PBD Podcast - UFC Champ Francis Ngannou | PBD Podcast | EP 142 |

Episode Date: April 7, 2022

Patrick Bet-David is joined by UFC Champion Francis Ngannou to discuss the inner workings of the UFC through his eyes and experience.  TOPICS Francis recovery  Francis Ngannou on how he handles fear Francis Ngannou gives a deep insight on his background and his life-threatening journey from Africa to America How Patrick Bet-David's story of travelling to America compares to Francis Ngannou's Francis Ngannou's reveals what his first fights were like Francis Ngannou explains why he doesn't care about what Dana White does Francis Ngannou gives his thoughts on his future boxing career Francis Ngannou explains why it is so hard for UFC fighters to get sponsorships Patrick Bet-David explains how to pay the fighters in UFC How urgent is it for Francis Ngannou to get paid what he deserves Francis Ngannou calls Kamara Usman the G.O.A.T. over Jon Jones Francis Ngannou gives his thoughts on Jake Paul vs Dana White Francis Zavier Ngannou is a Cameroonian mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the heavyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the current UFC Heavyweight Champion. He is known for being the hardest recorded puncher in the world. Follow Francis on Instagram https://bit.ly/3KghItZ Follow Francis on Twitter: https://bit.ly/3r9Kaq6 Support the Francis Ngannou Foundation: https://bit.ly/3M3loQz Text: PODCAST to 310.340.1132 to get added to the distribution list Patrick Bet-David is the founder and CEO of Valuetainment Media. He is the author of the #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller Your Next Five Moves (Simon & Schuster) and a father of 2 boys and 2 girls. He currently resides in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pbdpodcast/support

Here's the debate. Here upset. There's a new belief. This is it. This is it. I thought that was it. What? F***.

F***. F***. F***. F***. F***. F***. F***. Okay, so we're officially live.

Yes, episode 142. What the one and only? Francis in Ghana, who by the way, you know, there's a lot of people you can say are The most feared man in the world the best fighter in the world whoever you want to call Our guests today may be the most feared man in the world today Let me give you some statistics for you to be thinking about if you don't know about How strong his punches so I I think US Performance Center did a... You have seen, you have seen,

you have seen Performance Center tested to see how powerful his punch was. Imagine a Ford Escort, okay? If a Ford Escort comes full power, full speed at you and hits you, it's the same power as his punch, okay? If you grab a 12-pound sledgehammer and you went all the way back and you hit anything, that's the same exact power you get if you get punched by him.

And on top of that, his punch packs, 96 horsepower, Francis. It's great to have you on here today. Thank you very much, Patrick. Even though the introduction that you just did, I didn't feel like it was me. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. When did you know, when did you know,

if you heard people, you're gonna destroy it, like you're gonna hurt people, when did you know your punch was that powerful? I think everybody punch is powerful, is relative, right? It's depend of what you're hitting and how you're hitting, you know, and everybody has this kind of like superhero feeling in him like, I'm the

man, you know, we all have that, but you always have to, we always question yourself, am I really the man? You know, I need to try to test that with other men to find out if I'm really the man. Yeah. Interesting. So, do you remember your first fight? Because, you know, fights you go on, you're afraid, you're like, I don't know, you know, what's, but do you remember your first fight where you hurt somebody? And you said, I may have a strong punch than others or you don't have a memory of them. No, you don't think like that. I mean,

that judge is statistic, but I think you don't work in there. I'm like, oh, I'm the strong pension sure. I mean you can be I always like this quote from a A. D. Adlaz from the great 80 which he always say you can have the biggest muscle But if you don't have a delivery system is useless because you want you want Em and reach any target and you what you can destroy anything So he you rather have a small pistol like a 9mm but with a good delivery system so you can hit something. Therefore if you're hitting an elephant even though you can kill him, you can kill him in one bullet but at least you're

causing damage and over time you were taking down. So the most important thing is the delivery system. Well, I mean, if we could show the greatest knockouts and how you got people to tap out or the pain you bring up on people, it's incredible seeing the way you fight. By the way, can we bring up as Instagram account? I just wanna check on how's your health,

how's your leg doing after all the procedures you've gone through? It's been very rough. It's a tough process because I wasn't really, I didn't really know what I was going to put myself into, which is a good thing because if I knew that is going to be this horrible, maybe I could have like, hesitate on the surgery, but I didn't know, so I went there, a free-minded, and the surgery went well. Everything is going well, actually, but it's a very tough process.

The rehabilitation process. Yeah, the injury and the pain, you know, the irritation and everything, you know, very, and then also the fact of being, of being dependent, can do anything. We have to call a friend out to drive you or to Uber or stuff, you know, you can, I mean, doing daily-based stuff is like very hard.

Friends, how long is the recovery process? How long are you gonna be in crutches? How long are you gonna be, you know, so you're in the sidelines? It's step by step, like with the crutches, they give you about four to six weeks with crutches and then stuff like before you work about the same time, but that doesn't mean you're here.

You know, it's just the first step. You're just strong enough to be able to like work on your own. And then after that, you have like until maybe three to four months to be able to joke, you know, to have that stability on your knee, to have your ACL or your MCL strong just enough to hold you on that ground when you're not pivoting. And by five to six months, you're able to do every activity that you're pivoting, such as like boxing, even like wrestling, jiu jitsu, but very light. And on to nine months that

you're probably nine months to one year that you're 100 percent recovery. Nine months. Yeah, if everything is working. So in all likelihood, you might not fight into the beginning of 2023. I don't want to put a timetable on this. This is your world, baby. Oh, the end of 2022. Okay. All the end of 2022. That's the time line. Who is what other athlete is your injury comparable to? A lot of athletes has those injuries. You know, you always walk around basically. I'm in Vegas, so I'm all the time at the U.S.A.P.I. and you will see people coming from all around the world

for the rehab, for the injury, and most of the time is going to be like ACR, MCR or LCR, you know, even PCR or whatever miniscuous, but you know, on to your dare, you don't really know what it is, you know. At least you're in Vegas and they have good centers that you can rehab better, right? I'm assuming they have a good facility there to help you expedite the process. Absolutely. I mean, the facility there is great. We have a very good quality of physical therapy

of people there at the U.S.A. Performance Institute. I think it's the best, you know, for my experience, because I was even hurt before the fight and they hurt me to strengthen my legs and do everything you know so put me, build my other muscles enough to put me in the confidence to go into a fight with that type of injury I think just you're talking about the fight with Cyril gone yeah you saw this fight right Pat Pat? Of course we watched. So how injured were you at that fight?

