Inside the cage, he's known as The Predator. For good reason, too. Francis Ngannou has had to survive and hunt for opportunities his entire life.

By securing a super fight with Tyson Fury, the 37-year-old has hit the big time with the riches that will follow from the Saudi Arabia exhibition bout on Saturday night.

We're talking about a fighter whose biggest payday from his UFC days was £518,000, from when he fought Ciryl Gane in a heavyweight clash in 2022.

Having left the organisation for more 'freedom' and security in January, and swiftly signing a flexible deal with the Professional Fighters League (PFL), the world has become his oyster.

With all eyes on his highly-anticipated super-fight against Fury, Mail Sport has taken a look at the Cameroonian's surreal rise to the top of combat sports.

Speaking about his 'life-changing' pay-packet he had received to face Fury, Ngannou's manager Marquel Martin has claimed it's bigger than all of his UFC purses combined, 'by multiples'.

The bag is so big, he may actually just drop it on the way to the bank,' he told MMA Fighting. 'Let's just say that. I don't know what the haters are trying to say, but they'll be proven wrong again. This is life-changing, this is exactly what we planned and visualised so we're happy.'

It's quite the turnaround for a man who was once struggling to pay his bills during his career and previously had to borrow money just to survive.

'In the past two years I've fought twice and then I have to borrow money to live!' he said in September 2022.

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