Francis Ngannou says MMA negotiations made him realize how 'two-faced' people are (Video)

2023 was a big year for Francis Ngannou.

He left the UFC, signed with the PFL, and fought Tyson Fury in boxing. But with the good came the bad in the form of negotiations.

“I had a lot of controversial opinions about my career decisions because most of those things was about my career this year,” Ngannou said on his YouTube channel. “Then negotiations with different organizations that were interested. A lot of them were just trying to navigate the narrative and potentially get some promotion. We have a lot of different people – some two faces."

Ngannou's departure from the UFC was highly publicized and seemed contentious if you believed the reports.

It's something that Ngannou wasn't expecting.

“It’s part of the business and that’s something that I learned this year – how this business can be nasty," he said. "You have people who pretend to be something that they are not. But it’s a good part of the learning process. Becoming a fighter and stepping into that position is something you are not educated about. Most fighters never get educated, and that’s why for the most part, fighters keep getting screwed.”

All of the problems were worth it in the end.

“I’m lucky I got into the position where I had to learn that, and then comes the PFL with a great offer, a great contract and a great opportunity that I couldn’t turn down."

Ngannou has not made his PFL debut, but it's expected for 2024.