Francis Ngannou’s Biggest Paydays, Diaz’s Sparring

November 15, 2023
6 months

Francis Ngannou will get the biggest payday of his life when he faces Tyson Fury. 

That is according to Ngannou’s manager Marquel Martin. The former UFC heavyweight champion will fight the ‘Gypsy King’ on October 28th, 2023, from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The boxing bout is scheduled for 10 rounds, in what will be a non-exhibition fight.

Ngannou’s Motives

The current perception around the fight is that this was an attempt at securing a lucrative purse.

This is something Ngannou had issues with during his time in the UFC.

Despite Dana White confirming that Ngannou had been offered the most lucrative contract of his career, the former UFC heavyweight champion left the organization.

However, when it came to the finer details, it appeared that Ngannou had issues with the organization. 

Ngannou’s Reaction

“In that contract, I’m not free. I’m not an independent contractor. I have no rights. I hand over all the power to you guys. I’ve seen in the past how you guys can utilize your power against me, and I don’t want that. I know that I did everything right. I don’t have any regrets,” Ngannou said

And in doing so, he inked a deal with the PFL which allowed him to box in 2023. And now that this has materialized, Martin was glad to see his fighter being rewarded. 

“Let’s just say this: The bag is so big, he may actually just drop it on the way to the bank. Let’s just say that. I don’t know what the haters are trying to say right now, I kind of just blocked it out, but they’ll just be proven wrong again. This is life-changing. This is exactly what we planned and visualized, so we’re happy.

“Just to make [this money] even while being champion, he would’ve had to fight multiple times just to [be in this ballpark],” Martin

Paul vs. Diaz

Another star who could be paid handsomely is Nate Diaz. The former UFC star will face Jake Paul on August 5th, 2023, in a crossover boxing match. 

The last time that a high-profile opponent faced Paul was when Tommy Fury beat him via a split decision.

While the victory put an end to the Paul-Fury rivalry, it also got the latter the biggest payday of his career.

It is alleged that Fury walked away with as close to $5 million. And given that he did not have to fight an experienced boxer, as well as not being at a high level himself, Fury managed to accumulate more than what most boxers are capable of. 

After all, Fury is now in line to face KSI in what will be another lucrative bout. With that being said, Diaz is doing his bit to generate some excitement around the fight. 

Diaz’s Sparring

His sparring clip for the Paul bout has gone viral. Diaz’s last fight in any capacity was all the way back in 2022 when he beat Tony Ferguson at UFC 279.

And given that Diaz is used to doing 5 minute rounds in MMA, facing off against Paul in a ten-rounder has made him the underdog. And yet, the following footage shows that Diaz does have some pop in his punches. 

In the video above, Diaz can be seen covering up while the sparring partner targets his body.

In response, Diaz counters before putting his opponent on the ropes. Thereafter, Diaz lands a massive right hand at the close of the bell. 

It is not exactly clear who Diaz was sparring with, but speculation has emerged that it could have been professional boxer Esquiva Falcao.

Nevertheless, it is important to take sparring with a pinch of salt. The exchange undoubtedly is a small portion of what may have happened, and in any event, fighters often don’t play their full cards when it comes to sparring. 

And yet, the footage still raised a lot of talking points on social media. 

Reaction

“Bro, that guy got f***** up,” Avila said on The MMA Hour. Yeah, we just got back — we were out in LA, and we went to a boxing gym, this guy’s like a silver medalist out of Brazil and whatever.

“He’s 30-0, he’s fighting for a world title next week. And then boxers are like that — they’re pretty dumb. They’re passive. They’re really passive.

“So Nate sparred this guy, did 12 rounds. Bro, he got f****** up. He lost every round, then afterward he immediately goes to the coach, ‘Oh, I’m cutting weight, that’s why I didn’t look too good.’

“And then you see on his [Instagram] story, it’s in Portuguese, so we had somebody translate — and he was talking s***,” Chris Avila (Diaz’s campmate). 

The two fights will no doubt throw up a new dynamic in the sport of boxing. With that being said, the bouts cannot come soon enough.

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