Ngannou reveals he has already lost out on over £5MILLION from the UFC

Francis Ngannou reveals he has already lost out on over £5MILLION from the UFC amid tense contract negotiations as heavyweight champion insists ‘freedom doesn’t work with money’

  • Francis Ngannou says he has already lost $7m (£5m) amid failed UFC talks 
  • Ngannou, 35, completed his last fight with the UFC after his win over Ciryl Gane 
  • The Cameroonian has been locked in negotiations with the UFC over a new deal
  • However, the UFC will not give him the freedom to take on boxing matches 

Francis Ngannou has revealed he is thus far down $7million (£5.19m) after rejecting lucrative contract offers from the UFC, insisting that he prefers ‘freedom over money’ amid tense negotiations. 

Ngannou, 35, defended his heavyweight title after a gritty unanimous decision win over Ciryl Gane at UFC 270, in which he nursed a knee injury through five rounds of action in California.

The Cameroon’s victory was his final Octagon appearance under his UFC contract and he is yet to strike terms with the MMA organisation over a fresh deal.

Francis Ngannou estimates that he has already lost $7m in earning after rejecting lucrative offers from the UFC

Ngannou is desperate to fulfil his longstanding boxing ambitions but the UFC are so far unwilling to bend to his demands and the Predator has claimed that the terms laid out to fighters put them ‘in captivity’. 

‘You can be free and fight for the UFC,’ Ngannou told The MMA Hour. ‘I just want to be free. We are supposedly independent contractors. [An] independent contractor is technically a free person. That’s the reason why they need some adjustments in that contract. That’s what I’ve been fighting for.

‘The term of the contract, everything that they put into, they hold you in captivity,’ Ngannou said. ‘You can’t do anything. You have no rights. The contract is one-sided, although you still don’t have nothing. You don’t even have health insurance, even while you’re putting your body on the line to provide to put on the show.

‘You’re risking everything. There’s a lot of things. We have no insurance. Nothing. No guarantee, which I understand as an independent contractor, but treat me as such, if I am. Whether I’m going to be an employee or an independent contractor, make it very clear in the contract. It’s very mixed up. 

The Cameroonian completed his final contracted bout with the UFC at UFC 270 on Saturday

Ngannou has been locked in talks with the UFC over a new deal but talks have failed

‘That’s probably the thing that I hated most about this, how they hold all the cards, the power to just destroy you,’ Ngannou added later. ‘As soon as you don’t say yes, they just take you down.

‘There’s something wrong with me with those kind of things, that I just can’t take it.’

Ngannou also revealed that the UFC tried on several occasions to agree a deal before his fight with Gane, but believed that their offers were ‘not a good deal’ for him.

He says, in total, he has already missed out on around $7m (£5.19m) as a result of rejecting deals from the UFC. 

Ngannou says that UFC deals put fighters ‘in captivity’ and he prefers ‘freedom over money’

‘[They offered] More money, but it didn’t carry any of the things that I have [asked for] … not really, not at all. The money was tempting, it was good, but this is not just about money. By this point, I think it’s a lot more than just money. At this moment, it’s more than money. Just money cannot fix this situation. I don’t believe that.

‘Even when they’re trying to reach out for a deal, they came out with a good amount of money, but at this point that doesn’t even matter,’ Ngannou added. ‘I left all that down on the table. I’m taking my $600,000, I’m going there, I’m doing this and I’m winning everything.

‘I left a lot more on the table. Overall, I’ve been leaving a lot of money on the table even since the Stipe fight. By now, I might be down $7 million that I left on the table, but I’m still happy with my $600,000, because I still fight for what I care for. This is the thing. Freedom doesn’t work with money. You give up one for one. Whether you want freedom, whether you want money. You give up one to gain one.’

He is adamant that he will finish his career on his terms and won’t compromise his ‘principle’

Ngannou stressed that he will finish his career on his terms and will not compromise his ‘principle’ to appease others.

‘It’s going to be on my way. I’m going to make the call on how it ends. It won’t end on somebody’s rules. It will end on my rules. 

‘If this is the end, I am happy. From where I came from, I have done a lot. Some people might not see that, but I have done it and I am very happy about that. I’m proud of myself. That might be my ego, but I’m proud of myself, what I have achieved. But I don’t want all this to take what I have, to change me, to change my principle.’ 




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