You would think winning the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight crown with a thunderous knockout of a legend should put you in the promotion’s favor, at least for the short term. But as Francis Ngannou puts it, it seems like that honeymoon didn’t last very long once negotiations for his return started.
Ngannou on politics of UFC 265 interim title fight
The tale of Ngannou (16-3) winning his title in March, finding out an interim title fight would happen in August at UFC 265 — despite being in negotiations for his first title defense a month later — is public record. However, the 34-year-old hasn’t said much about the booking of Ciryl Gane versus Derrick Lewis in Houston, Texas a few weeks ago. In a new interview with GQ, Ngannou gave his thoughts on this situation, and how the events are an example of the “not very nice” side of the combat sports business.
“Ugh! I think it was all business, and the UFC wanted to do a pay-per-view in Houston. It wasn’t the right timing for me, but they wanted to do it no matter what. Just before that, they were asking me if I was ready to fight in September and I told them I’d be more than ready. Then, suddenly, we just saw they had an interim title…I don’t know what truly happened. It’s all from the UFC’s end. They will be the only ones who know what happened,” said Ngannou.
“I am the heavyweight champ. And I want to be the UFC heavyweight champ. But in this game, as far as you go, you discover how political it is. The business side of it is not very nice — it’s not as easy as the sport itself. Before the [Stipe Miocic] fight, the only thing the UFC was talking about was how the winner of Stipe and I would face Jon Jones, and that never came along. And here we are: with an interim title and everything.”
Francis Ngannou on UFC disrespect since becoming champion
Despite being ready to compete in September, the heavyweight champion will now have to wait for the new interim champion in Ciryl Gane to decide when he will fight next. And after a busy few months and the birth of his second child, the Frenchman is likely in no rush to get right back into the Octagon.
The handling of Ngannou’s new title reign has been confusing at best for observers of the sport, and he among that group confused by recent decisions. Ngannou was asked if the situation has made him feel disresected, and the champion admitted it has. As well as adding that the change in relationship with him in the promotion occurred after he wanted to improve upon recent fight contracts in his first title defense deal.
“Yes. I have that feeling. Just recently they gave me the UFC heavyweight championship, and months later they’re talking about someone else being the champion. Sometimes I’m not even sure if I’m really the champ or not. It’s really confusing … There’s a lot going on behind the scenes, [but] people don’t see it and they have their own opinion,” Ngannou says.
“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.”
“The Predator” won the heavyweight championship on his second try in March at UFC 260. On that night, he handed two-time titleholder Miocic just the third knockout loss of his legendary 24 fight career. He is expected to defend his heavyweight championship against Gane at some point at the end of 2021, or in early 2022.
