Francis Ngannou Has Officially Entered Free Agency And Is No Longer The UFC Heavyweight Champion
This weekend, Jon Jones' UFC return was announced against Cyril Gane for the UFC Heavyweight Championship of the World - and with that, meant Francis Ngannou was officially stripped of his UFC gold as he enters free agency.
It seemed like Francis had been going back and forth on the idea of free agency for a while, and considering he's one of the most outspoken members of the roster when it comes to advocating for higher fighter pay (and doesn't seem to have the BEST relationship with Dana White) it always seemed like a real possibility, but I gotta be honest - I'm shocked the day has finally come where he's just gone. See ya. Poof. Like it never happened.
Dana talked about it in his presser on Saturday, and essentially said that they've been butting heads over this deal for two full years, and that Francis was offered the biggest contract a heavyweight has ever been offered in UFC history, but at the end of the day - he doesn't think Francis wants to "take a lot of risk" right now....
MMAFighting- “We offered Francis a deal that would have made him the highest paid heavyweight in the history of the company,” White said. “More than [Brock] Lesnar, more than anybody, and he turned the deal down. We get to this point where I’ve told you guys before, if you don’t want to be here, you don’t have to be here."
“I think Francis is in a place right now where he doesn’t want to take a lot of risk. [He] feels he’s in a good position where he could fight lesser opponents and make more money. So we’re going to let him do that."
“We’re going to release him from his contract, we’re going to give up our right to match, and he can go wherever he wants and do whatever he wants. That’s where we’re at.”
White said the UFC had been in talks with Ngannou on a new deal for the better part of the last two years but the two sides could never find a middle ground on contract terms.
I gotta be honest: I don't believe that Francis is "afraid of the risk" for a MILLISECOND. I mean COME ON! This guy?!
Josh Hedges. Getty Images.Afraid of anything?! Francis Ngannou, one of the scariest men to ever walk this planet, and a man who has never been finished in the cage in his life - afraid of competing at this level? COME ON MAN! That's like saying Dustin Johnson went to LIV because he's afraid to compete at the PGA level.
Francis is literally coming off one of the most impressive wins of his career against Cyril Gane - who many were calling a stylistic nightmare for him going into this fight - and outta nowhere, Ngannou revealed an entirely new wrinkle to his game: WRESTLING, something that was previously a weakness for him. He grapplefucked Gane with a bad knee and proved all doubters wrong, went and got surgery, and then the free agency rumors really started kicking in.
I'm not in the room for these talks, where Francis/his management are apparently demanding SO much that the UFC can't justify signing their most electric heavyweight since Lesnar, and I've got no idea what the financials look like, but as a fan (and more importantly, a Jon Jones hater) I'm just heartbroken that we won't get to see Jones/Ngannou now.
That was a legit SUPERFIGHT at heavyweight - the biggest I could ever imagine in that division for the UFC - and what I thought was our best chance to see Jon Jones get knocked out.
Everyone wanted to see it, Jones/Ngannou wanted to make it happen…but apparently they wanted too much money. How much is too much? I'm not sure we'll ever know! Maybe it was a ridiculous Doctor Evil like number, maybe it wasn't - it just sucks they couldn't work something out.
So now Ngannou will chase the bag in boxing….
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….or maybe the PFL….
….or hell, maybe even both - if Jake Paul could box and fight in the PFL at the same time, why couldn't Francis Ngannou?
I think Bare Knuckle threw in an offer too, and said they're VERY serious, but let's be honest - that's not happening.
Thanks for the memories, Francis Ngannou. Hell of a UFC run.