Georges St-Pierre wants to see Francis Ngannou get his worth.
The former two-division UFC champion feels it’s time Ngannou sees a big purse for his next fight – whether it’s with the UFC or not. St-Pierre, who’s represented by the same management company as Ngannou, encourages the UFC heavyweight champion to seek offers and promotions elsewhere if he’s not happy with whatever the UFC brings to the table.
“I’m telling him as a friend that he needs to get paid to his value,” St-Pierre told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “And if he’s not satisfied with what the UFC gives him, then go seek, go get your service somewhere else where they’re going to pay you well because he’s not young and he’s coming to that point.”
Ngannou recently fought out his contract with the UFC in his title defense against former teammate Ciryl Gane in January at UFC 270. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
It was one of the rare times a UFC champion has fought out their contract with the organization. Ngannou has been vocal about not being happy with his pay and treatment.
St-Pierre believes Ngannou is in a good position to get what he wants and believes the time is now to get his high purses.
“He’s a heavyweight and you never know what can happen,” St-Pierre said. “One punch can change the fight. It’s very rare to see a heavyweight stay champion for a long time because of that reason.
“So he needs to get paid. He needs to go somewhere where he’s going to be paid what he’s worth. If the UFC is not ready to do that, now he has the power on the side and he can negotiate because of his contract. I believe he’s in a very good position right now.”
Ngannou has shown interest in a potential boxing fight against champion Tyson Fury. The Englishman has also shown interest publicly in wanting to box Nagnnou.
St-Pierre knows that would be a big payday for Ngannou, but would like to see the UFC champion stick to his craft – at least for now.
“He deserves that kind of money, millions of dollars, but deep down inside because he’s such an incredible talent in MMA, I’m afraid if he goes to boxing against Tyson Fury, yes, he’s going to make one shot with a lot of money, but he’s a specialist in MMA,” St-Pierre said. “Tyson Fury has boxed all his life, so the odds will go towards Tyson Fury in a boxing match.
“Of course in an MMA fight, they will never fight because Francis will crush him in under 30 seconds. I’m just afraid if you step into boxing maybe he’s going to get punched and that sometimes can break a career. If I would be him, I would try to fight MMA as long as I’m not tired of doing it, and then at the end of his career, if he wants to do a boxing fight why not? But it’s up to him. He can do whatever he wants.”
