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Chael Sonnen seems to have a different take on Francis Ngannou's contract situation with the UFC than everyone else. People have been praising the eavyweight champion for his stance and willingness to stand up to the organization.
Chael Sonnen thinks it's a silly move, especially where boxing and Tyson Fury are involved. He beleives the UFC heavyweight champion is getting bad advice from his team.
“I found [the post-fight comments] to be powerful, because I no longer think he’s bluffing. I do believe Francis is being given bad advice,” Sonnen said on his podcast (transcribed by MMA Fighting). “Wherever Francis is thinking that the world wants him to go and fight Tyson Fury, I don’t know who put that in his head. But that’s Francis’ dream, and I’d be way out of bounds trying to take it from him.
“If you’ve got some promoter out there that’s willing to lose a ton of money and wants to throw it at that match — and how they’re going to package it and how they’re going to sell, I really haven’t the foggiest idea — but if they want to do it, that’s their business, it’s not ours,” he said.
“It would seem like a very risky thing, and even a silly thing, to hold out for [a Fury fight] when you don’t know that you have a bird in the hand. Francis being active [in the UFC] is looking at anywhere from six to nine million dollars this year. So his opportunity cost just to wait until December for a fight that he does not have is the better part of your career earnings. That’s his decision.”
Chael Sonnen belives sitting out for a year will hurt him in the long run and even stop his potential pay day against Tyson Fury. The potential to no longer be UFC heavyweight champion would be a mistake for Francis Ngannou.
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“If December rolls around next year and Francis has been unseen, and Francis is no longer the undisputed champion and he no longer has the power of the organization behind him, the [likeliness] of a payday in boxing with Fury exponentially declines,” Sonnen said. “That’s always a hard one to see.”
There are a lot of factors in Francis Ngannou's situation with the UFC that Chael Sonnen needs to consider. The heavyweight champion does have a very big injury that will most likely keep him out until 2023.
Francis Ngannou has a very business oriented team as he's represented by tthe huge agency, CAA, with his manager, Marquel Martin doing most of the negotiating with the UFC. 2022 is going to be a very big year for the UFC heavyweight champion as he looks to figure out his future.
