Francis leaves the arena rather than enter the cage with PFL HW champ

[Bobby Boulders]

Even if you believe he's never fighting for PFL, and it  must be why he didn't go into the cage to promote the potential fight, it still makes absolutely zero sense, you know, since you're about to have a big boxing match in a few weeks, literally in the same arena, and the attendance today was probably part of your crowd.

I think he still fights for PFL, barring a win over Joshua. If he manages to do that, he's probably gone forever. I think he handled the aftermath of the event today the way he did, simply bc he wanted to handle it that way. Seems like a missed opportunity to me.

 

[Fact Checker]

Meh, Francis is bigger than PFL at this point. I doubt he fights any time before near end of 2025 but he will eventually

Bigger than PFL but did poor numbers in a fight where a fat Tyson Fury rolled out of bed to carry the numbers lol.

Francis just isn’t a draw and he’s not interested in fighting. It’s why the UFC let him walk

 

[JKS]

If Francis had any intention of fighting for PFL he'd have entered the cage for the chance to get on the mic and do a faceoff to start selling the fight.

Here is the thing. They announced in the media from all sides that Francis will face the winner. I doubt that Francis would want to give any signals that he’s not gonna fight in PFL. If has no intentions it would be done more discretely and behind the scenes, he will string em along.

 

[Carniusss]

Ngannou puts up a front like he's trying to help everyone in MMA, but he'll chase the money just like everyone else. He's not going to do charity fights for PFL if boxing keeps the pay days coming.

Yeah I don’t mind him but people acting like he’s some mma vigilante is very strange. I think maybe they’re so desperate and hopeful for someone to “save mma” they will cling to anything.

He’s in it for the money just like everyone else. Duh? Does that make him Satan?

 

[Tweak896]

Yeah I don’t mind him but people acting like he’s some mma vigilante is very strange. I think maybe they’re so desperate and hopeful for someone to “save mma” they will cling to anything.

He’s in it for the money just like everyone else. Duh? Does that make him Satan?

I don't think so, but it doesn't make him the savior that people think either. They acted like he just wanted to save everyone in UFC and now he's going to carry PFL. If he wins or makes it interesting with Joshua, forget MMA. I don't blame him, but he's no different from everyone else.

 

[roganisonly5foot3]

I can’t believe that they really gave him a contract that allows him to have boxing matches, he will make so much money of these 2 fights wit fury and Joshua no way he will ever come back to fight mma again. Especially in the pfl which not many people even watch I can’t imagine they can afford to pay him that much money. After this Joshua fight he will probably retire from fighting altogether unless it’s another big money boxing match, which will be tough for him to get because there’s a very good chance he’s going to be 0-2 after starting his boxing career against 2 of the top 5 guys in the world

No wonder Dana only lets fighters under contract fight in the ufc

 

[Yep]

Either way they win. They will say he’s scared to do a real fight like every other boxer. They just need him to hype up. They actually don’t need him to come in and destroy their HW and never fight again

 

[Thepaintbucket]

The Saudis invested in the PFL and Francis is boxing for them. Do you really think the PFL CEO is going to go against King oilman's best wishes ?

 

[Fight Professor]

He obviously only cares about boxing at this point.

 

[Oscar Madison]

Task at hand --

Francis must remain focused on his next fight.

 

[flektarn]

Ducked the black beast rematch and is ducking Fereira!

 

[markg171]

I tuned in late to see this fight, knew nothing about the Brazilian, and was genuinely intrigued by the prospect of them facing off afterwards.

Aaaand it's gone.

Fact is Francis "signed" with PFL so he could say he was an active MMA fighter to try and purseu his real boxing dreams.

We saw when he left and Jon won the title the Fury initially wanted to fight Jon over Ngannou. Fury only turned hi attention back to Ngannou after Ngannou "signed" with PFL and made him an actual MMA fighter who potentially had an org behind them.

Sad.

 

[markg171]

Even if you believe he's never fighting for PFL, and it  must be why he didn't go into the cage to promote the potential fight, it still makes absolutely zero sense, you know, since you're about to have a big boxing match in a few weeks, literally in the same arena, and the attendance today was probably part of your crowd.

I think he still fights for PFL, barring a win over Joshua. If he manages to do that, he's probably gone forever. I think he handled the aftermath of the event today the way he did, simply bc he wanted to handle it that way. Seems like a missed opportunity to me.

How many times have you embarassed yourself?

Be honest.

 

[cade187]

His MMA career all depends on how the Joshua fight goes. If he somehow wins, he’ll never return to MMA. If Joshua destroys him, then his boxing aspirations will be over. If it’s a close fight? Maybe Wilder.

 

[markg171]

He obviously only cares about boxing at this point.

Monetary reasons aside, it's been obvious to anybody paying attention his knees never properly recovered and that's why he only wants to box.

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

If Ngannou fights in PFL at all it'll be when hes like 40 and has exhausted his big boxing paydays.

 

[Stump]

PFL should've realized compared to boxing names like Fury and Joshua they have absolutely no names of hype at HW right now.

I think they have to realize this. It's beyond obvious. What are they supposed to do about it though? If you're a league without a depth of talent, how do you change that? I'd think the smart plan would be to sign the biggest names you can... If you can sign a fighter who's in the middle of a big, public confrontation with a bigger league, then you're making the right moves.

If that guy goes on to fight a very close fight with the reigning HW boxing champion, then you're REALLY making the right moves. Even without Francis fighting, every other HW on the planet knows that there's the opportunity for big money and big spotlight at PFL if they sign and fight Francis. This is enough in and of itself to drive more higher level HW fighters to PFL.

Or, maybe PFL is okay with Francis fighting Joshua first to build his name up even more. All the while they've got him as a signed fighter with which to negotiate other HW signings.

Even without his actually fighting, PFL signing Francis has been the biggest move they've ever made in terms of threatening the UFC monopoly and getting more eyes on their product. From one perspective, it's probably good that he doesn't actually fight right away. He'd absolutely demolish whomever they put in the cage with him, so with him officially signed but not actually fighting, PFL can hang on to some semblance of legitimacy as having the baddest HW under contract, without that HW thoroughly demolishing the rest of the HW roster and proving how shallow it is

 

[Stump]

If Ngannou fights in PFL at all it'll be when hes like 40 and has exhausted his big boxing paydays.

We've seen succesful HWs above 40. I think Francis is likely going to have an extended career. He got into MMA late, he doesn't rely on lightning quick reflexes. Power is the last thing to go. Black don't crack.

 

[HHJ]

Francis dont hang w no broke folks

 

[HHJ]

RIP PFL it was over before it even began getting swept 5-1 by Bellator was always going to make you a threat to UFC

Yeah man they got beat by a dead org