Why Did Francis Ngannou’s UFC Contract End? Heavyweight Explains Exit and PFL Move to Joe Rogan

The noted former UFC Heavyweight champ, Francis Ngannou, is known for his heavy strikes. But he opted to use his prowess in wrestling to defeat the former Interim UFC Heavyweight champ, Ciryl Gane at UFC 270. However, most fans didn’t have the slightest idea that this fight was going to be Ngannou’s final one in the UFC. Post this fight, ‘The Predator’ went on almost a year-long hiatus but never returned to the Octagon.

Recently, the Cameroonian also made his way into the UFC color commentator, Joe Rogan’s coveted podcast, and detailed the primary reasons behind his exit. Most fans might already know how Ngannou blamed the “dirty game” of the UFC that led to his exit. However, this time he went into a bit more detail, revealing the point where disagreements between him and the UFC started to crop up.

Francis Ngannou reveals the beginning of his disagreements with the UFC

A lot of ‘Joe Rogan Experience’ fans love the show due to Rogan’s inquisitive nature about things. In the latest ‘JRE’ episode, Rogan asked Ngannou, “So what was the holdup with the UFC? Like what led you to not sign?” A large chunk of fans might already know the primary reason behind Ngannou’s departure from the UFC.

However, here he chose to detail the point from where things started to get sour between him and the UFC. The Predator said, “There was a lot of frustration after my fight against Stipe, my first fight against Stipe. My relation with the UFC has never been the same.”

He further revealed that he wanted a change in his contract post his fight against Junior dos Santos on 29 June 2019. But the UFC CEO, Dana White, denied him since he had three more fights left in his current contract.

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Well, this might have been the first nail in the coffin of the Ngannou-UFC relations. Although Dana White wanted to negotiate another contract with Ngannou, he was too reluctant to oblige to Ngannou’s other demands except money. Records say that Ngannou stepped out of the company just after 3 more fights.

The PFL offered Ngannou a much better contract with his desired liberty

Ngannou’s exit from the UFC had a number of noted global MMA promotions vying to get him signed. However, it was the noted American promotion, PFL, that finally managed to secure his signature. Reportedly, PFL agreed to pay him a baseline salary of $2M per fight and also ensured that his opponents get a good baseline salary. They also made him the face of their project to promote themselves in Africa.

However, an exemption to go for boxing matches was a point that Ngannou eagerly wanted in his contract. Well, the PFL authorities also obliged to this wish of ‘The Predator’. As a part of this exemption, he is all set to face the famous current WBC Heavyweight champ, Tyson ‘The Gypsy King’ Fury in a boxing ring on 24 October this year.

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Who do you think will come out victorious? Also, do you support Ngannou’s reasons for departing from the UFC?