Go ask Randy Couture.’ Then, I went and asked Randy Couture what happened and he explained to me. Like, ‘OK, you think you can leave the UFC? That’s never happened. As a matter of fact, two years ago, there were betting on that. He saw his champion go away, which is probably something that never happened to him. What I know is that I’m here and I have a good future and I think what he was expressing was frustration because it doesn’t matter what he said. “From where I come from, I have hurt a lot more than that, yet I’m still here. “Saying things cannot hurt me,” Ngannou said. White attributed the split to Ngannou’s desire to fight lesser competition for more money, a notion Ngannou laughed at Tuesday and said the comments must have been out of frustration considering he angled for a new three-fight contract in the hopes of bouts vs. Ciryl Gane for the heavyweight championship, which confirmed an accidental premature leak of the fight poster on the side of T-Mobile Arena earlier that day. In the end, the two sides couldn’t come to a deal, as White officially put a fork in short-term talks with his announcement Saturday that Ngannou was no longer on the roster and had been stripped of his UFC heavyweight title.įollowing UFC Fight Night 217, White announced news of Jon Jones vs. I’ve seen in the past how you can utilize your power on me and I don’t want that to happen again.” “In that contract, I’m not independent contractor. “In that contract, I’m not free,” Ngannou said.
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Out of respect for behind-the-scenes conversations, Ngannou said he did not publicly mention his free agency status as he continued to speak with the promotion, even as recently as last week. Video: Is Ciryl Gane the worst matchup for Jon Jones in UFC 285 return fight?Īfter the UFC made it clear they would not entertain the requests, talks stopped but then resumed past the point of his contract completion. I also wanted them to think (about) that, at least in consideration. I just wanted (them) to know that there is something that I do want. I couldn’t have those stuffs that I asked for. I asked for a fighter advocate, somebody in the board meeting who will advocate for the fighters. I asked for the right of a sponsorship, which we’ve been ripped of. I was expecting at least one or two of those things. “I asked for a lot of things, which doesn’t mean I was expecting all those things. But at least you want your partner, the other side, to show your willingness or to at least try,” Ngannou said.
“What I’ve learned is you don’t go to the table of negotiation expecting to have everything that you want.
However, a short list of non-monetary demands were not met in any capacity. Ngannou said he was offered somewhere in the same range as the $8 million Brock Lesnar reportedly made for UFC 200. Since news broke Saturday of his split from the UFC, he’s received a flood of messages and calls, which Ngannou said he’s largely tabled for a later time.įor Ngannou, the mental release that came with a massively-spotlighted and highly unusual decision was due to his confidence he did the right thing for himself and others. While Ngannou isn’t worried about himself, a lot of others are in varied capacities. At the end of the day, this is what matters. I wouldn’t do anything differently if I had to do it again. “Overall, I’m good,” Ngannou said on “ The MMA Hour.” “I have no stress. Tuesday, Ngannou spoke for the first time on his UFC departure, which he said contractually occurred in December but just came to light Saturday. Above all else, Francis Ngannou says he’s at peace.
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