Francis Ngannou finally returns to MMA on Saturday when he clashes with Renan Ferreira in the main event of a pay-per-view event where the PFL is banking on the investment it made in him as the biggest free-agent signing in the history of the promotion.
But does Ngannou’s name pull enough weight to actually convince fans to plunk down $49.99 to watch the card? UFC legend Matt Brown has his doubts.
“He’s not that big of a star,” Brown said on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “We watched him fight Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury because of him fighting those guys. He’s not a Conor McGregor where we’re just going to watch him no matter who he fights. Even if Conor fought some lower level guy, there would be a drop off in pay-per-views, right? He’s got to have a ‘B’ side also that’s a ‘B’ side.
“Francis is fighting a ‘D’ side here. It’s not a ‘B’ side. It’s a ‘D’ side, and Francis just isn’t big enough of an ‘A’ side to draw. We don’t know how much he’s getting paid, but if it’s the amounts we would guess, it’s not going to cover his expense, I don’t think.”
Ngannou left the UFC as heavyweight champion but the promotion rarely reveals any specific details about pay-per-view sales surrounding any particular athlete.
That said based on reports made about Ngannou’s biggest fights in the UFC, he never headlined a card that drew massive sales with his name attached.
His boxing match against Fury reportedly did blockbuster numbers globally but failed to break through in the United States where costs were much higher. Add to that, Fury is a star in his own right as one of the top heavyweight boxers of the past 25 years.
It’s for all those reasons why Brown just can’t see Ngannou pulling a massive number for his PFL debut, especially without a big named opponent to help him sell the card.
“A lot of these promoters, they need to understand we’re all deeply entrenched in the world of MMA so they’re big stars to us,” Brown explained. “Particularly because we have massive respect for them. Like we have massive respect for Francis Ngannou, what he’s done and who he is. But if you’re a promoter selling a pay-per-view, I think you have to step back and look at the reality of what the mainstream view on a guy is.
“Like Conor crossed the bridge, he hit the mainstream. Ronda [Rousey] crossed the bridge. Randy Couture even crossed the bridge somewhat. Chuck Liddell somewhat. I love Francis Ngannou, all due respect, he ain’t crossed the bridge. I can’t go down to the bar right now, and talk to someone about Francis Ngannou, and they know who he is.”
Brown argues that in the boxing matches Ngannou benefitted from taking on two of the biggest names in the sport with Fury and Joshua. That’s no longer the case in PFL and now it’s all on Ngannou to sell the fight based solely on his own star power.
“How many people actually care?” Brown said. “We all watched Francis fight Tyson Fury. A lot of us watched him fight him fight Anthony Joshua. How many people are realistically going to buy a pay-per-view to watch him fight Renan Ferreira?”
Of course, Brown says he hopes that Ngannou finds all the success he can with the PFL, but he just doesn’t see enough evidence to believe that this endeavor is going to end up as a beneficial long term investment.
Perhaps the toughest part about this upcoming fight is that Brown absolutely sees a scenario where Ngannou suffers a brutal loss as well.
It’s been nearly three years since Ngannou last fought in MMA, and he’s coming off a devastating knockout to Anthony Joshua in boxing. It was the kind of knockout that could potentially change the way Ngannou is able to absorb damage moving forward.
And Ferreira may not have the biggest name, but he definitely packs a serious punch.
“Renan Ferreira, it’s still a high-risk fight,” Brown said. “That’s a gigantic son of a b*tch. He’s a gigantic guy. You don’t have to hit that hard when you’re 6-foot-8, 260, 265 pounds or whatever. It’s still a risky fight for Francis Ngannou. He’s coming off a knockout with Anthony Joshua. Sometimes that changes a fighter, and he’s coming back to MMA.”
While Ngannou seems resolved to stick with his MMA career for now, he’s already expressed interest in eventually returning to boxing.
Brown actually sees that as a more viable option for him than MMA right now where he’s putting himself into a high risk, low reward situation every time he competes.
“I’d like to see him get back to boxing,” Brown said. “Fight an up and comer or a journeyman. Fight someone you should beat. Like he fought two guys he absolutely shouldn’t have a chance against. He had a close fight with Tyson, a lot of people think that he maybe even won that fight. Now, you need to go do what boxers do. You’re 0-2, go fight a journeyman and build your way back up. Let’s see how good of a f*cking boxer you are.
“[Why are you] coming back to MMA? I don’t get the point of it. I don’t know if something contractual with PFL, or he’s just trying to get a payday. I just don’t really get what the point of it is.”
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