‘The only thing I’m scared of is to be trapped’
No cost agent Francis Ngannou UFC president was given a response Dana White’s recent press conference comments addressing his exit from the promotion.
Ngannou (the former champion of the UFC heavyweight division) could not agree to a new deal with the promotion. He was released in full. The promotion was announced the vacant title will be up for grabs at UFC 285 Jon Jones will be taking on Ciryl Gane in March.
After the promotion’s first event of the year, White took questions from the media about Ngannou’s release, which were later met with heavy criticism. Now, Ngannou himself has offered his replies to White’s comments about why the negotiations fell apart.
He was offered a fight against Jon Jones and he refuted the idea that he was afraid to fight or would rather fight less competition to make more money.
“They have also said that I’m scared of fighting Jon Jones or somebody else, which I don’t know where they came from with that one,” Ngannou stated in a video posted to his YouTube channel. “That sounds very ridiculous, in my opinion, with all due respect. Because I’ve been calling for this fight for over two years. I’ve been waiting for this fight forever.
“And I’ve been fighting guys even with one knee, with injury. Now, I’m afraid of them. Yet, I feel more confident. No, I’m not scared. The only thing that I’m scared of is to be trapped. I don’t want to lose my freedom which is something I cherish very much. As you guys all know, the UFC contract is restrictive. As an independent contractor, you don’t really have a say in that contract. You don’t even have a right, so, I can’t do that.”
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White has stated many times in the past, and in Ngannou’s situation, that fighters “don’t have to be here” when there are hiccups in negotiations for a fight or a new contract deal. Ngannou laughed at this notion, explaining that fighters under UFC contracts are restricted in their ability to manage their careers.
Ngannou made it very clear that he knows the reasons for the breakdown between the two sides. about more than money.
“I signed my last contract in December 2017,” Ngannou said. “Even at the time, I knew it wasn’t a good contract. But I knew I had the responsibility to make my position a champion, to have more value and to negotiate a better contract for me. I need to add more value to myself, and that’s what I’ve been doing in the past five years, which is OK. That contract was never something I complained about, regardless of what. The only thing I wanted was the right for me to terminate the contract and start over with the next. That is the least I believe. I mean, that’s called freedom, to be able to terminate a contract and start another one. If the new one doesn’t suit your condition, you’re also free not to sign without it going into a bad blood. That’s how I feel about it.
“It’s just unfortunate that we didn’t come to a term. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t reach a term. As an independent contractor, I have to look up to myself, and do what’s right for me, and everyone out there should do the same for themself.”
Ngannou knows the importance of his next step in his professional career. We will see if Ngannou makes the move to the boxing ring in order to fight Tyson Fury (whom he recently promoted a potential fight).
Ultimately, Ngannou’s career is in his complete control at the moment, which is what he wants more than anything else.