The world of mixed martial arts was pretty disappointed when Francis Ngannou decided to walk away from the Ultimate Fighting Championship back in December 2022. Needless to say, it wasn’t a decision that UFC CEO Dana White appreciated. As a celebrated heavyweight champion, opting to resign from the UFC was indeed a massive step for the Cameroonian. But with his peace overturned due to the dramatic relationship with the organization, he was left with no choice.

Later, Ngannou joined hands with PFL. Although he is signed to the PFL, the former UFC champ has yet to land a fight. However, that doesn’t mean he isn’t thriving at his new organization. Let’s see what Ngannou had to say about moving to the PFL.

Francis Ngannou lets Joe Rogan in on his relationship with the PFL

On episode #160 of the JRE MMA Show, Joe Rogan sat down together with the former UFC heavyweight champion for a long conversation. Without a doubt, one of the things Ngannou talked about was his promotion to become the first-ever Chairman of PFL Africa. The UFC color commentator was quite impressed with Ngannou’s achievement and was one of the few who truly appreciated Ngannou’s move to the PFL. “Now, it elevates the PFL. So, it’s nice because it will allow you to do more things,” Rogan commented.

But then came the revelation about Ngannou’s relationship with the fight promotion. Without any drama to pull his energy levels down, ‘The Predator’ was quite happy with his contract with the PFL. He said, “And to be honest, one thing, I have a healthy relationship, you know. It’s peaceful. Get to the point of my life that I really get tired or sick of drama. Sometime, I just get into something, into some, find myself in the middle of some drama and then I just walk away. Whatever you wanna say, you say. Some of you might say I disrespect you. You say I this, I that… Bro, I don’t have so much energy to give into that.” 

Needless to say, it’s the mental peace that acts as the superglue that sticks an entity with an organization. Rogan inquired if that was what went wrong with the UFC. It was indeed the drama that pushed him out of the UFC. He replied, “Yeah… and that will take a lot out of you. You get to the point that you, I’m like, I want, I just want this to be over.”

The UFC head honcho and ‘The Predator’ have often badmouthed each other in various settings. However, one has to admit that Ngannou has seen immense growth in PFL. Even though he lost his two fights in the boxing ring, he sure did earn a huge sum of money. And now, he has even become the Chairman of PFL Africa.

‘The Predator’s big move in PFL Africa

Earlier in July 2024, PFL announced that it would debut in Africa in 2025. And the Chairman for PFL Africa was none other than Ngannou. The proud fighter took his joy to social media and declared his happiness at getting the chance to bring out the talent from his homeland. “As we have seen, there is great wealth of talent in Africa just waiting to be given a global stage. I am so very proud to give back to my homeland and to provide great content to a region with such a passionate and diverse fan base,” the Cameroonian fighter quoted.

While many fight fans didn’t bother about Ngannou’s new position, the JRE host was quite supportive of it. After all, one of the few ways for PFL to grab attention was to bring in big names like Francis Ngannou. Well, that’s what Rogan said in a previous conversation with his JRE guest.

Do you think Ngannou did the right thing by moving to the PFL? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.