Photo: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight champion is thinking of taking half his fight purse in Bitcoin as cryptocurrency adoption continues to grow. This trend continues to increase globally with more celebrities and athletes getting paid in the form of digital assets such as Bitcoin.
UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has tweeted that he is considering taking 50% of his next fight purse in Bitcoin. His next fight is scheduled for January 22. “Been talking with my family and friends in the crypto space. Bitcoin is huge in Africa, and I'm thinking of taking half my fight purse in it. Bitcoin is the future, and I'm a believer,” he wrote.
Been talking with my family and friends in the crypto space. #Bitcoin is huge in Africa and I’m thinking of taking half my fight purse in it. Bitcoin is the future and I’m a believer 🤔 @ufc #ufc270
— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) January 14, 2022
Earlier in an interview, Ngannou said that the fight against Serial Gan will be the last fight for which he will accept payment in the old way, that is, from $500,000 to $600,000. He accepted such a low fee—by his new standards—only out of personal interests.
Ngannou stated that "Bitcoin is huge in Africa," which may explain his great interest in cryptocurrencies. According to a Chainalysis report, the African crypto market grew by over 1200% between July 2020 and June 2021. The firm believes that African countries have received approximately $105.6 billion in cryptocurrencies.
The UFC is a renowned worldwide mixed martial arts organization. In July 2021, the company announced a sponsorship and partnership with Crypto.com, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency trading platforms by trading volume. The deal is rumored to be worth around $175 million over ten years.
© 2022, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.
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About the Author
Eva Fox
Eva Fox joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover breaking news as an automotive journalist. The main topics that she covers are clean energy and electric vehicles. As a journalist, Eva is specialized in Tesla and topics related to the work and development of the company.
