Francis Ngannou Released by the UFC
The UFC has officially cut ties with Francis Ngannou. Dana White announced at the UFC Vegas 67 post-fight press conference that Ngannou has been released from the UFC and the organization will forego its right to match any contract that he agrees to. Ngannou is officially a free agent.
The news came alongside the UFC’s announcement of Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane for vacant heavyweight title at UFC 285.
In fight negotiations, according to White, the UFC offered Ngannou a historic deal, but he opted to decline the contract.
“You know, we have been working on a new agreement with Francis (Ngannou) for like two years now,” White said. “We had gotten to a point where he was going to fight Jon Jones; and many believe, including me, that he’s the best of all-time, for the heavyweight championship. Jon Jones has been willing, ready, and able to fight anybody; he didn’t care who it was. Could have been anyone in the heavyweight division; he was ready to go. We offered Francis a deal that would have made him the highest paid heavyweight in the history of the company- more than (Brock) Lesnar, more than anybody- and he turned the deal down.
Quote via UFC Vegas 67 post-fight press conference
White made sure to get his jabs in on Ngannou as he kicked him out the door. The UFC president claimed the Ngannou does not want to fight UFC-caliber opponents. Instead, he wants lesser competition while still making money. In addition, the UFC is no longer going to obstruct in his quest for that.
“I’ve told you guys this before, if you don’t want to be hear, you don’t have to be here. I think Francis (Ngannou) is in a place right now where he doesn’t want to take a lot of risk. He feels like he is in a good position where he could fight lesser opponents and make more money. We are going to let him do that. We are going to release him from his contract, give up our right to match, and he can go wherever he wants and do whatever he wants.”
Quote via UFC Vegas 67 post-fight press conference
I guess Ngannou has been watching Chael Sonnen YouTube videos lately. As the “American Gangster” says, “You always fight the easiest guy for the most amount of money.” If White is correct, Ngannou is living by that motto.
Ngannou’s knee issue have not helped his contract negotiations either though. At this point, his injury put the UFC heavyweight division on ice for over a year. An outcome the UFC was not content with.
“The guy was just weighing over 300 pounds, he just had knee surgery, hasn’t really had a real training camp, and I think that probably has a lot to do with it as far as Francis (Ngannou) is concerned,” White said. “He doesn’t know what is going to happen with his knee; he’s not getting younger. I don’t even think he would have been ready for March. We can’t continue to hold up the division and not come to an agreement with this guy. We did everything we could to try and make this fight happen and try to give him the fight, but he’s got it in his head that there are bigger opportunities outside the UFC with lesser opponents.”
Quote via UFC Vegas 67 post-fight press conference
This outcome should not be a surprise to anyone. The writing was graffitied all over the walls in big bold letters.
Seeing Ngannou walk away from the UFC is a tough pill to swallow. Ngannou had the potential to be the greatest fighter in the organizations history. Stipe Miocic currently holds the record for UFC heavyweight title defenses at four. With a win over Miocic and a title defense against Gane, Ngannou already had a start in breaking that record. Plus, he was given the chance to the first fighter to rightfully beat Jones. Ngannou walked away from the chance to cement himself as an all time great fighter.
Ngannou had a lot of guts to decline a historic UFC contract. I hope his decision pays off with a massive contract outside of the UFC. The future for Ngannou will only get more interesting from here. Can he make the UFC regret its decision?
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