After months of speculation, we finally have some clarity with respect to Francis Ngannou's future in combat sports.

The former UFC heavyweight champion is headed to the Professional Fighters League (PFL).

Ngannou was last in action in early 2022, when he defended his UFC title with a lopsided decision defeat of former interim champion Ciryl Gane. He spent the rest of that year locked in a heated contract dispute with the promotion and finally left it behind in January, dropping his belt on his way out the door.

The 36-year-old's first priority as a free agent was always to try his hand at professional boxing, but he was quickly courted by a number of reputable MMA promotions, including Bellator, ONE Championship and the PFL, all of which sought to lock up his services.

In the end, it was the PFL that won the race, signing the Cameroonian-French knockout artist to a deal that appears to be both lucrative and unprecedented.

Ngannou will debut in the league's "Super Fight Division" in 2024 and share in the pay-per-view revenue for his fights. He will spearhead the league's push into Africa as chairman and minority equity owner of the new PFL Africa division. He will serve on the PFL athlete advisory board.

And that's just what was included in the promotion's official press release.

According to MMA business reporter John Nash (h/t Stephie Haynes of Bloody Elbow) the former UFC champ will receive "just shy" of eight figures for each of the two to three fights on his deal, have full control over his own sponsors, receive a salary to work as a PFL brand ambassador and have total freedom to compete in boxing. He has even ensured that his opponents in the PFL "Smart Cage" will receive fair purses.

There are plenty of fans out there who believe Ngannou somehow blew it—that he is worse off than he was when he was locked into a restrictive UFC contract.

Here's why those fans are wrong, and why Ngannou's move to PFL is actually good for the whole sport.

It Proves the UFC Isn't the Only Option

There was a time, not all that long ago, when it was very difficult to make a living as an MMA fighter if you weren't signed to the UFC.

Those days seem to be over.

It's hard to say when things began to change—Benson Henderson's 2016 move from the UFC to Bellator definitely stands out as a big moment—but today, it's clear that fighters can have solid careers without ever stepping foot in the Octagon.

Ngannou's deal with the PFL, which includes substantial purses, a slice of PPV sales and a small stake in the company's African subsidiary, is proof that fighters can thrive outside the Octagon.

This a good thing. A very good thing. When the UFC was the only shop in town, it could do pretty much whatever it wanted. It's still doing pretty much whatever it wants, but at least fighters have other options if they don't enjoy the way it does business.

Fans also have an increasing number of high-quality options.

This writer would much rather watch Ngannou fight anybody than whatever has been going on at the UFC Apex recently.

It Puts Pressure on the UFC

We've already established that Ngannou's move to the PFL affirms there are plenty of good options for fighters beyond the UFC. Yet it also puts pressure on the promotion to treat the fighters on its roster better.

You will likely never catch UFC President Dana White admitting he regrets not meeting Ngannou's demands, or that he wishes the former champ was still under contract with his promotion.

Maybe he really doesn't care that Ngannou moved on. But you can only let so many of your big stars go before it starts to adversely affect the company, particularly when contract disputes tend to be loud, ugly and public.

You can bet there are a lot of disgruntled UFC fighters looking at Ngannou and the PFL today. Many of them probably also envy the way former UFC flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson has been treated by ONE Championship, and the way the likes of Ryan Bader, Sergio Pettis and Cris Cyborg—all former UFC stars—have been taken care of by Bellator.

If the UFC wants to keep fighters like those above from jumping ship in the future, it will need to pay its existing fighters well and treat them fairly.

Then again, the promotion's response to this Ngannou drama might also be make its contracts even more restrictive—in which case up-and-coming fighters will hopefully think twice before signing on the dotted line.

It Helps Other Fighters

Ngannou wasn't just looking out for himself when he left the UFC. He wanted to improve things for all fighters, and he had some pretty ambitious demands in that regard.

The PFL seems to have agreed to some of those—at least in part—by giving Ngannou a seat on their athlete advisory board, which suggests he will have some say in the way the league treats its fighters.

Time will tell how much sway he actually has—it could just be a figurehead position—but surely it is a good thing to have actual fighters weighing in on league decisions.

As we covered above, Nash also noted Ngannou's deal also requires that his opponents receive fair purses. The former UFC champ previously demanded a $1 million guarantee for his rivals. It's not clear if the PFL agreed to that figure exactly, but it sounds like it came close.

It's a Boon for African MMA

Until recently, there were three African-born champions in the UFC. Ngannou was one, while Nigeria's Kamaru Usman and Israel Adesanya were the others, holding the welterweight and middleweights belts, respectively.

At the height of their title reigns, the UFC talked quite a bit about hosting an event in Africa. Unfortunately, the promotion blew that opportunity, first letting Usman and Adesanya lose their titles—though the latter has since won his back—and later letting Ngannou walk.

Sure, the promotion could still go to Africa, but it would do so with one champion rather than three.

The PFL stands to succeed where the UFC failed.

With Ngannou on the board of PFL Africa, the league is well-positioned to be the first major international MMA promotion to break ground in the continent.

It probably wouldn't be as big as a UFC event—the UFC brand unfortunately sells more tickets than any single fighter—but it would still be big, especially with the likes of Ngannou and fellow Cameroonian and PFL newbie Cédric Doumbé on the card.