Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is plain and simply done with Francis Ngannou.
The former Heavyweight champion, Ngannou, parted ways with the promotion early in 2023 after failing to agree on a new contract. Ultimately, the disagreement led to Ngannou signing with Professional Fighters League (PFL), and he is currently gearing up to make his professional boxing debut against boxing legend, Tyson Fury, next weekend (Sat., Oct. 28, 2023).
With UFC 294 fight week fully underway in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, UFC is releasing episodes of its famous “Embedded” series each day, as per usual. However, fans noticed something odd in episode three when Kamaru Usman was seen wearing a blurred-out t-shirt during his interview with Chael Sonnen and his opponent, Khamzat Chimaev. It turns out the shirt was one of Ngannou’s, displaying his name on the front as seen in the actual interview video on ESPN’s YouTube channel.
“Hey bro @USMAN84kg that’s a nice shirt you have there but I can’t see what is in front [winking and thinking emojis] @rootsoffight,” Ngannou tweeted with a picture of the screenshot.
Coincidentally, episode four of UFC 294 “Embedded” has the current Bellator Lightweight champion, Usman Nurmagomedov, front and center in the thumbnail.
The former UFC Welterweight champion, Usman, wasn’t originally supposed to make the trip overseas until injury struck the UFC 294 co-main event. Chimaev and the rest of the world found out last week that he was in need of a new opponent after Paulo Costa suffered a nasty staph infection on his elbow, requiring multiple surgeries.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 294 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 10 a.m. ET, followed by the UFC 294 PPV main card start time at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 294: “Makhachev vs. Volkanovski 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the complete UFC 294 fight card and PPV lineup click here.