‘”I just want to be free,” Francis Ngannou explaining the actual reason for UFC dispute goes viral
Francis Ngannou's old clip from an Ariel Helwani interview has gone viral following the departure of the UFC heavyweight champion.
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Francis Ngannou
Francis Ngannou explained in an interview with Ariel Helwani what might have happened behind the scenes that led him to not be in the contract anymore with UFC. The pay structure is not the only thing that seemed to have bothered the heavyweight champion. Ngannou explained in detail what about the current contract upset him.
Francis Ngannou wanted “freedom” from the UFC contract, that is, he wanted to fight MMA for the UFC and be able to box. “You can be free and fight for the UFC…I just want to be free”, said Ngannou. Ngannou felt he was being restricted and not enough freedom for his choice of fights was given to him.
“We are technically ‘independent contractor’…independent contractor technically is a free person”, Ngannou told Ariel Helwani. Helwani mentions how the contract was restricted and he can’t exactly do something else other than fight for UFC. This is why Francis wanted changes to be made to the contract.
The narrative of Francis getting scared to fight Jon Jones and leaving UFC has made the rounds, but this viral clip of his interview throws light on lots of issues in the UFC. Fight fans can just hope that Ngannou does well wherever he decides to go next.
THE TRUTH:
— No Context Ariel Helwani (@NoContextAriel) January 15, 2023
The REAL REASON why Francis Ngannou left the UFC
Respect ?@arielhelwani / @francis_ngannou pic.twitter.com/MXxF6JBFMp
Related: World’s Scariest Free Agent! Francis Ngannou publicly wanted by Bellator MMA and PFL
Fans reacting to Francis Ngannou not getting what he wanted
Fans took to Twitter to react to the viral interview clip where Ngannou clearly said he wanted “Freedom”, which he clearly wasn’t getting with UFC’s current contract. Ngannou explaining the whole situation helped clear the rumors that he wasn’t under contract with UFC because he had to fight Jon Jones.
One fight with Jake Paul could net $10 million
— XRP_Dame (@XRP_Dame) January 16, 2023
Independent contractor=Wear Venum, Wear the rocks shoes, automatic enrollment to 24/7 drug testing, no sponsors, etc. That’s an employee.
— Blank Face (@gran35394599) January 15, 2023
they pay you well enough to buy your own insurance. just like a lot of us do.
— Ron Bendig ?? (@BendigRon) January 16, 2023
they lost a good one, this might be the start of fighters not taking the ufc’s shit anymore. not good for ufc
— sonny (@ringthebell1900) January 16, 2023
Unfortunately, it’s here today, gone tomorrow in this game. It’s just perceived as he didn’t want to fight Jon.
— db44 (@dbetcher44) January 16, 2023
Jon wins at HW and he’s cemented as the goat and Francis ends up in no man’s land with no contract.
Hope Francis gets paid to box, or a random one off MMA fight
Fans seem to finally understand why Francis didn’t want to continue with UFC and the reason was not him not wanting to fight Jon Jones. People seem to think that with this coming out in the open, there is going to be a revolution among the UFC fighters against Dana White and UFC.
With this, fans are just hoping that Ngannou gets what he wanted and isn’t restricted anymore like he was at UFC and can become the champion again in some other organization. But fans have to wait until the organization he wants to sign for gets announced.
In case you missed it:
- WATCH: Dan Ige starches Damon Jackson with a walk-off knockout at UFC Vegas 67
- “Dana’s Highest Offer was $500 in Costco cards” – Fans go berserk as UFC boss announces shocking departure of Francis Ngannou
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Prateek Athanur
(2955 Articles Published)