UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou sparks speculation he could leave to join Jake Paul in PFL’s ‘Super Fight’ division with family photos

Francis Ngannou has sparked speculation that he’s about to leave the UFC and join Jake Paul in a rival promotion.

Last week, ‘The Problem Child’ revealed he has signed with the Professional Fighters League [PFL] – a competitor company to Dana White’s UFC.

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The 25-year-old will head up a new ‘Super Fight’ division which was made to stage Pay-Per-View events for fighters who are already big names and ‘can instantly draw paying customers’, rather than those chasing traditional titles.

Paul revealed that he and anyone else competing in the division will receive 50 per cent of PPV revenue before calling out Nate Diaz by offering him a two-sport, two-fight deal.

“This is about changing MMA, disrupting, innovating, and creating the next big league,” Jake said recently.

Meanwhile, Ngannou hasn’t fought since beating Ciryl Gane by a unanimous decision to unify the division in January 2022.

Post-fight, the UFC heavyweight champion went under the knife for knee surgery aimed at reconstructing his ACL and repairing the MCL he damaged ahead of UFC 270.

‘The Predator’ was expected to be out of action for 9-12 months, which allowed him a significant amount of time to negotiate with the UFC after his latest contract expired.

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However, almost a full year later, Ngannou is yet to re-sign with the UFC despite being linked to a mega-money match-up with former light-heavyweight champion, Jon Jones.

And Ngannou's coach Eric Nicksack believes the Jones fight will happen.

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Speaking to MMA Fighting, he said: "I’m hoping for this thing, fingers crossed that we can get this deal done.

"If it’s not March, maybe it’s April or May, or something like that. I do know that they’re shooting for March and that Jon Jones is the opponent.

"Everything else is out of my hands, but if they tell me, ‘Hey, we’re fighting March 4,’ we’ll have our guy ready, that’s for sure.”

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Despite this, the 36-year-old Cameroonian knockout artist has fuelled speculation he could leave the UFC by posting a series of family photos with the caption: “Starting the best year ever!!!”

All the women photographed alongside Ngannou are wearing traditional African attire, except one who is surprisingly wearing a PFL t-shirt.

Many fans believe that the shirt is evidence that Ngannou is set to join Paul in signing with PFL who will almost certainly give him a bigger PPV revenue split than the UFC.

The king of MMA heavyweights, who made just £440,000 in his last fight, has demanded a sizeable pay bump and the freedom to take boxing bouts against Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder.

He’ll almost certainly get what he wants, but only time will tell if it will be from the UFC, PFL, or another MMA promotion.