You were this injury. I was a ACR MCR. God it. Because the way you fought that fight is not the way you fight the fight. It's slightly different the way you fought it. Everybody was kind of watching and you'd read the commentating. You'd see what some of the experts are saying. But what I think ended up happening with the fight is you earned

respect because you beat him in his strength rather than, you know, what people thought the style you were going to take. Am I my off on the assessment some people gave? No, you're not off. I think those who were off was those people who was thinking that, you know, because, not because you haven't seen me display some of my skills, doesn't mean I don't have it, doesn't mean I'm not practicing, you know, I go to practice every day, every week, I'm a practice, everything. But I don't know if it's like fortunately or unfortunately when I go to a fight Am I sometime the fight goes by really quick after a few seconds or a few minutes or I don't have to display all those Techniques or all those discipline which in I have no problem with that, but as far as my last fight

I I have no problem with that, but as far as my last fight, I didn't have many assos in my pocket because I couldn't move properly. I was so concerned, so afraid, basically, like when the fight started, I'm like, oh, maybe I should listen to the doctor, maybe I should listen to my team, maybe I should have listened, you know, because I don't know about my knee, I'm not sure about it.

You know, and I was fighting myself, you know, and I was very slow on everything, every reaction and reaction. I was kind of like a second behind to reaction because I was thinking about me fighting myself. On top, I get past that before I step into the fight. But honestly, like getting into that fight, it was just like, for me, the only reason that I go to that fight, it was my honor, you know, knew that I wasn't like 100% but just for us the fact that I'm Josie Fighter, you know, I've been in a lot of shit in life.

And I handled myself out of it pretty good. So yeah. But by the way, just out of curiosity. We have a guy we were looking at today to invite for the podcast, the gentleman that he wrote a book about fear. You know what I'm talking about? We're talking about upstairs. How do you view fear? How do you process fear yourself?

Especially the life you've lived. What is fear to you? And how do you treat it? How do you manage it? I think fear is something which is very important. Fear is something that you have to have, you know, and therefore you develop your ability to overcome that, to surpass the fear, that's what makes you a better man, you know. I don't trust people who say they are not afraid,

they have no fear. I don't trust them, because that fear is, I mean, fear sometimes is just a knowledge of a situation that you're into and then you have to be aware of the danger of that situation and be careful. And as soon as you're aware of the danger, that's the first step of your defense. But if you are not aware of it, that's the first step of your defeat, because you're exposed. You think there is no danger. But fear comes and acknowledge you that there is something you have to be careful. And therefore all your senses are ready for whatever it's coming to you.

So I think fear is something that is very important. And if you realize, if you look at it, everything that you have done in your life, which is very important, you always have that fear, that stress, you're always nervous, even whether it's like, um, apply for a job or go to a, um, uh, I don't know, exam or whatever. Everything that is very important. You have that here because you have, you acknowledge that there's something important here. I have to put all my attention. So that's what's kind of like beautiful. So the fight you had with Ghana when you went in, when when, when were you able to control your nerves? Was it the moment the fight started or before you enter the octagon? I don't know if I would say I controlled the nerves

because at first I didn't understand and I honestly, at first I thought it was just me. I'm like, man, how can I be so big and be, and she feels fear and be afraid? Then with experience I realized, no, that's exactly how it works. Then I kind of like check around, then I realized everybody has that feeling. And that's what made you a champion. That's what made you a fighter. You're fighting against something that you're fighting against yourself at first, you are fighting to overcome something,

to surpass something, there is a challenge which is your fear that you have to overcome. And then therefore I kind of like just manage, just accept it. Yes, I'm afraid. That means I'm ready. I'm aware that something no good is coming off my way. I'm in danger. So okay I have to defend myself. I also trust my ability to defend myself, you know, so those combined kind of like Be like a upside for me when when you're when you're because you're saying doctor. Maybe doctors right

Maybe this person's right. Maybe that person's right, like I shouldn't fight. The people that were telling you, maybe not to fight, or the people that were telling you to fight, when did you make the decision that you were gonna fight? Was there ever a breaking point that you said, I'm not gonna fight? No. Okay, because even the first day that the doctor

gave me a report after the MRI, I think it was just expecting me to call out the fight. And I didn't want to do anything at that moment that I could have regret like one or two weeks after. And that was like three weeks out. So I decided like, okay, I'm keeping this, moving on and see what's happened. If one week or two weeks after, he doesn't get any better or get worse,

I think I have no choice. But, I mean, I still think, I mean, there was a part of me who also believed that that could be a advantage on me to be very to be to feel that fear to know that I know I'm not 100% of my capacity and be very aware of a danger and at the moment that I'm aware of that danger and on my on capacity I think I'm more thoughtful than when I'm like, oh, I'm good, you know, let's go to work. I'm like, no, don't do that, you're no good. You have to think about it differently

to approach it differently. So, for instance, for people that don't know your story, you got from where you came from to America. Like, if you can take a minute and just give your background on how you came to America because as an immigrant myself, you know, America's like I remember the first time I landed and I went to the airport and I'm like I can't believe I'm in America. What was your journey from where you came from to come in America?

Where From where I came from to America Is a little complicated. So this is like a two-step story Like when I come to America even the first time that story was different It's a little complicated, so this is like a two-step story. Like, when I come to America, even the first time, that story was different from where I left my country the first time. Because I came in America the first time I had a job.

They picked me at the airport with a limo, brought me in the four-star hotel. You know, check me out and have the people around me. And I think that day I called my mom, I'm like, Hey, your son has made it. Yeah, because going up my school. Yeah, great. All my dream was always to go to America. But how? I don't know. So I didn't see myself like coming in America in the red carpet as I did the first time. So my first day in America, not only I was in the fly.

There was somebody at the airport waiting for me taking my suitcases, you know, bring it in the car, you know, bring it in the car, drove me to the hotel, then the check me in. I wasn't speaking any English, but there was so like, oh, Mr. Gano, this Mr. Gano, that, I'm like, damn. Finally in America, this is... What city did you land in? Orlando.

Orlando. All places, Orlando. Yeah, that was a fight. Mickey Mouse showed up, who showed up to greet you. Huh? Like in Orlando, it's Walt Disney World, that's what it's known for over there. I mean, what kind of pageantry was going on when you got there?

No, really? But I think like at that moment, he was all America. Everything that I was seeing around was so impressive and just the idea that I'm in America, that America that I've been thinking about, you know, like growing up, I've been naming myself like a American boy

or the staff, and I've been naming me with a lot of nickname, you know, because I loved America and I always been America. But that's the way that I came in America was a red carpet. But it's a different story compared to where I went in France in Europe, you know, that's it's a different story. That's when I migrate there and that wasn't fun at all, you know, because I left my country first of all without knowing where I was going. And I couldn't even tell my family because when you tell somebody that you are living,

the first question is like, where? Where? I don't have no destination. So once again, you are crazy. You are out of your mind. How you are going somewhere that you don't know where you are going. That's how I left and it took me

over a year, then, I mean, I went, I ended up in Morocco and trying to go to cross and go to Spain and he was in long process, a tough process, you know, and I was there for one year before I made it. So we were attempting, attempting like in the ocean with a flammable boat, like those small boats that they use in the swimming pool, a, copper time. I think I fell six times. I fell, uh, and then I've been in that thing so much that I ended up becoming captain even though I don't know how to swim. But I know how to, like, put the boat in the water, how to check the water, how to manage the wave and everything and put the boat in the water, put my friend inside and start a paddle.

So that was good enough to be a captain. We're trying to defences to go, because there is two lands in Morocco, which belongs to Spain. In the west is Ceuta, and in the East is melea. No West and no East is melea. So, and those are just protected by fences, multiple fences and by viral security on this side, security on other side, high security.

But we're always like trying to find a blind spot to attempt. Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we fail. Most of the time we fail, because the security is so high, with infrared, everything that they have to protect the border. Because the bad wire is on about 10 miles. And that's all the border. So trying that couple of times failed, failed in bad wires and all the stuff. But always love water even though I didn't know to swim.

And how they feeling that that's's where I'm gonna maybe. It's crazy. Even till today. Swimming. I have tried to take some courses. You know, I have a pool in my house. I'd love to meet your teacher. I'd love to see who teaches you how to swim.

Like to hold you, that picture of holding. No, no, no, no, no. Like, I just, no, no, no. She's gonna hold me. Can I ask you a question? She is this big. She's gonna hold me. She can't hold me. you that picture of holding no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no going on with Iraq at the time, I believe. You escaping, I mean, people that are not familiar with your story, the getting from Morocco to Spain, people die, thousands of people die on that trip. Okay, so this isn't like, oh, I tried to get into the boat. No, no, no, no, no.

People die constantly. So this is life or death situations here, right? How have these life and death situations fleeing on a boat to just get to freedom, fleeing Iran to get to freedom in a refugee camp in Syria? How's it shaped your mindset? Because you're a fighter, but he's also a fighter in the business world.

This is a question for the both of you. This also goes to Americans, hey, I've had a pretty good life. Even though I was a very middle class, normal, like I haven't had to fear for my life. What is fearing for your life for the both of you, don't you your mindset? Okay, so what do you have to understand is, you have to understand the beginning, because

for somebody to let your family and your country and everything and just pack a small backpack leave, that means you have, I mean, if you have a little bit of comfort, you can do that thing because it's just crazy, right? So, you must be like, in a very challenging life, to be able to take those decisions and stand by, you know, because it's not easy though, like, to stand,

wake up someday, pack your bag, and leave to go where. You don't know, you never cross the border of your country and you have to cross country by country because I didn't just left from Cameroon and get to Morocco. I went from Cameroon Nigeria, then Niger put that up so people can't see where Cameroon is versus Morocco versus Spain crossing that channel right there. So I went to Cameroon, then Nigeria, then Nigeria, then Algeria, we have to cross the Sahara desert, desert to go to Algeria, then from Algeria to Morocco, you know, and all this

is a process. And you're walking this entire time, how are you getting around? No, a car, everything snake, because also there is like a border control, there is security. Yes, in Nigeria, we are borders. This isn't, you know, you're saying, I left Cameroon to get to spate. Like, this is the, that's the route you have to go for a lot of delta miles. Yeah, exactly. You know, 50 miles. He took like, he took 40, he took me 14 months to make it because he looked very straight like that.

But remember, you have to go against all this immigration process, the law, in every country. Yes, when you are in Nigeria, he's still okay because you're the neighbor's country and the circulation is still like free. Then you get in Nigeria, yes, we are our sub-sarian country, but we look a little bit different though. So even there, the border control, the immigration police, when they see you, when they see you, they just know that this is a stranger. And that route is like non-for-immigration. So it's kind of like a big business there to control immigration, you know, stop them from afloat to Europe. Then you get to Algeria. You're completely different, like you're outstanding by your skin color, so you can hide anymore.

You can pretend to be Algerian, then you have to go to this passport stuff. Like, oh, I recognize. This passport looked like me, like you. Can you buy it? Can you afford it? Yeah. Oh, fine. A fake passport, you're saying?

Yeah. If you need to go from somewhere to somewhere, free circulation in some country, you need to have an ID. A ID who looks like you, you stand by. Hi, I'd like an ID of the UFC Heavyweight Champion of the world. Do you have anything that looks like? No, sorry, sorry. Yeah, but the problem is that immigration wise, my country and all those countries need a visa.

There is no visa free. So I have to have a visa. But I knew that I couldn't afford a visa because before they approved your visa, you have to prove that you have certain status in life. You have to prove that where you're going, you're going for some business matter, and then you're gonna come back, you know, and then that you can afford that, you can afford the trip, you can afford it, effort, you can afford the hotel,

you can subsidize your trip, your whole trip, you can prove any of that, bro. So what can you do? Just nick out. Mm-hmm. It's crazyness. what can you do? Just nick out. Craziness. How are you processing this past? Well, listen, there's a reason why he is who he is, you know, I think that experience of being raised in that kind of fear, it gives you a very special unique feeling that others are not going to have. It's a very, very unique experience you can go through to finally come here, yeah, to finally come here. But what I want to ask you, so first couple fights,

I think two, three, four fights was in France. Then was in Switzerland, then I want to say it's in Bahrain, then you have your fight in 2015 in Orlando. Is that the first time you came to the States? So that's the first time you came to the States for that fight. Absolutely. I got you.

OK, so your first few fights are in Europe. And at this point, as you're coming, because I think your first fight is in 2013, when you got started, and then you kind of went through your, when you came to Orlando, were you already, like, had you already kind of make some noise for yourself where people kind of knew, there's this guy that's coming here that can really wreak some havoc on some people. Yeah, because even when I started in France, I mean, I took my first fight.

I was what three or four months in the sport and I was just there to try and then I wanted to like have a complete experience and then they say oh There's a fight here. Would you take it? Then I'm like, yes, why not? So that's how I get my first fight, you know, and then I get a second one and for me I was going Just to try those two fights. He was a tournament. So I was going to win the tournament and then move on, complete the experience and move on. But you know, like, and this is what I say, sometimes, there's a destiny, some, a lot of stuff happened for some reason and everything, sometimes, stuff happened, sometimes, so like,

just put you to some part. Because if I would have win the second fight, I would have done with MMA, but the problem, I lost the second fight, decision. For me, living on the defeat. He sounds like I was quitting. Yeah. He sounds like I was living in the people opinion that I have quit and I couldn't see myself in that in that thought. So I decided to go back and fix it. But little trap for four months later, I have another tournament because those two first five was free, obviously. I have another tournament and I thought I won, get some money. I'm like, not bad.

You know, I was at your first time you ever made money fighting? Yeah, which which one the first first fight you had enough friends? No, no, no that's third fight. You're so hurt and the fourth. Yeah, I got because it was a tournament He was too fight. Yeah, cuz it's the first one that didn't pay you. Yeah, yeah You remember how much you got when you won that? 2000 euro to that so that's 2500 bucks American. Yeah about and how much of that change your life that 2000 euro No, I mean 2000 euro can change your life But I was very happy about that You know by the time I was already working in the nightclub. I had a friend who was bringing me in the nightclub

sometime As a substitute so I had a little bit of money. I have already sent money to my mom. So, he wasn't my first money, but he was like my first big money. And what's happened? I just took the money and got put it on the mattress. Save that money. Oh, yeah. I that money. Oh yeah. So then you have your six fight in Orlando. At this point, you're saying people are starting to realize who you are. You already started to... Even in my first, my two first fight, people was even in France, people were like, what the hell is this?

Where do these guys came from? He's just, it's not normal. And then, right away, people didn't want to find me anymore. I have a lot of fight to get good consult in France, a lot. And it was so frustrating that at some point, point Promoter they just started to pay me when they get my fight cancer because I will go there and then be in the locker room and then warm up You know and we were fighting in like a little gymnast and then maybe like your locker room would be here You're opening locker room to be there. Maybe he would just hear how you're hitting me and your tight scotch like You know, I'm not really ready, you know Maybe he would just hear how you're hitting me. And he would tell his coach like,

I'm not really ready, you know, I'll just have, and the council on you constantly, and at some point I'm like, I can do this. I was so frustrated, the promoter, and he really understood, and I'm like, okay, at least take your pay and go home, leave me alone. I was happy with that, too. So. Did you hear what he said? The guy, you're saying that your opponent is hearing you warm up and they decide to cancel the fight.

Inquit. Sometime. Yeah. So I had a lot of fights get cancelled in France. Got a love. Did you imagine that? Got a love that. To be fair.

You're telling where your opponent's like, yeah, I don't want to fight this guy. I'm just going to be surprised. I'm just going to be surprised. I'm just going to be surprised. I'm just going to be surprised. I'm just going to be surprised. I'm just going to be surprised. I'm just going to be surprised. I Now, prior to 2013, did you have a lot of training or you're just a street fighter? No, no, I didn't have a lot of training. I had a few, a little bit of boxing training. I was more boxing at that time, you know,

more boxing style because I didn't know anything about MMA but I've done boxing for a little bit. And that was what I was going there for boxing. Did you have somebody like, did you look up to boxer growing up, were you like an Ali fan, were you a Tyson fan? How was it Tyson fan? You were a Tyson fan of him. I mean, not like I was a Tyson fan, I made Tyson fan.

Yeah, makes sense. Makes sense. Makes sense. Lifetime. You like his style of fighting. Yeah, he's amazing. For me, like, he's the best. Like, when I see when I even

To today when I wash thousand fight is like He's like master class like explain people how to box like okay. This is what the tissue Jab-jab right job job cross job job open could how this how you move your head, this how the boy, I mean, he was like a class. Now, let's talk about a few things that are current event, which is something a lot of people are interested in. So your fight ends with Cyril and you win the fight and one of the biggest controversies was,

hey, where is Dana to put the belt on and not to put the belt on? He's addressed it, you've addressed it, but I'm curious to know what your thoughts are gonna be at this point. Dana comes out and says, listen, I actually walked out of the arena right after the Come event because there was stuff going on

that I was dealing with. And I can see that happening when you're on a business. This is a big fight, though, that you were having. For anybody that you think that I was showing any type of disrespect towards Francis, I saw Francis all week, you idiots. I shook his hand, I said hi to him, I was out there for stale downs, the whole thing.

So for anybody to think that there was some type of disrespect towards Francis, I was an out there for Michael Bisming versus Luke Rockholz fight, either because I was dealing with some stuff. I sprintered from back, I didn't even have my jacket on. I only had my shirt on to go and put the belt on this being, but I couldn't make it out there to put the belt on Francis.

So at this point, everyone said what they've said, how did you feel afterwards when he wasn't there? Did you guys have a follow up conversation together? Best on any? I didn't care. I made my statement that night. I was happy. And I made my statement that night. I was happy. You know, I don't know if that's true or not, I don't care.

What I do know is like I made my statement. It wasn't about the belt. It wasn't around about dinner, wrapping the belt around me or the press conference or anybody. By the way, Nick Manner, which is for me, is a great guy wrapped the belt around my waist. And that would be a problem for me. Maybe he has a situation going on. I have no problem with me grabbing the bed around my waist. You know,

I'm very cool, I'm very happy with me. Doesn't mean anything, things was great. Maybe people are having this speculation because of our situation, the state of our situation, but it's possible that something happened, that he was out for some business. But I don't care. I mean, you can ask people for so much, but the only thing that you can, the biggest respect that you're going to have is you can, the biggest respect that you're gonna have is you respecting yourself,

standing by what you believe and then making your point. And that's what I did that night. So whatever was around it, I didn't care. Francis, where are you at now? Like, you know, people want to, people enjoy seeing you fight. It's a very, there are certain people that draw, you draw hands down. if you got a fight people

behind that paper view because you're just that kind of electric Electrifying fighter that people want to see have you made up your mind on what your next moves are are you Because there's speculation of UFC, but you're talking about Tyson Fury There's a lot of different things that are coming up. What are some of your plans that you're thinking about and they can talk about? I mean, I don't have a, I haven't made a plan yet. And also, we have a contra situation to figure out, but I want to point out the fact that whether it is a Tizen Fury or whatever, he can still happen under the UFC. You know, when US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the US, the a respectful term that has been agreed by both parties.

I think everything is possible. Question, let's just say you continue with the contract. Let's just say you're in a go-shade of contract with UFC. And the contract says, it's all in, but you can't fight boxing. The contract can says, if I renegotiate the contract, the contract will technically says what I want. Okay. That's what mean negotiate.

Got it. Makes sense. I mean, it's both party negotiating. Sure. So I have what I want, they have what they want, and then negotiating, you mean, like, trying to compromise and find a middle ground. Would one of the things be important to you

to be able to fight in UFC and do boxing outside of UFC? Would that be something that's important to you? That's it, possibility, that's something. That's the option, yeah. So then one of the questions for me would be, I remember the year where Jordan's playing in the NBA and he's not the highest paid guy on the team. And a lot of other guys were following this guy's strategy

because he wanted to win championship. Scott was making more money than him. A lot of guys were making more money than him. But the reason why it didn't matter for him was because, you know, he had a lot of sponsorship money coming outside of the NBA. Now, that's team sport. You're not in a team sport.

