Francis Ngannou says there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to his UFC contract.
Ngannou is the reigning UFC Heavyweight Champion. With that said, “The Predator” has said he wonders if the UFC is treating him as if he is their titleholder. Ngannou and the UFC brass haven’t been seeing eye-to-eye as of late.
Ciryl Gane recently captured the interim UFC Heavyweight Title at UFC 265. He thrashed Derrick Lewis on his way to a third-round TKO victory. He now finds himself in prime position to meet Ngannou in a title unification bout.
Ngannou made it clear that he wasn’t a fan of the interim title bout and questioned why he didn’t get his interim title opportunity when Stipe Miocic was inactive. He has also grilled the UFC over fighter pay.
In an interview with GQ Magazine, Ngannou said that he has some things to address before he signs on to fight Gane.
“There’s a lot going on behind the scenes, [but] people don’t see it and they have their own opinion. Before my last fight, the UFC wanted me to sign some contract and that contract wasn’t right. I didn’t sign that contract and I feel like they weren’t happy about that. I signed a contract before, and it didn’t play out very well on my end.
“So, in order to sign another contract I think it’s my right to at least look out for myself and get what is right for me to fix whatever was the mistake in the previous one. And if someone doesn’t believe they should fix their mistake then that means that person is not looking for anything good for you.”
Time will tell when Ngannou and the UFC will be able to sort out their differences. The good news for Gane is that he already planned to take a vacation before stepping back inside the Octagon. He even suggested that we could be waiting until as late as February 2022 for the title unification showdown.
Do you think Francis Ngannou and the UFC will settle their differences soon?