When former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou walked away from a deal with the fight promotion to try free agency, he probably thought he’d never fight in the octagon again. Many people out there believe a deal could be reached between UFC and Ngannou, especially to come back and face Jon Jones. Chael Sonnen is one of those believers.
In an interview with MMAJunkie, Sonnen spoke about Ngnnou’s situation and hopes that the former champ and the UFC can eventually come to terms to get Ngannou back to fighting.
“There would be a way to get that done, if Francis goes out there and tests the market and realizes – Francis did a show yesterday with a gentleman, who’s kind of a business show and the guy was breaking it down and he was asking Francis some very basic questions about the business of MMA and Francis, he looked like a deer in headlights. He didn’t have the foggiest idea of how to respond,” said Sonnen.
“I thought maybe that he was past that, that he had been around, looked around and kind of saw where some of the numbers come from and saw what made sense. But I think now that he was still of the mindset that said, I just knocked out three guys in a row and therefore, as though that just created money from the MMA money tree. I don’t say that to tease him. I say that somewhere he’s going to finally realize, and he’s going to want to call them back. And when he does, I want them to answer the phone.”
According to Sonnen, everything is just part of the negotiation and that Ngannou could find himself back in the octagon at some point.
“The biggest fight that our industry could have made was Francis Ngannou versus Jon Jones, and it looks as though that ship has sailed,” Sonnen said. “I’ll tell you one thing as it pertains to Francis Ngannou which is, when he’s a free agent everyone seems to hear that he can go anywhere but the UFC, but that’s not what it means. It means he can go anywhere and that does include the UFC regardless of who is saying yes or no. That’s all part of the negotiation. Everything someone speaks about, it’s all part of the negotiation.”
“I think there is a couple of good fights over there still for Francis. The one against Jones is the premiere,” Sonnen continued. “Jones and Francis could still happen. I think that’s still a really big deal.”
Sonnen gave Ngannou some advice at the end of the interview.
“Time is ticking and everyday that he’s not signed he’s losing,” said Sonnen. “Whatever has happened here, he has to get some cold water. He’s got to wake up and he needs to call back his boss.”
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