Francis Ngannou made more in one night against Tyson Fury than he did his entire MMA careerCredit: AFP

He left the promotion to pursue a lucrative boxing switch and agreed a deal to fight unbeaten star Fury in Saudi Arabia.

Ngannou even dropped the Gypsy King and was deemed unfortunate to walk away a split-decision loser.

But despite failing to get the win in the ring, the Cameroonian certainly got the result he wanted in his bank account.

Ngannou said on The Last Stand podcast: “First off all, whatever would have been my next fight, from the moment that I left the UFC, was going to be way different from what I made.

“Because in the past three years in the UFC, I was in a contract issue that I didn’t want to sign a new contract that would have given me more money, but not enough, right?

“Also the conditions and the terms which would have prevented me from doing boxing, which was one of my ultimate dreams that I wanted to do.

“So it would have been different, even from my next MMA fight, completely different.

“It’s at least more than everything that I have earned in my life, in my career.”

Fury’s controversial win over Ngannou saw his proposed December 23 title unification against Oleksandr Usyk, 36, postponed till February.

The British legend is believed to have banked up to £65m for the crossover clash while Ngannou, 37, took home around £8m.

He is now happy to wait till after the fight to rematch Fury, 35, as he wants to challenge the best boxing has to offer.

He said: “I prefer to fight the top fighters. Why did I feel Tyson Fury? Because he was the top of the game. I want the best.

“I want the big fights. I want a big show. I want everything big. But, at the end of the day, it’s a sport and we do what we have to do.”

Ngannou knocked Fury down during the fightCredit: Getty