Your team sport is you and your coaches, but it's not like you have a team of, you know, 11 other teammates in basketball that you're fighting. Is it at a point where fighters like yourself who are at the pinnacle of their class, are you getting millions of dollars of sponsorship that is coming through to you as well? My team are trying so hard and they are doing a good job to find me some sponsorship but you have to understand like and this is one thing under the UFC contract is very hard to find a sponsor to have a sponsorship because they cover everything they kind of

like cut you out from everything you can have a proper sponsor because you can get in the octagon or wherever with a sponsor. They recently have a sponsorship deal with a crypto.com Which is a big crypto company And that deal took a lot of money out of my pocket because we were this close to have it here with Cash up this close to have it here with a cash app. So you can't now do cash app. And cash app is a direct competitor of Twitter.com.

Cash app is the headline sponsor of the Bitcoin event that you're at this week. My about Coinbase. Coinbase, the big one. Coinbase, yeah. The big boys, all the crypto.com cash base. The big boys all the crypto dog cash out the big boys. Yeah, and that's why the the number was pretty good. Of course, right? So They have that deer who literally like caught our feet on the other side caught our feet on the other side. Loose a lot of money, but they are not living a way.

Do they care about it? No. And that's how we have to... We struggle with a lot of sponsorship here. You know, when you have something, you have a... You want a... a clothing company, or... They're gonna be like, oh, you have this in the octagon. We can be seen in the octagon.

So technically we are whatever we do, we are just a second a plan B for you. I mean, even though it's not your choice, but that's how it is. So it's pretty hard for us to have a sponsor. So for me, what other sport is like that, by the the way where you can't get your own sponsors outside of the sport I mean you can you can have but it can't be the right competitor Yeah, no, it's very limited so can't you can Nike sign you

Nike can sign you but Nike will sign you because they want a Benefit from something they want to benefit from something, they want to benefit maybe a sport or something, but one of the biggest moments that you're exposed, you will be wearing some other brand, which is direct competitor of Nike. So I'm like, no, what I'm saying is, so Michael Jordan signed with Nike.

When did he come to home, his manager had, he goes into his manager's house. I don't know if you've heard the story or not. Michael Jordan comes to his manager's house. He goes straight to his closet. He goes to the closet. He comes out, grabs all his shoes that are not Nike. Grab this scissors, starts cutting everything up. He says, what are you doing?

He says, we weren't only Nike here. He cuts them up. He throws them into trash and sends them a box of shoes to replace with all air Jordans to say we are 19. So there's maybe there's nothing wrong with that to say you represent a brand. But can you? Yes, but at the biggest stage, you can't stand by that brand, that you represent. What does that mean? You can't stand by like like when you step in the octagon for example, you can't We're Nike in the octagon. No, wait wait a minute. That's the thing. Wait. Wait. So I can't you have no right you have not you can't Represent anything when you step in the octagon. It's just what the UFC

I have to I have two paintings of my house of Art and Santa and Michael Schumacher right and I was talking about this deal I said as a look at the power of sponsorship because Senna's jersey from 1989 is the sponsors of Marbro, I have it here, 20, 30 years later. Look at the power of sponsorship, right? Like the power of giving Santa 10 million bucks, because it's going to be around forever words in this house after he's no longer with us. So in NASCAR, I can sponsor and put a low-go next to $1,500,000 for a race, or half a million,

depending on the race car driver who it is, right? So you mean to tell me you can't have stuff on your shirt to say, this is the same graph. This is 50. No, no, no, no, no. Is anybody running a go-shading that? Or is anybody asking for that? Or is that just a by-laws?

This is how it works and that's it. I think, yes, a couple years ago, I think it was what, a couple years ago, I think it was what, maybe seven years ago, they put that like in the contract and this, you know, as many things. And this is, there was just like, this is how it goes. And that's it. And nobody has to say anything.

Now the return for that would be the following. Like, you know, Roger Godell got that big Godfather contract a few years ago. I don't know if you're following it. With the NFL. Godell got this contract. You know the Godell got that big Godfather contract a few years ago I don't know if you're following it with the NFL go they'll got this contract you know the go-del contract he go-del go-del is Roger Godell is the NFL commissioner right so he gets the Godfather contract and it's 25 million year unlimited health insurance for instance our family unlimited private jet

for his entire family I don't know what the contract what's it it's a two three hundred million dollar contract by the way a 25 million if you if you put up just put Roger Godell contract, take the Godfather out, 200 million dollar contract, right, that he got. Now, no team owner fought it. Nobody said anything, but here's why nobody fought it. Because Roger Godell brought the biggest contract to the NFL media that a team, let's just say I want a team, went from being a 1.1 billion dollar team to 2.8 billion dollar team. You Roger Godell just maybe 1.7 billion. We'll pay you 25 million here.

And players officially got paid more. So the players liked Godell making more money. In this case, if the brand is getting all this money, if there's got to be an exchange. So let's just say you say yes, it's okay for Nike and these guys to get it, but your pay also goes to XY. So you're saying that did not happen. Nope. Okay, so then my next question would be how much leverage do you have in negotiating contracts? Where in negotiating contracts, it depends. What can you ask for? You can ask everything that you want.

What can you have? Can you wear a Nike shirt in there and fight? Can you ask for anything? I don't think so, because the way that they have structured, that's interesting. He stands now as a law. And nobody talks about it. You know, there's hundreds of fighters and everybody just comply He's really hot, you know, so

Pat as a as a CEO. Yeah, because right now we're having a conversation with a certified badass fighter UFC heavyweight champion Boom. There he is. But you're a CEO. You run a company with how many thousands of General in a panic contract just like he's an independent contractor's an employee of UFC Put yourself in Dana White shoes as the CEO is the person that's bringing the brand together Yeah, and now you're Dana White and you're sitting here talking with the Francis Nagano's of the world the Conor Gregor's of the world The John Jones is of the world. how do you process what Dana is going through as a CEO, saying, sorry, Francis, here's what we're willing to do,

here's what we're not willing to do through the mind of a CEO. Well, first of all, UFC's not UFC without Dana White, period, people like this guy or not, it doesn't matter, I have so much respect for the guy, he has got a very hard job, hands down. So to me, whatever they're paying Dana, they're not paying him enough, period. That's not a $20 million out of your guy. He's worth $3,. So to me, whatever they're paying Dana, they're not paying them enough.

Period. That's not a $20 million dollar your guy. He's worth $3,500, whatever the payout was when WMI bottom out, three and a half billion. I think he was a 10% guy. Maybe a diluted little bit, he got $300 million. Dana's a $50 million dollar your guy. He needs to make that money.

