Aljamain Sterling claimed that Francis Ngannou “won the game” against the UFC.
Earlier this week, a verbal altercation between Ariel Helwani and Chael Sonnen on The MMA Hour went viral. The two MMA public figures were arguing about Ngannou and his success after leaving the UFC before things escalated, leading to Sonnen threatening to strangle Helwani.
As a result, many fighters and analysts have reacted to the situation, including former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling. During his reaction video on YouTube, Sterling stated things went too far between Helwani and Sonnen.
Following his analysis of the verbal altercation, Sterling revealed his opinion on who won the complicated negotiations “game” between Ngannou and the UFC:
“In my opinion, I do think Francis won the game. He got to do what he wanted to do on his terms. It might have taken a while, he might not have gotten paid for a while, but that money now makes up for all of that. He believed and gambled on himself, and he was right at the end of the day. He’s laughing to the bank.”
Francis Ngannou’s last UFC fight was a heavyweight title defense against Ciryl Gane in January 2022. Following his impressive performance, Ngannou began a renegotiation period with the UFC and demanded several ground-breaking stipulations.
The UFC denied the requests, and Ngannou left to sign a lucrative contract with the PFL that allowed him to compete in a boxing match against Tyson Fury.
Ngannou’s knockdown and near win against Fury has opened many high-paying opportunities for the former heavyweight world champion. Therefore, most people believe ‘The Predator’ beat the system by betting on himself and generating more money overall than he would have with the UFC.
Chael Sonnen wants to strangle Ariel Helwani 🤬 pic.twitter.com/7ADD85tDBa
— MMA UNCENSORED (@MMAUNCENSORED1) November 3, 2023
Aljamain Sterling warns other fighters interested in following Francis Ngannou’s plan
Francis Ngannou showed many MMA fighters worldwide that there are opportunities to make life-changing money outside the UFC. With that said, Aljamain Sterling believes other potential free agents need to be careful because they may not succeed as Ngannou did.
During the previously mentioned YouTube video, Sterling had this to say about fighters following in Ngannou’s footsteps:
“As a champion, he defended [his UFC heavyweight title], he left the UFC with the belt, and now he’s got all these other opportunities. So, respect to Francis for that, but again, I just don’t think there’s a lot of people out there with any organization, not just the UFC, that are going to have an opportunity like that.”
Francis Ngannou is expected to return to MMA under the PFL banner in 2024. Meanwhile, ‘The Predator’ has several options for his next boxing match, which will likely be another massive payday against a top-tier heavyweight.
Needless to say, Ngannou must be happy with his decision to bet on himself and part ways with the UFC.
Watch Aljamain Sterling’s entire YouTube video below:
