Ever since Francis Ngannou left the UFC in January 2023, the Cameronian has blazed a trail that few fighters in MMA had explored before him. Conversely, his final Octagon appearance came against Cyril Gane at UFC 270 in January 2022, where he successfully defended his heavyweight title before ultimately leaving the promotion after contract negotiations failed to produce an agreement.
Ngannou eventually allowed his UFC career to expire and went away as the reigning heavyweight champion, leaving the promotion without ever losing a belt inside the Octagon. After leaving the UFC, Ngannou joined the PFL, signing with the promotion while also taking on the role of PFL Africa president.
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The partnership produced mixed results, with Ngannou competing once under the PFL banner. Renan Ferreira was defeated in 2024 before leaving the organization this past March. In May 2026, Ngannou returned to MMA for the first time since that PFL appearance, quickly beating Philip Lins for MVP of MMA on Netflix.
But his biggest fight in recent years in boxing has come in the ring. Ngannou tested himself against heavyweight boxing stars Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua and made nearly $30 million from the two worth of matches. However, his longtime coach Eric Nicksick believes Ngannou could have gone down as one of the greatest fighters of all time if he had only focused on MMA.
Eric Nicksick Wants Francis Ngannou To Focus More On MMA Than Boxing
Speaking with MMA Junkie, the coach of Xtrema Couture said, “I’ll take it now and see what he has in mind and what he wants to do from the boxing or MMA side. Hopefully MMA, because obviously we think we’re going to make some really good steps. But we’ll see what MVP has to offer for him.”
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He added, “For me personally, the boxing thing is very much a learning experience for me. I use that time to really sit and see what Dewey (Cooper) is doing and the other coaches and learn to kind of develop a game plan when it comes to something that I’m not familiar with. But on the MMA side of things, we’ve been talking about this guy for years.”
This is where Nicksick made his biggest claim about Ngannou. He said, “Just the progression of Francis from that Jairzinho fight to Cyril Gane until now. It’s like, man, there’s so much we’re progressing. I wish we had more time in the MMA space because I feel like we could break a lot of records, and it could remain as the biggest thing I’ve ever done. I would like to have him, as I want, more time in the MMA space because I feel that we can break many records and it can remain as the greatest fight ever made in MMA.”
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Ngannou is a former UFC heavyweight contender and, in theory, remains the top heavyweight contender in MMA. However, some have argued that his public rivalry with Dana White in that role did not give him the opportunity to give more of the division’s top names a run in the UFC.
However, whatever Ngannou may have gotten out of his legacy in MMA, he has more than made up for it financially. The champion reportedly earned around $600,000 for his last fight at UFC 270, while his boxing appearances outside the promotion brought him millions.