Period. That's that guy. Okay. Maybe I would even vouch for him being a $100 million dollar guy. Some people may disagree. That's that. So let's set Dana aside. Let's say Dana's value aside.

You don't find people like Dana. Dana's a once in a lifetime generation type of a promoter and a guy like a commissioner. So you put David Stern there. You put even Gaudel that's not like, but he is getting the money for the right guys there. There's only few people like him there, right? Okay. So now let's set that part aside. The next part is, I don't know, I mean, if you got 48% as the EBITDA give or

take, their margins are 35 to 50%. You got the margins to be able to afford to. If they get what? The margins of EBITDA. Their EBITDA, their EBITDA, their EBITDA margins are very high. They make very profit, they make a lot of profit very profitable UFC You say how much 48% is a number we saw when we looked at our reports 48% 48% explain even a real quick. Yeah, if you have to look at the margins a 35 to 48% we can let's public information No, no, no, no, no, you're saying it's higher You mean what the UFC is make of the other fighter? No, no, no, not fighter what you have seen makes. Oh Yeah, what you have seen not what you make. So for example, you're fight with Ghana. What did you make? You made a half a million?

The major Pay the statistic that's going on now like they make between 80 to 85% they made 20 to 85. Yes, they made between 80. But what I'm the number I look at is I look that they're their financials where it shows 48% is so let's you say do a dollar

they're making they're keeping 48 cents. That's the margins. No. But not on the fights. This is after employee, staff, home office, compliance, lawyers, legal, all of that. Maybe not on the event staple, but I mean the whole organization on the amount of money that you can see their balance state.

What, where do you find it? This public information, it's not hard to find. It's a form of earnings before, what, depreciation interest and amortization EBITDA. Taxes, yeah. But the point is they have room to pay more. They have room to pay more. So let me ask you, the strategy you see,

because even for somebody like you, you may say, well, I want to follow this guy's playbook to get paid what I believe I'm worth. Who do you think has used the best strategy in UFC to make the most money outside of Conor? It's really hard to use a strategy in the UFC. I think the way that the business is set, it's set up like, they pay you whatever they want to pay you

They let you pretend that you're negotiating why you're not negotiating because either way you're staying in the contract like you will have a Let's say 40 months 40 months contract by the by 20 months they will come to negotiate Little bit more money if you say yes, yeah, then they are giving you a new 40 months, which means they start over because of that because of the money that they add. But because by that time your value is like maybe by that time your value is like maybe through a three-time what they are offering you know but I mean you kind of like broke your struggling and then you're seeing your next fight okay 50,000 you have to pay this and pay that and get away with

maybe 20,000 and you have to pay your loan and all the staff and they have a new contract, 100,000. It's really hard to turn that down when you're in that position. Even though you know that that's not your value, but you say. You're cornered almost. So then let me ask the other question then. And I think everybody in the USA being in that position, that they always have his tepoh head. So what if you go on strike?

I mean, you just say, you don't want to do that, because that's not the right strategy, okay? You can go on strike. If you want to say that, go ahead and finish your thought, yeah. Well, no, just because say you had the MLB strike, the NFL strike, and it's not the best way, but if you're back into a corner, what other options? I don't think that's the strategy. What do you mean go on strike?

Like he's saying, you 50 of you guys say, I'm not fighting until you pay me better. That's what he's saying going on the strike. Protest. Protest. The top guys in the UFC say, we're not gonna fight, we're not gonna do any events, we're not gonna do anything,

so you mean what we're asking for. Okay, so this is the thing, because you were struggling, you were expecting your fight for the $50,000, which is what a lot of people in the UFC, they do. And even for less than that. And they have even borrow money for a finance, their training company or whatever. So they are expecting that money to pay back.

And if you tell this guy to go on strike why he has a $50,000 coming up we can like save him from the guillotine like release his neck a little bit come on $12,000 a lot of money. You're about to piss off Francis bro but you knocked out of it. No it's not me I'm just trying to explain you how it works. So therefore, nobody really, a lot of people will not go on strike, not because the UFC has the power to cut you. I'm going on strike. Oh, really, you're doing that?

You're out. No, you're doing that. You're out. Then you don't even have that 50,000 anymore. What next? So a lot of fighter They don't want to compromise that because that only what they get, you know, they don't have a saving They leave day by day fight be fight and that's why like when they don't fight The go the go dry Yeah, so for me what I think about is how you can add. So the game plan, what Connor did, Connor has a drink,

proper 12, they sell for 600 million. I don't know what percentage you own the third of it. He got a couple hundred million dollars and he was able to get a fight to be sponsored by proper 12. So his drinks out that he always sits there. So that means there is some way to leverage your brand. So maybe a Francis in Ghana who may not be a, you know, get sponsorships from Nike or Adidas,

but maybe your camp is going to come out with a product that you're going to say, hey, let me build equity around my product and let me leverage UFC to increase the value of this product that I have. And maybe I'll have an exit of 50 million or 100 million or 300 million dollars. Maybe. And that's what I'm sure that's what everybody, almost everybody in the UFC is doing because you everybody, at that point, you understand that you need another source of income. But not everybody has a chance to be in that position and to get things work. That's right. You know, I might be on the, I might be somebody has a chance to be in that position and to get things work.

I might be on the estimate, the sponsorship that I'm having today, not on the estimate, but believe that I could have better. But there's a lot of people that I just dream into have what I'm having as far as sponsorship because they don't even have that you know so they have even less power Not even to negotiate Even just to talk about it. Francis. Are you getting more money from sponsorships than fights right now? Yeah, okay. Is it is it four five ten times more? Is it ten times more? Not yet

Not yet. Not yet. Okay. It could be. Yeah. Can I hire, like let's just say, if I'm a company, can I hire you to do a commercial on TV? Can I do that? Yeah.

Okay. So then there is. So then it means, then that means that there's an opportunity to have better managers to manage talent to get things on TV. For example, what David, what's Michael Jordan's agent's name? David's something. David went to Nike.

When Nike was only given $25,000 to players every year, he went to Nike and he said, listen, I know this is not the model and I know this is not what you need to do. You need to pay one player, $ 500,000 dollars his name is Michael Jordan so you Allow me to enter please you are going to like picking Like the top which is a few which is an exception How many people like Michael Jordan even in the NBA which is a very lucrative spot and

Very popular but but that but that became a business for instance, that's what I'm saying. How many people, even today, how many people, that make his kind of money? Yeah. No, 200, no, wait a minute, no, no. In NBA today? Yes, 200. 100.

So, no, I mean, out of, out of NBA. Currently in the NBA, I can tell you in the NBA, there's probably 50, they have 350 players, 30 times 12 is what, 360. So they got 350. I'll say 15 times 32 is what, so let's just say 450, right? Yeah. Out of 450, Francis, 100 of them, 50 to 100 of them make very good money outside of the NBA. In the outside of the NBA. Oh, make a very good money.

Oh, yeah. I don't agree with you. Okay. Few made a lot of money outside of the NBA, but no 250, no even 100. I think 52, okay. So maybe let's just say it's 50, that these guys got. And then you have to remember, NBA is like one of the most

popular sport you know it's not it's not the same thing yet with combat sport fighters they are literally like on their own they have to do everything fight on their own like a team sport for like NBA, when you go there, when the higher you for a team, what you have to do is show up, go train. You don't even need to find a house. You don't need to find anything. That's true. They get everything set.

They get the training set for you. You as a fighter, you have to set everything up. You are on your own because like, yes, you might have a manager, but what you're having, the commission is not enough to require somebody full time or that amount of your job. So it's way tough to a fighter. There is a fighter who will train for,

who's the train for like three months of training camp. Go out there, fight for 10 and 10 or 12 and 12. In case you win, you get like 20,000 or 24, or I don't know, 26, but if you lose, you're going out there with 10,000 or 12,000. Then you have to cut commission and tax. You find yourself out with the average is like 45% 45% of 10,000 or 12,000 is how much? Nothing. For like three months or three months.

What that being said, I just want to ask you, I know Pat has some things he wants. Yeah, but in the compensation structure of individual sports, that's pretty common. Boxers don't make a lot of money. Many golfers don't make a lot of money. Many tennis players don't make a lot of money. So when you're in the top 1%, but the difference is, I do agree that the top 1% of tennis and the top 1% of golf and the top 1% of golfant makes way more money than the top one percent of UFC that I agree with. I think if in the

U.S.A. that top is one percent then in the U.S.A. that top is maybe zero point something. I had one quick question. You're 34 about to be 35. I'm 35. You're 35, okay. My question is regarding your level of urgency. You're 35. I think some of the best athletes in the world, their life spans are being extended. Like we talk about like, LeBron is 37, right?

Maybe he's got a couple of years left. Aaron Rogers, just won the MVP, 38 in the NFL. Brady, I think, is going to be 45 by the time the season starts. I think you still have people in the individual sports, like Serena and Roger Federer, that are 40. You're 35. Yeah. What's your level of urgency to get your money now,

create your legacy now? Because how much more time do you have left to fight? I don't see it like an agency. I think everything comes with time. Everything comes with time. You just have to do team right. I started the sport very late. I didn't have a chance or opportunity to practice

for a year in my life. But from what I started, I think I'm doing pretty good. You know, I've been practicing sport for only nine years and I mean, World Champion. And a lot of people have been practicing sport for only nine years. And I mean, World Champion. And a lot of people have been practicing for a long, long time. And they are not, or not yet, a champion. So I don't think there is a sense of agency. I do agree that I don't have, I'm not very young for the sport.

But the fact that I started late makes me like being, to be fresh, you know, as athletes, even though I'm 40, I'm 30, 35. I think a lot of people that are 30 are more broken than I am. You still got a lot of tread on your tires, I'm more broken than I am. You still got a lot of tread on your tires, is what you're saying. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Francis, let's transition into a couple of other things. John Jones, you said this on,

you said that John Jones finds a better battle on Twitter than in the UFC. Of course, a lot of people would love to see the two of you guys fight. Now, weight-wise, I think he wants to go heavyweight. I think he's 6'4. I think you're 6402. Oh, John John is not 204. He's what? I mean, he always been 204 or 205 when he caught weight to go to light heavyweight. But just every day weight is not 204. What do you think about me? 20?

way is not two or four. What do you think? 20? 20? Oh, way more. Okay. Basically, like now that is gaining way, John just now might be at least 250 to 60. Okay. 50. Yeah. Cause I yeah, an article, your experience is 240. Yeah. So you guys you're saying you're similar way class. He wants to come up. John wants to come up. He just got he just got way to go to light heavy weight. What what are the chances of him him fighting you? Cause some would consider him the gold. Because he's I think he's 27 and one. I think you're 17 and three different

style of fighting. What would happen if you and John Jones fought? I mean, without Kamaru Usman Kamaru on the way I would consider John Jones as a good Me too You put Usman above him Yeah, who's Mount over John Jones Are you saying that because you like Usman more than John Jones or you say that? No, I'm, I've just leased yes. That's not questionable. Yeah.

I'm saying it. Usman is my brother. Sure. That's why I ask. But this, agreeable, but yeah, I do agree that John Jones could be the greatest, the good. Oh, no, you know.

But I think fighting with him, and I always think that it's gonna be a great, great fight for me, a great test, a great challenge, you know, because it's like, so by far, the best, how they say, versatile all around? Yeah, yeah.

Complete fighter, complete fighter. Yeah, skilled. Scured and a complete fighter, you know, you just have to see how he dominated on the light heavyweight in the past decade, you know. But don't you think you're much bigger and stronger than him? And you could probably take even though he's great and amazing, but it's a different way.

Because I'm strong. Strongest is not enough. It's not enough. Really? Oh, yeah. It's not enough. You have to bring something more. Come up with something.

Way more than that to win the fight. You're fighting with a professional who has a lot of experience. He has seen it all. So come on. But you're confident, if you face him, you'd beat him. Yeah, I'm confident, but he's still like, he's still a challenge. It's a very tough challenge.

I know his skill set and I know how dangerous he is. So yeah, maybe the different question will be to follow. Are you more confident going against him in a UFC match, heavyweight, your weight? Are you more confident going against Tyson Fury and boxing? I would say more confident going against John Jones Merelyan, merelyan, merelyan, merelyan,

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merelyan, merelyan, merelyan, merelyan, merelyan, merelyan, I will be a very a new born in that in that few but in MMA as far as today I think I muster that pretty good. So more confident going against John Jones than going against Tyson Fury. What about Wilder? The anti-wilder, the guy that keeps fighting Tyson Tyson fury. Yeah, you have any strong feelings about fighting him Yeah, he's a obviously that's a very interesting fight because he's known for like One punch, you know, and I think

That might be the opportunity to find out who hit the hardest. So Joe Rogan here's what Joe Rogan said. Here's what Joe Rogan said. If he was to fight Tyson Fiori, I don't know if you've seen this or not, Joe Rogan said he would murder Tyson Fury. Joe Rogan said this about Francis. Joe Rogan said he would murder Tyson Fury.

He backs Francis Ngaongano to incapacitate Tyson Fury in the UFC, of course, but not Box. He's someone to use. It wouldn't even be fair. Boxing is a different story if you went against him. And then you said here, April 3, just a few days ago, you said, I don't really care about what it would be. I just want, I just think it would be a fight. You said, I don't care if we fight anywhere, could be in a phone booth or in a rooftop, that fight will happen. So you really wanna fight Tyson Fury? Yeah, we've been going back and forth

for over two years now, and it's not a secret that my dream is always to have a challenge in boxing. My dream has always been boxing even before I discovered MMA. So at some point, I want to experience that, to see where I am at. In boxing. I think the whole world would like to see that. By the way, which one do you want more?

Which one do you want more? You're like, you know, because there's like certain fights you want or certain desires we have. Would you rather have a fight against John Jones? Would you rather fight against Tyson Fury? I could have both. Which one? Why should I pick? Why I could have both? Oh, so you want, so you're greedy. You want both of them. You don't just want one. I can have both. And even more, it's not like I'm not retiring. No, you're still, you're 35. I'm going to fight a lot of fight again.

So yeah, I can have both. And even someone that we are not even expecting right now by next year might be the biggest fight or the biggest challenge or the biggest opening. That just how this boy is, you know, I don't have to choose to again to fight where I still have like what minimum of 10 fights in my career if it's not 20. So John and Tyson Fury. Having both. Yeah, he wants both. I have both. And step over it, maybe go find a Dianne Tehuater again. And there will be another contender somewhere, maybe an MMA, some that I will go find them, you know. And by the way, even with the current contract, can you do both?

Like, even with the current UFC contract, like, you know how Jake Paul comes out and he says, why don't you come, we'll pay you better, can you fight boxing and UFC today? No, the current contract, unless the UFC says so. Unless if the UFC says so. Yeah. So Dana has to give the green light in the current contract.S. A.C. So unless of the U.F.C. says so. So Dana has to give the green light in the current contract. Wow. You bring up Jake Paul for a reason. Yeah.

Do you think everything he's doing is actually pissing off Dana White? Because he calls him out. He did a whole music video about Dana White. Do you think Jake, what are your thoughts on Jake Paul when he's doing ruffling those feathers being a troll? Do we what? Ruffling Dana White's feathers and basically rattling the cage of Dana White, what are your thoughts on what Jake Paul is doing?

Well, I think he's definitely pissing Dana off. I would have been pissed off too. Ha ha ha. Yeah, the way that he does it, yeah, I would have been pissed off. But I wouldn't do it that way, or in the same fashion that he's doing it, but I find a lot of like truth in what he says. A lot of truth. Yeah.

And what Jake Paul is saying. Yeah. Because he's kind of defending UFC fighters. Yeah. I mean, that's, that makes sense, right? And I think it's a, it's something that we should think more about it at this point of life. Are you saying that secretly and maybe even not so secretly, a lot of UFC fighters are actually kind of agreeing with Jake Paul and what he's saying?

Oh yeah, a lot, a lot. So many will not agree on the meter that he's doing it, you know, the way that he's doing it, but the idea, yes. Interesting. Have you watched Jake Fight or Logan Fight? Have you watched both the fight? Last year I was even here when Logan fought a flight mirror. What did you think about both the Jake and Logan fighting?

No, I was just thinking about the money that is cash in our car. What are we doing wrong? So you fighting, if you got an offer to fight Joe, a Jake or Logan, you'd be open to it if the UFC allowed and the money was there. I don't think is the way class that couldn't be. What happens if you are to fight both of them

at the same time? Yeah, so funny. You're not gonna do that for us. That make more sense, at the same time. Look at the set it up. Yeah, I got fight gonna make that's make more sense But at the same time I just said January of 2023 Friends like I do first Jake and Logan Paul same time knock about that no Dyson Fudy first You we have three minutes left. Do you want to take a phone call think is a pretty good question?

Well, is it let's put them on yes go for it We have g Gil on the line. Gil, can you hear us? Yes, Crystal clear. Fantastic. What's on your mind? Alrighty. So I had a quick question. I love Francis. He has an incredibly inspirational life story. Thank you, dude.

I wanted to know, has anyone ever approached you about making a movie about your life, or buying the rights to your life story? And part two is if so, who would you want to play you? That's a good question. Yeah, that's very interesting. I think I've have that question already but yes

many one have I have a lot of if you interest of like Doing a movie with my life or buying the right of my Story even though as far as movie I think is not time-yered, you know my team and I with thing like movie Even though as far as movie, I think it's not time yet. My team and I, we think movie should wait. We can, right now we are working on book and documentary and the movie can wait because movie is kind of like, oh, I have made it, which is not where I am here. I think there is a lot of rain for me to go.

But if that was the case, um, who will I, who will I like to play me? Maybe Idris at a bar. Idris at a bar. Okay. What about Will Smith? I was about to say you lots one guy. Yeah, Idris would be Idris would be Will Smith in these days. No, we'll Smith. Um, I can see I never

I never honestly I never thought about Will Smith but He might not be able to knock people out these days, but I'll slap a motherfucker. Oh, yeah, for sure Yeah, yeah What else we got John? No, I get you just okay. It's my first pick at least. Yeah, I fully see that by the way, I fully fully see that because I've taught about it. Oh, it's going to help. I hope this answer your question will.

That's yeah. Yes. Well, appreciate the color, calling in. Francis, appreciate you for coming out really enjoyed it man. What a story you got and We're looking forward to watching you fight hopefully by the end of the year because you kind of did say I can fight end of 2022 yeah, yeah, I Be good and he wants all the smoke he wants he wants Tyson Fury he wants the ante wadder He wants John Jones and throwing a couple of the Paul Brothers while we're at it. I have a lot of here ahead of me,

and I have a couple of fights that I don't even know where they're gonna be. So yes, while we're here, if I can pick two, three, I will do not. May is well, too. May is well, too. Anyways, gang, hope you enjoyed it as much as we, the friends, appreciate you for coming on. I'm fantastic.

Yes. This was fantastic. Okay. What do we have? You're saying we got tomorrow tomorrow. Tomorrow we got Andrew Yang and Dave Rubin. Dave Rubin is winning. Andrew Yang in the afternoon.

Dave Rubin is winning. Andrew Yang in the afternoon. Not same time. One will be in the morning, one will be in the afternoon. Have a great one, everybody. And I have a feeling, are you going to the Bitcoin conference? You're going to be at the Bitcoin conference? That's why I'm here. I know you going to the Bitcoin conference you're going to be at the Bitcoin conference That's why I'm here. No, you're going to go ahead. You're speaking at the Bitcoin conference, right? There's something you're doing, right?

Okay, so some of you guys may see the champ at the Bitcoin conference. Take everybody. We'll see you guys for the champ. Yeah, that's