Francis Ngannou reportedly declined an offer that would’ve made him the best paid heavyweight in the history of the company,” according to Dana White.
Sincerely, I doubt Dana’s claims, but if they are accurate, it seems like Francis and the UFC disagreed more over Francis’ right to engage in boxing contests than it did about money.
Conor was viewed by UFC as a “failed experiment” in a number of ways, if I had to guess:
1) Having numerous divisions, which irritated competitors, UFC administration, and spectators;
2) Mayweather handily defeating him in a boxing battle, demonstrating the talent disparity between professional boxers and UFC fighters;
3) Making a lot of money and acquiring a lot of negotiating leverage over UFC;
4) MMA-related laziness or apathy, which led to a humiliating loss to Khabib and two defeats by an experienced foe named Dustin.
It’s probable that UFC management decided to never again permit a champion to compete in boxing after taking all of these things into account.
If Ngannou truly believed that he didn’t care about the money and only desired the freedom to box whenever he pleased, then the dispute with the UFC was not one that could be resolved by negotiation.
It is terrible that the wrestler Ngannou may never appear in another UFC fight.