
What do you make of these comments? Where do you think Francis Ngannou will sign? Sound off in the comment section below PENN Nation!
