Francis Ngannou has made peace with the next step in his career, whether that’s in the UFC or elsewhere.
In other words, the UFC heavyweight champion won’t bend on his demands should he sign a new UFC contract. As he said Monday on The MMA Hour, he estimates he’s already left a lot of money on the table to get to this point.
” You can fight for the UFC and be free,” Ngannou stated. “I just want to be free. We are supposedly independent contractors. [An] independent contractor is technically a free person. That’s the reason why they need some adjustments in that contract. That’s what I’ve been fighting for.”
The exact shape of Ngannou’s freedom remains somewhat of an open question, and one that is unprecedented in the promotion’s history. The 35-year-old Cameroon native is still the heavyweight champion after a gutsy decision win over Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 and believes he has fulfilled his contract to the UFC. He is willing to sign another one, but only if the promotion makes concessions on some of its longstanding business practices (even as the promotion appears to have made them less restrictive amid a long-running anti-trust case with former UFC fighters).
” The contract’s term, all they have put in, they take you into captivity,” Ngannou stated. “You can’t do anything. There are no rights. Although the contract is unilateral, you don’t still have any rights. You don’t even have health insurance, even while you’re putting your body on the line to provide to put on the show.
” You’re taking a risk. There’s a lot of things. We have no insurance. Nothing. There is no guarantee. I do not understand this as an independent contractor. However, treat me accordingly if you are. Whether I’m going to be an employee or an independent contractor, make it very clear in the contract. It’s very mixed up.”
“That’s probably the thing that I hated most about this, how they hold all the cards, the power to just destroy you,” Ngannou added later. “As soon as you don’t say yes, they just take you down.
“There’s something wrong with me with those kind of things, that I just can’t take it.”
Ngannou said the UFC on several occasions tried to sign him to a new contract as the title unifier with Gane approached. (It’s unclear whether those negotiations took place after his manager, Marquel Martin, said the UFC had gone silent for six months after a contentious meeting.) A chance meeting between Ngannou and UFC President Dana White at a restaurant in Las Vegas was “a good talk, personal-wise,” but avoided the business at hand.
When asked what he thought of the new deals, the champ replied, “Not a good deal to me.”
“Lots more money but didn’t have any of my [asked for] items… Not really. Although the money may have been tempting and it did indeed taste good, this isn’t just about money. By this point, I think it’s a lot more than just money. It’s not just money at the moment. Just money cannot fix this situation. I do not believe .”
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At that point, he said, he had reached the end of his patience and focused instead on the challenge at hand, which turned out to be one of the most difficult ones he had ever endured.
Three weeks prior to the event, a sparring session with a less-experienced training partner resulted in a bad knee injury. Los Angeles doctors confirmed that he had suffered a serious injury to his knee and advised him to avoid going forward. He was unsure at one time if he would ever fight. But given what was on the table already, he decided that no matter what happened to him physically, he would accept the outcome.
In addition to the physical threat, there were other external forces that added to the pressure he experienced. On the day of the fight, he said Martin was threatened with a lawsuit for an alleged conversation with Jake Paul’s manager (and ex-UFC executive) Nakisa Bidarian. (Bidarian and Martin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.) Then, an unknown number with a 702 area code — serving the Las Vegas area — texted a racist message to Martin. (MMA Fighting was unable to immediately verify the authenticity of the text. )
“Honestly, it was a lot,” Ngannou said. Although I felt pressured, Ngannou said that it was not unusual for people to go through many things, and overcome them. That’s why me being a fighter, not only in the octagon but in life, people go through a lot of drama in their own life. But that’s still not a good excuse to give up. I think the only moment that you lose is the moment that you give up. But if you keep fighting — that’s not losing, regardless of the outcome.”
“Even though they tried to make a deal with us, we came away with some money. But that is not the point,” Ngannou said. “I left all that down on the table. I’m taking my $600,000, I’m going there, I’m doing this and I’m winning everything.
“I left a lot more on the table. Overall, I’ve been leaving a lot of money on the table even since the Stipe fight. By now, I might be down $7 million that I left on the table, but I’m still happy with my $600,000, because I still fight for what I care for. This is the thing. Freedom doesn’t work with money. One for one. You can have freedom or money. You give up one to gain one.”
Despite the storm around him, Ngannou said he felt an unusual calm. Questions about his relationship with Fernand Lopez, his former coach and Gane’s current one, and his contract situation didn’t rattle him. French journalists harassed him with incessant questions. He didn’t seem surprised at all.
On fight night, Ngannou said he could hear his corners better than ever, and the messages relayed did exactly what they were supposed to do.
After the announcement of the winner, Ngannou looked behind him and saw UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard. Even the absence of White — both in the octagon and at the press conference — didn’t rattle him.
“Bro, I don’t care about that — what’s the difference?” he said. I made my point. It could not have brought the belt. I’d be okay with that. I’m not here to go after another thing, this happened, that happened. I’m happy. This is all .”
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Ngannou was unhappy with his UFC tenure, with inactivity for long periods and inability chase his dreams of boxing professionally. On several occasions, the feeling appeared mutual, with White criticizing the champion for having an oversized “ego” and difficulty behind the scenes.
After all he’d been through, it would be understandable if Ngannou simply wanted to move on. But asked directly about his desire to fight for the UFC, he put the question to his promoter.
“Good question,” he said. “Do the UFC still want me to fight there? You should ask them. You should ask them. If they make things right, yes [I will fight for them]. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get what I want. Even before the fight, I knew I had the potential to lose this fight. After reviewing everything, I decided that if this was it and if it is the end of my career, then so be it.
“It’s going to be on my way. It’s up to me to decide how it ends. The rules of the game will not dictate how it ends. It will end on my rules. This is my end. Since my origins, I’ve accomplished a lot. While some people may not be able to see it, I can attest that I did it. I’m very proud of that accomplishment. It’s something I am proud of. That might be my ego, but I’m proud of myself, what I have achieved. However, I do not want this to make me less of who I am .”
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Ngannou believes in his heart he will get the opportunity to box heavyweight champ Tyson Fury when all is said and done. He is confident that even if UFC decides not to sign him, or it simply takes him out of the fight, he will be free.
“No, I’m not worried about [the UFC taking away the title], because at the end of the day, it’s just a belt,” he said. “As soon as they take the belt away, I’m a free agent. The belt won’t make you a champion. It doesn’t matter what it is, I am still a champion. We’ll be honest about this. Nothing will change my status about being a champion.”
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