Francis Ngannou agrees with Luke Rockhold that fighters need to be paid more.
Ngannou has been vocal about his displeasure with his UFC contract and it has been reported that he has just one fight left on his current deal. He has been disappointed with the promotion’s pay, as well as their refusal to let him take boxing fights.
Luke Rockhold was the latest fighter to speak up about poor fighter pay, a move which was given the thumbs up by ‘The Predator’.
“I’m not saying anything that’s not real,” Rockhold said about fighter pay at UFC 278 media day. “Everything I’m saying is justified and truthful. Just because I should be in a position of power before I say this sh*t? F*ck off. I have nothing to lose. I don’t need this business. I love fighting, and I’m here to fight the best motherf*ckers, and this happens to be the place where it’s done. The company is f*cking growing, and they’re implementing other little stupid-ass bonuses – $5,000 here, $5,000 there. $50,000, man? We’ve been stuck on this motherf*cker for 20 f*cking years. I mean, back when GSP was fighting Jake (Shields), I mean, what was it? $100,000? F*cking it was growing.”
Following Rockhold’s comments, Francis Ngannou took to social media to agree with the former champ’s remarks.
Listening to Luke's interview was very pertinent.
A lot of things that nobody is talking about it and the company just rolls with it.— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) August 17, 2022
Fighters are ripped off with Sponsorship. It’s a huge source of revenue for us but the company keeps exploiting that for their own benefit.
— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) August 17, 2022
I understand that the sport needs to look good with uniforms but we should at least have a right for a minimum of 2 approved sponsors for in the octagon.
— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) August 17, 2022
https://twitter.com/francis_ngannou/status/1560035771293253645
https://twitter.com/francis_ngannou/status/1560036673689473025
“Listening to Luke’s interview was very pertinent. A lot of things that nobody is talking about it and the company just rolls with it. Fighters are ripped off with Sponsorship. It’s a huge source of revenue for us but the company keeps exploiting that for their own benefit. I understand that the sport needs to look good with uniforms but we should at least have a right for a minimum of 2 approved sponsors for in the octagon. Last year I lost a deal of over a million dollars from a crypto exchange because the partnership with CRYPTO .COM What do I got from it ? Inflation is up,” Ngannou wrote on Twitter.
There is no question that fighter pay continues to be a major issue and is something that is getting talked about more. Whether or not Ngannou and Rockhold’s comments will change anything is uncertain.
What do you make of Francis Ngannou’s comments about fighter pay?