Francis Ngannou will not be heading to ONE Championship.
The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight champion recently met with ONE CEO and Founder, Chatri Sityodtong, to discuss the possibility of ending his free agency. Unfortunately for both parties, a deal couldn’t be reached.
According to Sityodtong, the requests from “The Predator” were simply too unrealistic to agree upon.
“He was asking for a seat at the board of directors, he was asking for him to determine his opponent’s pay,” Sityodtong told the Daily Star. “We offered him $20 million guaranteed, the money wasn’t enough, he wanted all of these other non-financial terms that didn’t make a lot of sense.
“We obviously can’t give a seat at the board of directors, that doesn’t make any sense, he would be a fish out of water [in that position],” he concluded
ONE makes its big United States debut this weekend (Fri., May 5, 2023) with ONE Fight Night 10 in Denver, Colorado. Featured in the main event will be another former UFC champion, the current ONE Flyweight kingpin, Demetrious Johnson, who faces Adriano Moraes in a trilogy clash.
Sityodtong and ONE haven’t promised any future U.S. events just yet, but ONE Fight Night 10 hopes to be the start of a new chapter for the Cayman Islands-based mixed martial arts (MMA) giant.
“For me to bringing the entire world of martial arts and introducing it to American fans is very surreal and at the same time, I have an overwhelming feeling of deep gratitude because America gave me the opportunity to make something of myself coming from literally nothing,” Sityodtong said.
“It gave me the financial resources to start ONE and in essence, I lived the American dream,” he concluded.