"You can't get too personal" - Israel Adesanya thinks what Francis Ngannou was getting paid by the UFC is 'atrocious'; says he respects Jake Paul for speaking up
Israel Adesanya thinks Francis Ngannou should rightfully be dissatisfied with his current contract, calling it "atrocious."
Appearing as a guest on The MMA Hour, Adesanya spoke about his the UFC heavyweight champion's contract situation. 'The Last Stylebender' said:
"Dana [White] said they're having dinner. They had dinner before, went to Cameroon. I think that's a good first step. I don't know what was said, I haven't talked to Francis yet. But that's their business and I felt like some of the stuff that was happening before the Francis fight, I was not a fan of. Like I said, this is business, man. You can't get too personal. It's business and money is always around. There's money everywhere. You can find money everywhere. So for the heavyweight champion of the world in the UFC to be getting paid what he was getting paid was atrocious."
Check out Israel Adesanya's interview below:
Nonetheless, Adesanya said he's hoping Ngannou can come to terms with the UFC. The Kiwi fighter also admitted that he would be saddened to see 'The Predator' leave the UFC to pursue a professional boxing career.
Israel Adesanya says he respects Jake Paul for sparking conversation about fighter pay
Israel Adesanya, who recently received a lucrative contract extension, said he respects Jake Paul's efforts to bring attention to the issue of fighter pay. Although he admitted that he hasn't seen Paul's diss track, Adesanya said he likes what 'The Problem Child' has been up to:
"I like what Jake was doing. He was kinda like poking the bear a bit and he did spark the conversation. He sparked the conversation because it needed to happen... So I respect that and I felt like Jake, he played his part. And I like what he's doing with the promotion. He's promoter Jake now so he's doing his own thing."
As of late, Paul has been spearheading his company, Most Valuable Promotions, particularly in promoting Amanda Serrano. Serrano is gearing up for a showdown with Katie Taylor in what's expected to be one of the biggest matchups in women's boxing.