PERTH, Australia – Israel Adesanya is in full support of Francis Ngannou’s decision to leave the UFC.
The former UFC middleweight champion thinks Ngannou made the right call when he opted out of re-signing with the UFC and instead headed to free agency and left behind his UFC heavyweight title. Ngannou’s decision to leave the promotion came after certain contractual requests weren’t met.
Adesanya thinks Ngannou’s demands weren’t out of line, and he commends him for looking out after other fighters’ well-being.
“Francis made the right call,” Adesanya told reporters backstage at UFC 284. “He’s the one that kicked in the door. We’ve all been behind him. We’ve been saying this for how long? If you guys go back on the tapes, I’ve been saying the same thing. I’m not going to harp on about it, but he’s right. It’s little things. He’s asking for things that should be mandatory.
“He wasn’t asking for, you know, crazy, ridiculous diva demands. There’s something as little as for the guys fighting on the opening (bouts), having the fourth or third corner man being paid for, and the hotel is being paid for. That sets them up nicely, and they don’t have to fork it out of their $10K and $10K, or maybe even $10K, to pay for their fourth or third corner man – little things like that.”
Ngannou, who left the UFC in January, said he asked for several things, but didn’t need to get all of them in order to renew his contract. Things such as roster health insurance, right to get sponsorship, fighter representation were some of the things Ngannou said he asked for.
Adesanya thinks those requests were fair, and he would like to see some of those changes be implemented in the future.
“He’s not being a diva,” Adesanya said. “He’s asking for reasonable demands, and I felt like he should have got them. (UFC president Dana White) said, ‘That’s not how we do business.’ But the way we do business has to change, and it will change. He’s just the guy to kick in the door.”
It’s uncertain what may be next for Ngannou now that he has no promotional ties to the UFC. He’s been vocal about his interest in boxing, but has also made it clear he’s not done with MMA. Promotions like Bellator, the PFL and BKFC have publicly shown interest in signing the former UFC heavyweight champion.
Adesanya thinks Ngannou eventually will return to the UFC, even if right now that doesn’t seem like a likely outcome.
“I think he’ll come back,” Adesanya said. “He’s the greatest heavyweight we’ve ever had – not even just like in the UFC, but in history. He left on his own terms with the belt, never lost it. So I feel he’s going to do what he has to do in boxing or wherever else, but it’s a great hit to the company. I know he’ll be back, though. He’ll be back. That’s what I’ll say.”