Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Chatri Sityodtong recently met with ONE CEO and Founder Chatri Sityodtong to discuss the prospect of ending his free agency. Unfortunately for all parties, no agreement could be achieved.
Francis Ngannou will not participate in ONE Championship.According to Sityodtong, the requests from "The Predator" were simply too unreasonable to agree on.
"He was asking for a seat on the board of directors, and he was asking him to determine his opponent's pay," Sityodtong explained to the Daily Star.
"We offered him a guaranteed $20 million, but the money wasn't enough; he wanted all of these other non-financial terms that didn't make much sense."
"Obviously, we can't give him a seat on the board of directors; that makes no sense; he'd be a fish out of water [in that position]," he concluded.
ONE makes its major US debut this weekend (Friday, May 5, 2023) in Denver, Colorado with ONE Fight Night 10. Another former UFC champion, current ONE Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, will compete in the main event against Adriano Moraes.
Sityodtong and ONE have not yet promised any future U.S. events, but ONE Fight Night 10 is hoped to be the start of a new chapter for the Cayman Islands-based MMA giant.
"Bringing the entire world of martial arts and introducing it to American fans is very surreal for me," Sityodtong said. "At the same time, I have an overwhelming feeling of deep gratitude because America gave me the opportunity to make something of myself coming from literally nothing."