Nigerian fighter Israel Adesanya is unhappy with UFC’s treatment of Francis Ngannou after his exit from the promotion.
Cameroonian fighter Francis Ngannou decided to try out professional boxing for a while, leading to his release from the UFC contract. The fighter’s final UFC bout was against Ciryl Gane before he left to fight boxing stars like Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
Adesanya has long been a longtime admirer of the former heavyweight champion and has plans to expand MMA to Africa. “The Last Stylebender” released a promotional video about the trio of African champions Kamaru Usman, Francis Ngannou, and Israel Adesanya. The video was intended to show the fighters’ efforts in drawing attention to MMA in Africa. Still, Adesanya was taken aback when the UFC suspiciously removed Ngannou’s name from the promo video.
Upon discovering this, Adesanya was quite unhappy with the promotion’s decision to exclude the former champ.
“You can’t erase Francis’ legacy in the UFC,” Adesanya said at UFC 305 media day. “It’s part of what we’ve done. It’s forever in history, in stone. So, trying to whitewash it or just not talk about it is silly.
“I know he’s fighting for the PFL right now, but it’s still history. You can’t just turn a blind eye to it. I’m sure they’ll fix it eventually. This is how business goes with the UFC.”
The subtle shade from the UFC is no surprise, as Ngannou did not depart from the promotions on good terms. The former heavyweight champion left the UFC because his demands were unmet. The fighter claims his contract restricts him from pursuing outside interests, and the pay wasn’t enough. He finally decided to leave the promotion and move to PFL.
Adesanya believes Ngannou’s history and efforts in the UFC shouldn’t be erased, despite the bad blood between Ngannou and the UFC.
“He’s an [integral] part of what we’ve done in the UFC,” Adesanya said. “Right now, I know there’s competition between other promotions and the UFC and battles, but you can never erase history. The streets and the internet will always remember.
“I think they’ll fix this eventually, but it’s just a lot of chest puffing. The UFC are smart people. They’ll understand and they’ll rectify this eventually.”
Adesanya still loves Ngannou and believes the fighter deserves his accolades. He also spoke on the fighter’s recent loss and sympathized with him on the loss of his son.
“I’m happy for him,” Adesanya said. “I’m happy for what he’s doing. He just went through something that I would never wish on anyone. We’ve talked. I’ve checked up on him. Again, I respect Francis so much.”
