Israel Adesanya Thinks Francis Ngannou Going To PFL Is Good For The Sport

Israel Adesanya believes that Francis Ngannou's new deal with the PFL will change the sport of MMA and possibly the UFC.

Ngannou Adesanya
(via @francisngannou - Instagram)

Israel Adesanya is praising his friend and fellow fighter Francis Ngannou after he signed with PFL. 

Former UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou made headlines this week after signing with a brand new MMA promotion. Ngannou will be joining the Professional Fighters League after signing a history-making contract. Ngannou left the UFC earlier this year hoping to start a boxing career but never put MMA fighting out of his mind. He was looking for an organization that would let him continue his MMA career while making boxing a priority as well. He has found that with PFL.

The new contract with PFL will allow Ngannou to participate in the Pay-Per-View Super Fight Division. PFL is known for its “season” that mimics other professional sports where fighters will compete a certain number of times a year and in a final at the end of the year. This will not be the case for Ngannou he will join influencer Jake Paul and former PFL champion Kayla Harrison as faces of the pay-per-view division. What is unique about Ngannou and his contract is that he has a clause that will guarantee any opponent of his to make $1 million. It was essential for Ngannou to include the rest of the MMA community in his work to improve fighter conditions and pay.

Israel Adesanya believes Francis Ngannou is changing the sport of MMA forever

The world was looking on for the past couple of months to see where Ngannou would land. Now his friend and fellow fighter Israel Adesanya believes that Ngannou and his new contract could be changing the sport of MMA for good.

“It’s good news, it’s good for the game,” he said on his YouTube. “What I really liked is how his opponent is guaranteed a million that’s cool…but also like this thing like his opponent is guaranteed a million how many fighters gonna be like right, I gotta get to the PFL. I want to fight Francis, Francis is now the money fight. So that’s another twist on it that I like…the UFC they’re not dumb, they’ll take notice they know how to adapt. And when something like this happens in another field it creates a big ripple in the game. And a big enough ripple can force the UFC to change the way, even a small change.”

In addition to signing on to fight with a PFL Ngannou will also be named chairman and equity owner in PFL Africa. According to CFL Peter Murrey, Francis will help to advance the sport of MMA globally and to support communities in Africa. This hits a chord with African descendant Adesanya.

“What he’s doing with PFL Africa, we already have AKO, African KO, the one that Kamaru has, like, the fights I see on there, you can see the potential already,” he said. “PFL Africa or whatever that’s going to be, Francis has a seat at the board or at the table. That’s cool.”

The UFC has been toying with the idea of bringing an event to Africa over the past couple of years. At the time three African champions were at the helm, Ngannou, Adesanya, and Kamaru Usman. The advancements of MMA in Africa are ongoing and now Ngannou and the PFL will be at the forefront of this movement.

Published on May 18, 2023 at 9:58 am
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