Francis Ngannou has responded to Donn Davis' discontentment surrounding the former's lack of presence at PFL Africa events but 'the Predator' has his own grievances. Appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show, the lineal MMA heavyweight champion covered multiple topics including issues that he had with the presentation of the July 19th PFL Africa card that was headlined by Johnny Eblen taking on Costello Van Steenis for the middleweight belt.
Ngannou expressed issues with the earlier portion of the card receiving the PFL Africa branding while the main card was labelled Road to Dubai Champions Series. This perception of the PFL Africa brand not getting the predominant focus resulted in Ngannou not attending the card with PFL figurehead Donn Davis later mentioning his disappointment that the PFL Africa chairman was not in attendance.
While mentioning that he predominantly engages with Peter Murray and other PFL executives while quipping that he rarely speaks with Davis himself, Ngannou said,
“We have a good relationship with PFL; it’s just that sometimes things don’t run smoothly. Sometimes we don’t agree, but that’s how it works. It’s about making things right so that the vision can come together.”
“The problem is cultural. There’s a culture difference, and they are struggling to understand the African culture aspect of things. I have to make sure that is being considered.”
“I wasn’t very okay with the first PFL Africa event seeming to be like an undercard. I hope PFL Africa debut would have at least have its glory, its moment. That wasn’t my decision, and I wasn’t done for it, but I expressed my feeling to them.”
Francis Ngannou addresses his thoughts on the second PFL Africa card
Francis Ngannou was not happy with the July 19th card that also featured big names like Dakota Ditcheva but the August 9th PFL Africa card seemed to fit his vision of things with a predominant focus on African mixed martial artists. That being said, the former UFC heavyweight champion and current PFL champ also did not attend that sophomore PFL Africa card and when offering up his thoughts on the sophomore effort from this branch of PFL's global expansion, Francis Ngannou stated [via MMA Junkie],
"Matter of circumstances, and again, we were still working on it. This is not the only event. PFL Africa is something that is made to be run forever. So, as we take the time that it takes to set things up right, then the company will run properly. So, I don't have any problem with that. I don't have any problem with going, as long as we get things right and feel comfortable. Because I'm going there, stepping forward, putting myself in line as a guarantee. So,at least I'm going to make sure I'm going to stand by what I'm saying."