MMA confidential: Ngannou's showcase only the start for UFC fighters in boxing

Francis Ngannou uncorked a short left hook that collided with Tyson Fury's jaw. The impact of the blow sent Fury to the mat -- and might have changed the trajectory of the combat sports economy for the foreseeable future. Ngannou lost the boxing match to Fury in October 2023 by decision, but he did drop him in the third round and boxed well overall against the world's best heavyweight. Ngannou, who departed the UFC as its heavyweight champion in early 2023, was making his professional boxing debut in that bout, and many thought he should have won on the cards. The trend of MMA fighters chasing big money in boxing, spurred at first by Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor in 2017 and given a real direction by Jake Paul's clever matchmaking, seemed to be winding down ... until Ngannou nearly knocked off Fury. Now, the MMA-to-boxing transition has new life, with one manager telling ESPN that one of his current UFC clients is looking to fight out his contract with an eye toward the boxing ring and another representative prognosticating that McGregor could be next to make the jump (again). Those in the industry, though, are split on whether there are legitimate, consistent opportunities to succeed for MMA fighters in boxing or if it's just a pot of fool's gold> "Francis doing that kept the door open longer, and the longer the door is open, the more opportunities that might come, the more chances for something to happen," a prominent MMA manager told ESPN under the condition of anonymity. "I think it is something that is frequently talked about in gyms and locker rooms, that guys in MMA can compete in boxing more easily than the flip side Ngannou will compete in his second pro boxing match on Friday against Anthony Joshua, a former unified heavyweight champion with a huge fan following, in Saudi Arabia. With it will come another giant payday, somewhere in the eight figures -- the kind of money that even the biggest UFC stars (not named McGregor) are often unable to earn. In most cases, top main event boxers get the lion's share of revenue from events, whereas the UFC takes somewhere in the range of 80% of revenue, according to documents from the ongoing antitrust case against the promotion. The UFC even took a cut of the money made from Mayweather vs. McGregor, because McGregor was under contract with the organization and the UFC essentially acted as his promoter. "We have fighters on our roster that want to box, that are actually choosing to not re-sign with the UFC -- not take double the amount of money -- because they want to see if there's an option to box," one manager with several top fighters in the UFC said. One former UFC champion said the reason this is happening is "all money," because in boxing "if you sell 50,000 pay-per-views, 100,000 pay-per-views, you still make a boatload of money because you're making money off the very first buy." In other words, if the UFC is cut out as the middleman, there are more funds out there for fighters, even if the event does not sell well compared to UFC cards. "It's going to keep happening," the former champ said. "If you thought it was the end, I think we're just at the beginning. I think more guys with name recognition, when they're done with the UFC, will go down this path to see." MMA fighters are keeping a close eye on the boxing world and what Ngannou is doing in it, people in the industry said. But those in the know are also sending out a word of caution, that the grass is not always greener on the other side. "Name recognition" is a key phrase. "I think that UFC compensation is, for most fighters, the highest level of compensation they'll receive anywhere else," the prominent manager said. "I think the UFC compensation has been trending in the right direction