Former undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou appears in no rush to make a move to another mixed martial arts promotion off the back of his Octagon departure back in January of this year – poking fun at those who claim he is missing lucrative paychecks.
Ngannou, a former undisputed heavyweight champion under the banner of the UFC, departed the Dana White-led promotion back in January of this year in less than ceremonious circumstances.
Sidelined from active competition since headlining UFC 270 back in January of last year, Ngannou managed to successfully unify the heavyweight titles against then-interim champion, Ciryl Gane, defeating the Frenchman with a unanimous decision win.
However, seeing contractual obligations with the UFC come to an official end in December, Batié native, Francis Ngannou elected against re-upping with the organization, leading to his turn-of-year exit.
Francis Ngannou recently held talks with ONE Championship
Yet to pen terms with a deal despite holding a reported “verbal agreement” with an undisclosed outfit, Ngannou was accused of missing the boat on numerous lucrative deals, off the back of shelved talks with the Chatri Sityodtong-led, ONE Championship – with the CEO claiming Ngannou had rejected a guaranteed $20,000,000 contract to link up with the promotion.
And in response to Sityodtong one can imagine, Ngannou last week claimed that some promoters and figureheads in the sport were “two-faced”.
Poking fun of critics who question his negotiation tactics, Ngannou jokingly claimed he was “fumbling the bag”.
“Just out here fumbling the bag,” Francis Ngannou tweeted.
Just out here fumbling the bag
pic.twitter.com/RmJXork1Yb
— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) May 9, 2023
One of the most ferocious knockout artists in Octagon history, Ngannou minted himself as the undisputed heavyweight champion at UFC 260 back in March 2021, stopping Stipe Miocic with a massive second round KO at the UFC Apex facility in their title rematch.
En route to gold to boot, Ngannou dispatched the likes of Andrei Arlovski, Alistair Overeem, Curtis Blaydes, Junior dos Santos, Cain Velasquez, and Jairzinho Rozenstruik to name a few.