Francis
Ngannou has provided some clarity as to what he wants from the
Ultimate Fighting Championship regarding contract negotiations.
Advertisement
“The Tyson Fury
fight has to be part of the discussion,” Ngannou said during on
appearance on “The MMA Hour” on Monday. “That’s not an option. It has to be
part of the discussion, because if that’s not part of the
discussion now, it will never be. If I sign another contract now,
and basically the same model of a contract, I’m screwed. It’s not
happening ever. So we have to figure out a way to implement this
into a contract.”
Ngannou was in attendance for Fury’s farewell fight against
Dillian
Whyte and joined the heavyweight champion in the ring after his
sixth-round knockout victory. Fury, who officially retired from
professional boxing, later said Ngannou
is on the “hit list” for some type of exhibition bout, with the
rule set still to be determined.
Ngannou expressed displeasure with his UFC contract following a
successful title defense against Ciryl Gane
at UFC 270 on Jan. 22. “The Predator” said on Monday there are no
personal issues with promotion officials, and in an ideal world, he
hopes to come to terms with the UFC to continue defending his
heavyweight crown. He revealed he recently met with promotion
brass, including Dana White, over dinner to “clear the air.”
“I think the UFC is a great promotion and I want to keep fighting,”
Ngannou said. “Tyson Fury
is not my last fight. I want to keep fighting after Tyson Fury.
There’s still a lot of fights out there. There’s Jon Jones,
there’s a trilogy with Stipe [Miocic], there’s big fight I can do
in the UFC, so I would really like that to happen. I would really
like also to get to a common point. Yes, I can do Tyson Fury
on my own, but what next? I would like to keep fighting. I would
like for us to come to an agreement, but for that they have to have
a good understanding of the situation.”
The UFC is generally not very flexible when it comes to allowing
its fighters to compete outside of the organization or in putting
together cross-promotional ventures. The lone exception was when it
allowed Conor
McGregor to box Floyd
Mayweather in 2017, but McGregor was the UFC’s biggest star by
far and it doesn’t seem likely that Ngannou has that kind of
leverage.
In another scenario, Ngannou would wait for his UFC contract to
expire, and then there would be no obstacles preventing him from
setting up a showdown with Fury. For now, Ngannou is on the mend
from knee surgery and isn’t expected to be available in any
capacity until early 2023.
“My contract situation is not a roadblock because either way, my
contract situation will not stop me from fighting,” Ngannou said.
“So I think it’s pretty easy. Tyson Fury’s
contract situation as well is coming up soon, therefore, there’s
nothing that can hold us from doing it.”