It is well-known that Francis Ngannou and Kamaru Usman are close friends. However, Ngannou revealed a lot about how deep their friendship is and what a great human Usman is. ‘The Predator’ opened up about a loan he had taken from Usman, but ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ was unwilling to disclose that information. Seemingly, Usman did it in good faith for his friend and did not believe the world needed to know about it.
During the latest ‘Pound 4 Pound’ podcast by Henry Cejudo and Usman, Ngannou joined as the guest. Ngannou will be taking on Anthony Joshua in his second boxing bout on March 8, 2024, in Saudi Arabia. Most of their conversation involved the build-up to that fight. However, Ngannou, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion cannot avoid his past in the Las Vegas-based promotion.
His interviews regularly contain questions regarding his UFC stint. Recently, he also claimed that tainted relations with UFC CEO Dana White helped him turn his combat sports career around.
Kamaru Usman lent Francis Ngannou $200,000 when Francis was struggling financially due to low pay from the UFC
Not ONCE has Kamaru went on record and stated himself doing this.
This is what REAL FRIENDSHIP looks like pic.twitter.com/4jz0NboIa0
— Kenny Okoye🇳🇬 (@TruthfulUfcFan) March 7, 2024
Among other contractual reasons, money was also a problem for Ngannou in the UFC. He opened up about how he declined $5 million for his last fight in the UFC and got paid $600,000. If he accepted the $5 million, that would have tied him down to a contract where he was not “free.”
“You were talking earlier about the contract that I turned down,” Ngannou said. “You [Usman] knew a lot about the stuff that I turned down from the UFC negotiation with my last fight in the UFC. I took $600,000 for my last fight in the UFC as opposed to $5 million that they were offering for the same fight. And I was broke. At the time I owed Usman $200,000. I was broke. It’s true!”
Ngannou claimed he was broke at the time and Usman had given him a loan of $200,000. Usman immediately wanted to steer the conversation away from it. But Ngannou was more than happy to talk about his friend who helped him in a time of need.
Francis Ngannou and Kamaru Usman share a close friendship since their days in the UFC together
Ngannou, Usman, and Israel Adesanya share a close friendship. At a point in the time, Usman, a Nigerian-born UFC Welterweight Champion, Adesanya, a Nigerian-born UFC Middleweight Champion, and Ngannou, a Cameroonian-born UFC Heavyweight Champion were together called the ‘Three African Kings’ of the UFC.
Our 3 African Kings! 🌍👑
🇳🇬 @Stylebender
🇨🇲 @Francis_Ngannou
🇳🇬 @USMAN84kg pic.twitter.com/3fF4FwS5HS— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) April 26, 2021
On several occasions, the trio has shown support for each other. Ngannou was in Usman’s corner when he defended his title against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261. After Usman lost his title at UFC 286, Ngannou shared words of motivation for him on X and ended the post with “#3Kings.”
Usman has also spoken words of support for Francis Ngannou for his victories in the UFC. He trained with Ngannou before his fight against Stipe Miocic. ‘The Predator’ left the UFC in January 2023. His last fight in the promotion was at UFC 270 in January 2022.
Kamaru Usman has supported Francis Ngannou throughout the Cameroonian’s transition to boxing
In their latest act of togetherness, the trio walked out together for Ngannou’s boxing debut against Tyson Fury in October 2023.
Before Ngannou’s fight against Fury, Usman claimed you could not write Ngannou off even if it was his debut against arguably one of the best heavyweight boxers. “Francis possesses something that’s just different. He can touch you with either hand and you’ll be waking up next week asking what happened,” Usman said according to CODE Sports. He called Francis his “brother” and claimed they stayed in touch.
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Usman was proud of Ngannou’s boxing debut and continued to show him support throughout his transition.
If reports are true, Ngannou’s UFC exit has been a great decision. He reportedly earned $10 million from his decision loss against Fury. He is also expected to earn around $20 million against Joshua. The Cameroonian-French athlete is also happily able to pursue his dream of pro-boxing under his contract with the PFL.