Midnight Mania: Could Rumored 'Termination Date' In Ngannou Contract Doom PFL?

03/15/2025 12:00 AM

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Francis Ngannou still has a claim as the best Heavyweight alive.

Ngannou left the UFC roster as the active champion while riding a six-fight win streak filled with explosive knockouts. His high-profile free agent status was nearly unprecedented in modern MMA, and it scored him a monstrous PFL contract and at least two very lucrative boxing matches. The boxing bouts didn't go so well, but Ngannou returned to the cage back in October 2024 with a blistering first-round knockout (watch it), proving he's still among the best in the business.

PFL paid a pretty penny for Ngannou to compete under their banner, but having the lineal Heavyweight champion of the world on their roster is a big deal that certainly improves their negotiating position and general reputation. However, journalist John Nash recently revealed that Ngannou is rumored to have a termination cause in his contract that could be fast-approaching.

How would that affect PFL's position in the competitive field of streaming and fight promotion? It certainly wouldn't help!

"[PFL Founder Donn Davis] talks about 'Our fighters are the same level as UFC.' Really all he can name is like Francis Ngannou and Cris Cyborg," Nash began on his 'Hey, Not The Face' podcast. "As the number one woman fighter of all time and Francis Ngannou as the number one Heavyweight. Then, Dakota Ditcheva as a rising star, which is true. But, I wanna know if my understanding we talked about before — I don't know how much longer Francis Ngannou has in PFL.

"If their big sales pitch is our quality fighters and France Ngannou is one of their biggest sales pitches, and if it's true that his contract has a termination date and that termination date is the end of this month, they better get on that! Because this is one of their major selling points and if they're looking for a big TV deal after UFC maybe leaves [ESPN], you're gonna need France Ngannou to get that sale. That just shows you in some ways the message are communicating to the CEOs and in the corporate world, those are things that we as fans that know the sport would see through, but they don't."

Ngannou most recently revealed his plans were to return to boxing next, possibly against Deontay Wilder. Beyond that is unknown, however, and Ngannou returning to free agency in 2025 would be quite the shocking turn of events.

Stay tuned.

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