Exclusive: Former teammate Nassourdine Imavov weighs in on Francis Ngannou's PFL signing
Francis Ngannou's mega signing with the PFL has made headlines in the mixed martial arts community.
The former UFC heavyweight champion vacated his title and exited from the promotion on January 14, 2023. He reportedly turned down the highest-value contract ever offered to a heavyweight by UFC president Dana White.
After months of speculation, Ngannou finally announced that he had agreed a deal with the Professional Fighters League.
Ngannou's former teammate, Nassourdine Imavov, weighed in on the big move in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA's James Lynch. He admitted to not fully understanding the decision and stated that he just wanted to see 'The Predator' back in action. However, he also expressed disappointment in not seeing Ngannou continue in the world's premier mixed martial arts promotion.
“I really don’t know about it. I’m a little bit confused. I just want to see him in action, I want to see him fighting. I want to see how it’s going to be. It’s too bad we don’t see him in the biggest league [UFC] in the USA.”
Imavov and Ngannou trained together at the MMA Factory in Paris till 2018, when Ngannou parted ways with head trainer Fernand Lopez. It is the largest MMA gym in France and still trains Ciryl Gane amongst other UFC fighters.
Imavov is currently ranked No.12 in the middleweight division and is scheduled to take on Chris Curtis on the preliminary card of UFC 289 in June.
Check out Nassourdine Imavov's complete exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA on our YouTube channel:
Francis Ngannou details his lucrative deal with the PFL
After the announcement of his blockbuster deal with the PFL, Francis Ngannou uploaded a video to his YouTube channel to address it.
In the video, he delved into the details of his agreement with his new promotion and hailed it as the best business deal of his life.
"This is the best business decision I have ever done. At the beginning of my free agency... I have myself a good guarantee which is more important so don't you worry about me fumbling the bag."
Francis Ngannou has managed to guarantee all his future opponents in the PFL a seven figure fight pay and has secured a key roles in PFL Africa's development and on the fighter advisory board.
"I have a good guarantee, and most importantly, I was even able to have a guarantee of two million dollars for my opponent. Whomever I'm going to fight next is going to make money too. I have a seat at the table of the fighter advisory board, first active fighter to be sitting on this board to take this matter very serious. Which gonna mainly be a board that will be advocating for fighters."
Check out Francis Ngannou's full comments on YouTube: