Charles Oliveira Signs Long-Term UFC Deal as Ngannou Pushes Sunset-Clause Strategy

Former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira signed a long-term contract extension with the promotion this week, his coach Diego Lima confirmed. No financial terms disclosed. The deal comes 18 months after Oliveira lost the lightweight title on the scale in May 2023, then reclaimed top-contender status with wins over Beneil Dariush and a close loss to Islam Makhachev in the rematch. Oliveira is 35, holds the UFC record for most finishes (20), and sits ranked No. 2 at 155 pounds. The extension locks him in through what is almost certainly the final commercial window of his career.

Meanwhile, Francis Ngannou—who left the UFC in January 2023 after his own contract expired without renewal—continues urging active roster fighters to demand sunset clauses in their deals. A sunset provision terminates the contract after a fixed calendar period regardless of fights remaining, giving the fighter optionality if the market shifts or sponsorship landscapes open. Ngannou has spent the past 22 months boxing under PFL's mixed-rules banner, earning a reported $10 million guarantee against Tyson Fury and another $10 million facing Anthony Joshua. His UFC contract, which he allowed to lapse, had no such clause. The promotion's standard agreement includes a champions clause extending the deal if the fighter holds a title, and a matching-rights window if they want to leave.

The Oliveira signing is the move the UFC prefers. Long-term deals with no disclosed sunset create cost certainty for the promotion and eliminate the risk of a ranked contender testing free agency during a hot stretch. For Oliveira, the trade is guaranteed paydays and main-event slots in exchange for giving up the option to renegotiate if, say, a Saudi-backed league enters the market or the PFL dramatically raises 155-pound purses. The UFC has over 600 fighters under contract; fewer than a handful have publicly confirmed sunset clauses, and those are typically champions with significant negotiating leverage. Ngannou's advice targets the 15 to 20 fighters per weight class who might have that leverage for a 6-to-12-month window but don't use it.

The tension is structural. UFC contracts are exclusive and tie fighters to the promotion for a set number of bouts, not years. A fighter who wins repeatedly stays longer; a fighter who loses works off the contract faster. The champions clause and matching rights further limit exit options. Ngannou's public campaign is an attempt to shift that default, turning contract negotiation into a repeated public conversation rather than a private one-off. He has posted about it on social media four times in the past 90 days, each time naming the sunset clause specifically. Whether it works depends on whether other marquee fighters adopt the language and whether the UFC decides the PR cost of resisting outweighs the financial benefit of keeping contracts open-ended.

Oliveira's next fight is unannounced but likely targets a June or July card, either a title eliminator against Charles Dariush or a showcase against a rising contender. His extension suggests the UFC views him as a reliable pay-per-view co-main through at least 2026. Ngannou, for his part, has a PFL Super Fights date expected in Q3 2025, opponent still unconfirmed. The broader question is whether any current top-five UFC fighter uses the Ngannou template in the next 12 months—and whether the promotion blinks.

The contract Oliveira signed this week will almost certainly be the last one he signs as an elite fighter. The one he didn't ask for was the optionality to sign another.