With Francis Ngannou’s inactivity, John McCarthy urges the PFL to axe their entire heavyweight division.
Chairman Donn Davis was unhappy about PFL Africa chairman Ngannou’s absence from the promotion’s inaugural event in Africa, which took place July in South Africa. Upon signing with PFL, Ngannou voiced his vision in helping build talent in Africa and grow the scene.
PFL analyst McCarthy says Ngannou (18-3) failed to hold up his end of the deal and hasn’t competed since knocking out Renan Ferreira in October 2024. He doesn’t see enough depth in PFL’s heavyweight division to keep it alive.
“It’s a glamour division with no talent,” McCarthy said on his “Weighing In” podcast. “Let’s just be honest, OK? Why do you have it? You have the ability to put in a flyweight division. You finally put in the bantamweights: Way to go. That was a smart thing. You’ve got some really good, talented people in that. Open up the 125-pound division. Take the heavyweights, get rid of it.
“Be honest, (the UFC’s) whole (heavyweight) lineup, it’s just not that good. You can take a look at the PFL’s lineup. Yes, Francis is a good fighter. Yes, Vadim (Nemkov) is a good fighter. You’ve got a couple in there. (Valentin) Moldavsky is good, (Denis) Goltsov just got beat by a light heavyweight in Corey Anderson. Get rid of it. All it does is cost you way more money than it’s worth for your promotion. Get rid of the heavyweights, put in all the other weight classes. Have 125, ’35, ’45, ’55 – you’ll have it all the way to 205. You don’t need the heavyweights because they’re not doing anything for you, and Francis is not doing anything as far as what he was supposedly contracted for.”
In May, Ngannou accidentally struck a young woman with his motorcycle in his native Cameroon, which ended up killing her. His last public appearance came in June when he accompanied Kamaru Usman to the scale during the UFC on ESPN 69 ceremonial weigh-ins at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
