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Michael Bisping is questioning the way Francis Ngannou and his team have handled his post-UFC career.
Michael Bisping discusses Francis Ngannou’s post-UFC moves
The former UFC heavyweight champion split with the promotion after failing to come to terms on a new contract earlier this year. Since the split, Ngannou decided to pivot from mixed martial arts to boxing for lucrative fights against names such as Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.
Though that trio has expressed interest in him, Ngannou has yet to receive an official offer from either of them — and that is cause for concern to Bisping, who says the ‘Predator’ is running out of time to get one of those fights done.
“For boxing, he wants $25 million,” said Bisping on his official YouTube channel. “Reportedly with the UFC, he would have been getting a minimum of $6 million dollars per fight, and it was a three-fight contract. He could have had the three fights by now, bagged at least $18 million and be a free agent and go off elsewhere. So I’m not criticizing Francis Ngannou. I’m just wondering who’s advising him.”
Michael Bisping gives advice to Francis Ngannou
As he continues to navigate free agency, Bisping wants Ngannou to tune out those third-party names who could be giving him poor advice. The way the UFC Hall of Famer sees it, the Cameroonian fighter is ‘pricing himself out’ in pursuit of these fights.
“I like Francis,” said Bisping. “I’m a fan of his, for sure. I love what he brings to the table, and I like him as a human being. My interactions with Francis Ngannou have been very, very positive. He’s a lovely guy. He’s a very gentle man. But inside the Octagon, he’s a maniac. He’s a monster of the highest degree. So I love that, and I want to see him get paid, and I want to see him make the most of it.
“But the problem is when you have people around you advising you, managers getting into your ear and all different types of managers — entertainment managers, fight managers, guys bringing you endorsement deals and all the rest of it — they’re all talk, talk, talk. They’re all getting in your ear. They’re all saying you should be getting paid more money. But ultimately, if you’re not fighting, you’re not earning money. And guess what? It runs out. It goes away.”
What’s the latest on Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou?
As for the most recent update regarding Fury vs. Ngannou, the latter revealed to TMZ Sports that there was a discussion about their potential hybrid fight — ‘in a cage, [with] four-ounce gloves under Queensbury rules,’ as proposed by the ‘Gypsy King’ — happening in the summer.
“I’ve talked to somebody, some of his advisors,” said Ngannou. “They’re working on a fight with [Oleksandr] Usyk in April. So, until then, he will not be free. But I’m just trying to see if we can have an agreement before that fight.
“That will also give me some time to get prepared for a boxing fight,” continued Ngannou. “So I have no problem with the timeline that I’m expecting, that I hope will be sometime in like June, July, which is doable. So let’s see. I think it’s too early to make a conclusion. It’s too early to say anything about it but it’s definitely something that we’re looking into.”
Since then, Fury vs. Usyk has fizzled, as the pair of heavyweight champions failed to agree on terms for their much-anticipated fight.
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