‘It’s not all about money’

Above all else, Francis Ngannou says he’s at peace.

Tuesday saw Ngannou speak for the first-time on his UFC departureHe said that the contract was signed in December, but it only came to light on Saturday.

“Overall, I’m good,” Ngannou said on “The MMA Hour.” “I have no stress. It makes me feel good. I’m very happy. I know that everything was done right. I don’t have any regrets. I wouldn’t do anything differently if I had to do it again. I would do it again. I’m very happy. I’m very satisfied. It is also a sport. This is business. Cameroon is my home. I’m with my family. It is this that really matters. I am happy with my life balance. I’m doing very good. Don’t you worry about me.”

While Ngannou isn’t worried about himself, a lot of others are in varied capacities. Since news broke Saturday of his split from the UFC, he’s received a flood of messages and calls, which Ngannou said he’s largely tabled for a later time.

For Ngannou, the mental release that came with a massively-spotlighted and highly unusual decision was due to his confidence he did the right thing for himself and others.

Negotiations were not complete without money. Ngannou stated he was offered somewhere in the same range As high as $8 million Brock Lesnar reportedly made for UFC 200. However, Ngannou was unable to meet a few other non-monetary requirements. That’s what really soured Ngannou.

“What I’ve learned is you don’t go to the table of negotiation expecting to have everything that you want. But at least you want your partner, the other side, to show your willingness or to at least try,” Ngannou said. “I asked for a lot of things, which doesn’t mean I was expecting all those things. I expected at most one or two of these items. I asked for the right of a sponsorship, which we’ve been reaped of. We can’t have sponsorship. I requested health insurance. (I) couldn’t have (it). I requested a fighter advocate. This is someone who will represent the fighters at the board meeting. That was what I requested. I couldn’t have those stuffs that I asked for. They just needed to know I have something I desire. They should also consider that. ”

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Talks stopped after the UFC stated that they wouldn’t entertain them. However, negotiations resumed beyond the point of Ngannou’s contract completion. Ngannou claimed that he did not mention his free agency status publicly in the interest of behind-the-scenes discussions. However, he continued to communicate with the promotion as recently as last Wednesday.

“In that contract, I’m not free,” Ngannou said. “In that contract, I’m not independent contractor. I do not have any right. I have no power. I surrender all my power to you. I’ve seen in the past how you can utilize your power on me and I don’t want that to happen again.”

In the end, the two sides couldn’t come to a deal, as White officially put a fork in short-term talks with his announcement Saturday that Ngannou was no longer on the roster and had been stripped of his UFC heavyweight title.

The following are some examples UFC Fight Night 217White announced Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gae for the heavyweight title. This confirmed an earlier, unintentional leak of the fight poster at T-Mobile Arena.

White attributed the split to Ngannou’s desire to fight lesser competition for more money, a notion Ngannou laughed at Tuesday and said the comments must have been out of frustration considering he angled for a new three-fight contract in the hopes of bouts vs. Jon Jones and one vs. Stipe Miocic.

“Saying things cannot hurt me,” Ngannou said. “From where I come from, I have hurt a lot more than that, yet I’m still here. He said what he meant. It’s his problem. What I know is that I’m here and I have a good future and I think what he was expressing was frustration because it doesn’t matter what he said. Regardless, he’s upset. He’s not happy about the situation. He watched his champion leave, something that probably never happened to him. Two years ago, bets were made on this. Like, ‘OK, you think you can leave the UFC? That’s never happened. Go ask Randy Couture.’ Then, I went and asked Randy Couture what happened and he explained to me. I’m like, ‘OK, this is a different situation.’”

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As for what’s next, Ngannou said plenty have promotions have reached out, particularly MMA ones. Ngannou predicts that he’ll fight in boxing by July. Who or for what promotion is he fighting? These are details that will be worked out later. For now, Ngannou will sit back and wait for the dust to settle – comfortably.

“The only thing that scares me is regret,” Ngannou said. “That’s the only thing that really scares me, things I’ll regret. To avoid regret, I make sure that I do everything I can to avoid it. I feel like I don’t regret (this).”

Story originally appeared on MMA Junkie

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