Francis Ngannou is famously looking to renegotiate his contract with the UFC after his successful title defense in January. The heavyweight world champion is currently in Cameroon but is set to return stateside this week.
Francis Ngannou released a video on his YouTube channel where he gave an update on the contract situation with the UFC. It's clear that the heavyweight champion knows exactly what he wants in 2022.
“I have to look after myself, try to do what is best for me. There’s a lot of terms in that contract that I would like [change] — I don’t like them. The fact that it’s a one-way contract, [that] I have no guarantee,” Ngannou said via his YouTube channel, as transcribed by MMA Fighting.
“In the past two years, [the UFC] claim to provide three fights for their fighters every year — but in the past two years, I fought twice. I could at least fight five times. And knowing that I’m counting on that to make my living, that was kind of like, I felt like I was freezed to get financial pressure, to maybe come to an agreement from what they are saying, to need them.
“So that was something that I felt, and I don’t want to get in this position anymore. If I want to give something to somebody, give me some guarantee in return. Like, I can sign a contract that I might not be able to fight [for] one year and have no explanation [for why] and [they] can claim anything [as the reason], because at the end of the day, the contract says [the UFC] is the judge, the jury, and the prosecution.
“At this point, I know that contract pretty good,” UFC champion Ngannou added. “Been checking, think about stuff, go through, check, get lawyer advice, go through stuff — and I found nothing good for me in there. But they still tell me that I’m an independent contractor, ‘independent contractor,’ maybe because that’s the way that doesn’t guarantee me a monthly wage, or doesn’t give me health care or something. I don’t feel like an independent contractor. I don’t have that freedom. Freedom, which is something very important for me as well.”
Another big issue Francis Ngannou has had with the UFC is the lack of fights. The heavyweight finisher likes to fight often and has been unable to do so in the past few years.
“In the past, when I wasn’t fighting, asking for fights, I had to beg for a fight,” Ngannou continued. “And the way that I was treated, I don’t want to deal with this type of situation anymore. It doesn’t matter what is on line. This has to change. I need to feel somebody, I need to get in a contract that holds both [sides] accountable for something, responsible — you have your own part of the contract to fulfil as well. I didn’t feel like it was a fair contract for me.”
