Francis Ngannou won out in the Tyson Fury sweepstakes, and his manager says the payout will crush his UFC career earnings.
Ngannou, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion, will meet WBC Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury in a 10-round boxing match on October 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It’s a massive fight for Ngannou, who couldn’t come to terms with the UFC on a new deal while he was the promotion’s heavyweight titleholder.
Francis Ngannou Rolling In Dough
Francis Ngannou’s manager Marquel Martin served as a guest on MMAFighting’s “The MMA Hour.” During his appearance, Martin revealed that Ngannou will be making more money for the Tyson Fury fight than he made throughout his UFC run.
Marquel Martin says Ngannou is making more for his fight with Fury than all of his UFC fights combined.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/O6SqXsJfVE
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) July 12, 2023
“Oh my God,” Martin said. “By far, by multiples. He would’ve had to fight, I don’t want to put it this way, but I’ll just say just to make, even when being champion, he would’ve had to fight multiple times [to be in the ballpark of his pay for the Fury fight].”
Martin also responded to the question of whether or not this is more money than the UFC was offering for a Ngannou vs. Jon Jones showdown.
“Oh yeah,” Martin said.
Response To Dana White Trying To Book Tyson Fury vs. Jon Jones
Not long after criticizing Ngannou for wanting “gimmick fights,” Dana White tried goading Fury to take a UFC bout with Jones. Martin believes White tried to throw off Ngannou’s chances of fighting Fury.
“I think they really wanted to just mess up our chances, to be quite honest,” Martin said. “I think, for whatever reason, there’s a sour taste in their mouth when it comes to Francis. They don’t want Francis to be able to have that opportunity. I think that was clear to us for a while. For what reason? I don’t know, you’ll have to ask them but it’s a moot point.”
Martin said he wasn’t surprised when the UFC boss attempted to book Fury vs. Jones. The manager praised Dana White’s promotional skills, and said he expected the UFC President to immediately jump at the chance at gimmick fights despite claiming that isn’t what his promotion does.
Marquel Martin thoughts on Dana White trying to put together Fury/Jones.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/quQNS9HttB
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) July 12, 2023
