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Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou lost a split decision to Tyson Fury this past Saturday, in what was Ngannou’s pro boxing debut.
Another former UFC fighter in Dan Hardy believes that UFC President Dana White will do whatever he can to prevent another Ngannou-like situation to happen with another UFC fighter.
“We got the [Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor] thing and that was a one-off,” Hardy explained on The MMA Hour. “I do feel like the UFC in particular like Dana’s a boxing fan. I think he was intrigued by that because he felt Conor was something quite special and he might be able to just do something as well as obviously they made a bunch of cash out of it.
“If you look at somebody like a Sean O’Malley or a Jon Jones, he doesn’t want to take that risk. You remember when he took Chuck Liddell over to PRIDE and ‘Rampage’ [Quinton Jackson] beat him up, that kind of burned him, I feel. He’s been very, very reluctant to risk breaking his toys in other people’s promotions. I think he’s going to do everything he can to stop people from doing it.”
Ngannou left the UFC earlier this year to pursue other combat sports opportunities, which included the Fury fight and signing with the PFL.
Hardy also believes other UFC fighters may have more courage when it comes to what they want, instead of what the promotion wants.
“I think now people are going to have the courage and confidence to see Ngannou go into free agency, recognize that maybe the grass is potentially greener elsewhere,” Hardy said. “The money is certainly greener elsewhere, I can tell you that. We’ll see a few more people working their way out of their contracts.”
