Mike Tyson scoffs at Francis Ngannou’s latest UFC fight purse: “That’d be my training expenses”

Boxing legend Mike Tyson wasn’t impressed upon hearing the fight purse Francis Ngannou received for his UFC 270 win.

While a recent knee surgery may keep Francis Ngannou out of action for the rest of the year, there’s every chance he’d still be sitting on the sideline even if he was perfectly healthy.

“The Predator” has had his fair share of issues with the UFC across the last few years and that much is obvious. Between creative differences and problems with the promotion’s pay structure, it’s no surprise that there was speculation as to why Dana White didn’t show up to the UFC 270 post-fight press conference.

On that night earlier this year, Ngannou made a real statement by successfully defending the UFC heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane. In doing so, he earned a sum of $600,000 for his efforts – which many consider to be much lower than he’s actually worth.

During a recent episode of his podcast, Mike Tyson compared his own days in pro boxing to Ngannou’s UFC career after the issue was raised by fellow UFC champion Israel Adesanya.

Adesanya: “Shout out to my boy, my big brother Francis, he kicked the door down and said ‘Look, this is what’s happening. They’re paying me this much and I’m this guy.’ He put it all out there. Mike, imagine at the height of your career, you’re fighting and you’re getting paid the equivalent of $600k to fight. That would be atrocious.”

Tyson: “Listen, that’d be my training expenses. That’s my training expenses.”

Quotes via Sportskeeda

While the masses may continue to plead for increased fighter pay, Dana White isn’t likely to budge anytime soon.

Do you believe there should be some kind of union formed for UFC fighters? Was Francis Ngannou underpaid for his efforts at UFC 270 in comparison to Mike Tyson’s fight purses?