Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) Francis Ngannou has made the decision to receive half of his salary from UFC 270 in bitcoin, as ties between digital currency and sports continue.
In marking the heavyweight champion’s partnership with mobile payment service CashApp, the deal comes at a time when Ngannou prepares to headline the UFC’s first numbered card of the year.
On Twitter, the French-Cameroonian stated: “After doing a lot of research on Bitcoin, I really believe it is the future of money, man. Bitcoin is valuable, secure, and no one can mess with it.”
Furthermore, CashApp is also doubling down its approach to marketing for the event, whilst looking to engage MMA fans with a $300,000 giveaway.
In other collaborations, MMA journalist, Ariel Helwani, has also recently revealed on Twitter that Ngannou will be wearing the Epix X Chrono watch for the weigh-ins on 21 January. The Jacob & Co. timepiece retails for $50k as he continues to pursue alternative and creative options for collaborations.
This announcement follows his launch, last year, of a ‘first-of-its-kind’ NFT collection with prolific digital artist Bosslogic, becoming the first MMA fighter to introduce a release of this type. This collection was said to craft an art that ‘encapsulates Ngannou’s deep African roots and his presence in the MMA world’.
This was regarded as a successful deal in generating $581,038.88 on makersplaceco, whilst it was also later reported that these NFTs ended up generating more money than Ngannou’s guaranteed purse for the Stipe Miocic fight.
