Why Did Francis Ngannou Leave the UFC After Ciryl Gane Fight?

A number of UFC personalities and fans have often spoken out against the promotion’s pay structure. Most of them say that the promotion critically underpays a large section of its fighters, leaving them unable to meet their living expenses. But that’s not the only accusation that the UFC has against itself. The recent ‘Antitrust Lawsuit’ filed by a collection of about 1200 fighters, accuses them of plenty of other unfair practices as well.

Earlier this year, the reigning UFC Heavyweight king, Francis Ngannou, chose to quit the promotion despite being a reigning world champion. His UFC exit also hinted at the fact that the promotion was applying a number of other oppressive tactics to gain control over their fighters. Despite knowing a sizable portion of this entire saga, most fans might still be in doubt regarding several points. So let’s dive right in to know about what actually caused Francis Nagnnou’s departure from the UFC.

Reasons Behind Departure

After Ngannou’s exit from the promotion, White took to the post-UFC Vegas 67 press conference and revealed the UFC offered him an insane amount of money per fight. However, even this offer failed to keep Ngannou contracted to the promotion. But ‘The Predator’ broke the speculations himself when he appeared on the noted MMA coverage personality, Ariel Helwani’s podcast, ‘The MMA Hour’, in the month of January this year. He mentioned it was more than just about the money.

The UFC head honcho, Dana White, pointed out the fact that they promised to pay Ngannou more than even the famed former UFC Heavyweight king, and WWE icon, Brock Lesnar. But it was the UFC cutting down Ngannou’s “freedom” that had him opt out of the promotion.

The Cameroonian also appeared on the ‘LeBatardShow’ YouTube podcast and detailed his expectations from the UFC. But he also revealed a rather dark side about the UFC’s operations. Ngannou revealed the UFC’s “dirty game”, that they had tried to play to keep fighters from becoming free agents.

Hence, we might say that it was actually the “dirty games” of the promotion that caused ‘The Predator’s’ departure. Most fans are also aware of how the UFC started restricting fighters from having individual sponsors in the second quarter of 2015. A number of fighters like Vitor Belfort also spoke up against this new UFC ritual, stating it would cause him to lose out on millions of dollars per fight.

Read More – Who Has Ciryl Gane Lost to in the UFC?

Quite understandably, this rule applied to Ngannou as well. The 36-year-old shared Belfort’s point of view and saw this as a breach of his freedom. Ngannou clearly wanted this rule to be withdrawn. But after the UFC said “no” to his requests, it didn’t take Ngannou long to opt out of the promotion. Ciryl Gane may have lost to Francis Ngannou in their UFC 270 bout in 2022. But apart from this, he has no connection with the former UFC Heavyweight champ. He can never be a reason for Ngannou’s exit from the UFC.

Lack of Freedom in the UFC

Quite apparently, ‘The Predator’ sensed a severe lack of freedom for the UFC fighters. In most other promotions, fighters are allowed to display their own sponsors through which they earn quite healthy amounts.

In his January 2023 appearance on ‘The MMA hour’, it became pretty clear that the fighters had almost nothing that they controlled in the UFC. He said, “I have no power. I hand all the power over to you guys [the UFC] and I don’t want that to happen”. It’s understandable that Ngannou wanted to make the sponsor-related and similar decisions himself.

Another point is the alleged “dirty games” that the UFC plays in order to retain their fighters. Ngannou didn’t want to endure those dirty games forever and hence opted out of the UFC to lead his career as per his own wish.

Negotiation Requests

As most fans and fighters might know, a negotiation with Dana White is a quite stressful event. But Ngannou held up his points in the negotiation. He also revealed the same in his ‘The MMA hour’ appearance. ‘The Predator’ revealed he wanted the UFC to add health insurance benefits and lift the restrictions over fighters having individual sponsors along with a hike in his per-fight payout.

READ MORE – After Francis Ngannou’s PFL Deal, Dana White Goes Ballistic on the Ex-UFC Champ for Ducking Jon Jones – “Wants to Take Zero Risks”

But, even after agreeing to pay him a lot more than his previous fights, the UFC authorities turned a cold shoulder to Ngannou’s health insurance and sponsorship-related demands. He revealed, “I wanted them [the UFC] to put these things in consideration, they said no”. This disagreement between Ngannou and the UFC became the final nail in the coffin of their contract.

Dana White’s Perspective

Dana White revealed his entire take on the issue in his appearance at the post-UFC Vegas 67 press conference. A number of fans might be well aware of White’s nature of trying to twist narratives to his favor. He did the same as he apparently tried to blame Ngannou’s ambitions for his UFC exit. White mentioned, “Francis doesn’t want to take a lot of risk”, implying that he didn’t want to fight Jon Jones.

Moreover, White said that ‘The Predator’ was currently looking to fight “lesser opponents and make more money”. Well, this statement from the UFC boss is actually partially true, since Ngannou was looking for a pay raise. But the UFC agreed to Ngannou’s monetary demands and reportedly offered him a payout deal that was more than even the $8M that the noted WWE icon and former UFC Heavyweight champ, Brock Lesnar used to receive.

Ngannou’s Response to Dana White

Well, looking at the stature of Francis Ngannou, most may say that his UFC exit won’t make much of a difference to him. He took to his own YouTube channel and announced, “I wanna start do some boxing first before stepping into MMA”.

He also named his targeted opponents for a boxing match, stating, “If I get the opportunity to fight all those tough guys in boxing, I would take it”. As ‘BBC’ reported, the “tough guys” mentioned by the Cameroonian were his preferred opponents, the noted current WBC Heavyweight champ, Tyson Fury, and the well-known boxer, Anthony Joshua.

Career Trajectory

Ngannou also said, “I’m looking to fight in boxing first. Maybe my second fight will be MMA, but most likely, I want to fight boxing first”, in an interview with MMA Junkie. Hence, it’s quite apparent that Ngannou might be stepping into the boxing ring to face one of his preferred opponents, Fury or Joshua. As per ‘BBC’s’ report, Ngannou’s next fight would be in July. He was also hopeful that it would be a boxing match.

But even though Ngannou’s estimated month of July has already passed, a number of fight fans may be currently excited about ‘The Predator’ training with the noted boxing legend, Mike Tyson.

Several sources also revealed that he will step into the boxing ring for the first time in his life for a bout against one of his preferred opponents, Tyson Fury. The 28th of October will be the day when the fans will get to see Ngannou inside the boxing ring.

Are you also looking forward to ‘The Predator’s’ entry into boxing? Do you think he will regret his decision to end his UFC tenure at some point?

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