Francis Ngannou, the heavyweight champion of the UFC, could have just suggested switching to the PFL.
Since January of last year, as the Cameronian was preparing for his first world championship defense at UFC 270, Francis Ngannou’s contract situation with the UFC has been in doubt. Ngannou would defeat Ciryl Gane by unanimous decision to retain the belt.
These concerns arose from the fact that Ngannou was fighting under his contract at the time and from his candor in expressing his displeasure with the UFC. The champion’s clause made it clear that he would become a free agent after either making three more championship defenses or after a year had passed.
Ngannou may already be a free agent, according to a YouTube video and tweet that he posted last month that indicated that.
If this claim is accurate, “The Predator” may have just given a hint as to where his next landing is.
Ngannou said that his “second chapter” was set to start on December 12, just around the time when news of his probable free agency status surfaced.
The meaning of the comment might have been many things, from as simple as saying he was ready to start again now that his health had improved following knee surgery to some people speculating that he was going to try boxing, which has long been one of his objectives.
But following a social media post over the weekend, many people are now speculating that perhaps his contract situation is about to be settled after all, but with the PFL rather than the UFC.
Ngannou posted a photo of himself dining with family on social media as he rang in the new year. One of the women sat at the table was plainly sporting a PFL t-shirt.
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Some analysts have concluded that this woman’s choice of clothing is not random and might be a precursor to a major revelation.
This is, at best, circumstantial proof of a Ngannou/PFL transaction.
However, given how chaotic the 2023 cycle has already been, this might be a sign of more shocking news to come. The PFL adding Jake Paul to its roster caught the MMA community off guard last week.