Francis Ngannou has had no problem exposing what he feels are “dirty games” the UFC plays with its fighters. After an appearance on the Dan LeBatard Show, Ngannou gave us a clearer image of his UFC situation before becoming a champion.
“What I was asking at first was if I can have a fight because I had an 8-fight contract and I wanna fulfill that contract. But they wouldn’t allow me since I wasn’t going to sign another contract. They knew if I fulfilled that contract I’m automatically free”
When talking about that 8-fight contract, Ngannou revealed he was only making 100-120K to fight the other top heavyweights he faced before becoming champion. While this may seem normal for most fighters, Ngannou had headlined most of the cards he fought on and was the #1 contender for years while awaiting the Stipe-DC trilogy.
Dirty Games From the UFC
“They used some kind of dirty game there, freeze me out. They know how much I was getting to fight, which wasn’t much at all, just a few pennies. I couldn’t make a living off of it and I would have to come back and accept the contract.”
The UFC knew Ngannou’s situation too well and took advantage because of this. They spread rumors in the media about Ngannou asking for more money when all he wanted was to fight out his contract and become a free agent.
“My contract was exclusive so I didn’t have any other revenue. They were holding me captive into that and now they’re trying to act like I wanted more money. I didn’t want more money. If it was about more money I would’ve signed the contract because they started offering more as it got to the end.”
Ngannou proceeded to fire back by calling out Dana White for not offering him the 3 fights a year that White says is “required” by the UFC. Francis said there had been periods of 5-6 months where he was asking for a fight, but wasn’t offered anything.
“Just give me the fight so I can fulfill my contract and be free. Therefore I can renegotiate as a free man, I can’t belong here and negotiate, I’m not negotiating, you’re just telling me what I’ll get.”
Francis Ngannou Speaks Up
It seems as if the UFC put Ngannou on ice and tried to force him into renewing his contract, fully knowing his intentions to test free agency. Despite these dirty games by the UFC, Ngannou decided that speaking up was necessary after they tried smearing his image.
“I started to see how they promoted the interim title, saying I didn’t want to fight, that was probably the first time I thought about speaking up.”
Quotes via BJ Penn
In speaking up, Francis was able to call more attention to fighter pay than there had ever been before.
Francis Ngannou was able to become champion and defend his title, becoming a free agent a year later. After a 4 month process, Ngannou recently signed a deal with the PFL that changed the landscape of MMA contracts. This contract has garnered attention from big names in MMA, including the UFC President who has continued to smear Ngannou’s name. Regardless, Ngannou has been able to acquire everything he wanted and seemingly more in this deal that will hopefully help the fighters for years to come.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
