Francis Ngannou: Tyson Fury ‘Has to Be Part of Discussion’ in UFC Negotiations

Francis Ngannou has provided some clarity as to what he wants from the Ultimate Fighting Championship regarding contract negotiations.

“The Tyson Fury fight has to be part of the discussion,” Ngannou said during on appearance on "The MMA Hour" on Monday. “That’s not an option. It has to be part of the discussion, because if that’s not part of the discussion now, it will never be. If I sign another contract now, and basically the same model of a contract, I’m screwed. It’s not happening ever. So we have to figure out a way to implement this into a contract.”

Ngannou was in attendance for Fury’s farewell fight against Dillian Whyte and joined the heavyweight champion in the ring after his sixth-round knockout victory. Fury, who officially retired from professional boxing, later said Ngannou is on the "hit list" for some type of exhibition bout, with the rule set still to be determined.

Ngannou expressed displeasure with his UFC contract following a successful title defense against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 on Jan. 22. “The Predator” said on Monday there are no personal issues with promotion officials, and in an ideal world, he hopes to come to terms with the UFC to continue defending his heavyweight crown. He revealed he recently met with promotion brass, including Dana White, over dinner to “clear the air.”

“I think the UFC is a great promotion and I want to keep fighting,” Ngannou said. “Tyson Fury is not my last fight. I want to keep fighting after Tyson Fury. There’s still a lot of fights out there. There’s Jon Jones, there’s a trilogy with Stipe [Miocic], there’s big fight I can do in the UFC, so I would really like that to happen. I would really like also to get to a common point. Yes, I can do Tyson Fury on my own, but what next? I would like to keep fighting. I would like for us to come to an agreement, but for that they have to have a good understanding of the situation.”

The UFC is generally not very flexible when it comes to allowing its fighters to compete outside of the organization or in putting together cross-promotional ventures. The lone exception was when it allowed Conor McGregor to box Floyd Mayweather in 2017, but McGregor was the UFC’s biggest star by far and it doesn’t seem likely that Ngannou has that kind of leverage.

In another scenario, Ngannou would wait for his UFC contract to expire, and then there would be no obstacles preventing him from setting up a showdown with Fury. For now, Ngannou is on the mend from knee surgery and isn’t expected to be available in any capacity until early 2023.

“My contract situation is not a roadblock because either way, my contract situation will not stop me from fighting,” Ngannou said. “So I think it’s pretty easy. Tyson Fury’s contract situation as well is coming up soon, therefore, there’s nothing that can hold us from doing it.”