Professional Fighters League is 'excited' by the conversations it had with Francis Ngannou
- The PFL is "excited" by the conversations it had with ex-UFC champ and free agent Francis Ngannou.
- PFL CEO Peter Murray told Insider this week that his firm is "compelling fighters into free agency."
LAS VEGAS — Competition for Francis Ngannou's signature is heating up.
The heavyweight MMA fighter, who recently left the UFC as the market-leading promotion's champion, is arguably the most in-demand free agent in all combat sports right now.
And speaking to Insider on Wednesday from the Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, Professional Fighters League CEO Peter Murray said his firm is "excited" at how talks with Ngannou have been developing.
Murray is the latest executive to confirm interest in Ngannou and follows Showtime Sports President Stephen Espinoza's comments to Insider earlier this year that they, too, are keen to bring the knockout artist to their platform.
Ngannou has proven himself at the highest echelons of sport and is free to discuss options with whoever, whenever
With a pro MMA record of 17 wins (12 knockouts, four submissions, and one decision) against three losses and victories over Alistair Overeem, Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos, Stipe Miocic, and Ciryl Gane, Ngannou is a proven killer at the elite level.
"We offered Ngannou a deal that would make him the highest-paid heavyweight of all time," UFC boss Dana White told Insider and other reporters in January. "He turned it down. We're going to release him from his contract. He can go wherever he wants and do whatever he wants."
To MMA Fighting's MMA Hour, Ngannou later said that issues with the UFC and White went back years.
Ngannou wanted the UFC to make various concessions in a new deal, including health insurance, the ability to wear his own sponsors in the Octagon, and options to seek out and secure boxing matches outside of the UFC.
He said the UFC wasn't on board with this, so the two parties were at an impasse.
PFL boss Murray is unsurprised that athletes are leaving UFC
"We're excited about Francis and the conversations that are taking place," PFL boss Murray told Insider.
"His next chapter is going to be bright, as will the PFLs. We believe we're the perfect fit" for Ngannou, said Murray.
Ngannou's exit from the UFC, combined with Nate Diaz, who also entered free agency last year, has not surprised Murray.
"That's sports," he told us. "That's free agency. Fighters have options now, given that PFL is where we're at."
PFL operates differently from other combat sports promotions in that its season, playoffs, and championship structure closely resembles leagues such as the NFL, NBA, and NHL.
At the end of every PFL season, it cuts $1 million checks to each of its champions.
Recently, it announced the acquisition of novice boxer Jake Paul, together with a PFL PPV Super Fight division that is designed to showcase the company's big-name stars behind a paywall on ESPN.
PFL: 'We're compelling fighters into free agency'
If PFL signs Ngannou, he, like Paul, would compete on pay-per-view and earn an equal split of the paywall profits.
"We're compelling fighters to go into free agency whereas, in the past, they really didn't have many options," Murray told us.
"So — it's on."
The 2023 PFL season begins April 1 with an event that will be broadcast on ESPN from Las Vegas.