Francis Ngannou has vacated his UFC heavyweight title after becoming a free agent, UFC President, Dana White confirmed on Saturday. The 36-year-old has been involved in a long-standing contract dispute with the promoter, who has also waived their exclusivity clauses to allow Ngannou to negotiate with other organisations without interference.
Dana White also confirmed Jon Jones will face France’s Ciryl Gane for the heavyweight title at the T-Mobile Arena in March after champion Francis Ngannou vacated the belt to enter free agency. “We’ve been negotiating with him [Ngannou] for more than two years,” White said. “We offered Francis a deal that would’ve made him the highest paid heavyweight in the history of the company – more than [Brock] Lesnar, more than anybody, and he turned the deal down.
“Francis is in a place now where he doesn’t want to take a lot of risk. He feels like he’s in a position where he could fight lesser opponents and make more money, so we’re going to let him do that and release him from our contract. He can go wherever he wants and do whatever he wants.”
Ngannou was on a six-fight winning streak prior to becoming a free agent, most recently unifying the heavyweight division when he defeated Gane by unanimous decision last January before undergoing knee surgery.
As the biggest free agent in MMA, Ngannou has been speculated to lean towards the Professional Fighters League after being reportedly wooed by the brand. Ngannou has a mixed martial arts record of 17 wins, and 3 losses with 12 of those victories coming by knockouts.
