Demetrious Johnson has posted a reaction to Francis Ngannou explaining his departure from the UFC.
After Ngannou parted ways with the UFC, Dana White discussed the topic in a press conference. ‘The Predator’ decided to tell his side of the story, claiming White lied several times. Two weeks later, ‘Mighty Mouse’ watched the video and stopped to comment on what the former UFC heavyweight champion said.
Firstly, Ngannou discussed how White claimed he would be the highest-paid heavyweight of all time. Johnson stopped the video to say:
“Dana likes to say a lot of things to get fighters to do certain things… When they say he was gonna be the highest-paid fighter to fight Jon Jones, unless it’s in contract, that fine print, then you’re gonna get it, but if you’re banking off of pay-per-view buys then you never know what the stipulation is going to be when you go to fight. It’ll always be a flat rate fee, but then what’s behind it when it hit pay-per-view? That’s what it comes down to.”
‘The Predator’ then talked about wanting the freedom to do whatever he wants, including competing in professional boxing. Johnson responded by saying:
“… I think ONE Championship is the only one where, at the highest level, where you can go do other things. You won’t see me go do anything, but I’m sure if I wanted to go do ADCC or IBJJF, they would allow me to do it.”
‘Mighty Mouse’ continued by sharing a story about former UFC fighter Eddie Alvarez, which related to Ngannou’s discussion about leverage and being locked into a contract:
“Eddie Alvarez tells me each time he signs a contract, his mindset is, how can I get through this contract as fast as possible to become a free agent again? If you go through your whole contract, winning and as a champion, you have all the leverage in your hand, especially if the organization wants you.”
Ngannou’s primary reason for not re-signing with the UFC was freedom. The former heavyweight champion wanted to be free from restrictions and have control over where and who he fights next. Johnson had this to say about the former heavyweight champion’s new freedom:
“I’d love to see him in boxing… He can sign a one-deal fight against Tyson Fury, fight that fight, either win, lose, draw, he can move on to the next one and go, you know, I want to do mixed martial arts, I’m gonna do bare-knuckle fights, I’m gonna do this… ”
Watch Demetrious Johnson react to Francis Ngannou’s reaction video below:
Demetrious Johnson advocates for Francis Ngannou to sign with ONE Championship
Francis Ngannou has not announced what’s next for his fighting career. The 36-year-old wants to compete in professional boxing, but he doesn’t have an official opponent or date. During the same reaction video, Demetrious Johnson suggested Ngannou join ONE Championship by saying:
“I would love to see him come to ONE Championship. I think he’ll make a fine addition. He’s always been very respectful. He’s an amazing athlete, and I’d love to see him in ONE Championship against the heavyweight division. I think he would do very well. He’s got that one knockout power. He’s had some amazing finishes.”
‘Mighty Mouse’ is currently the ONE flyweight world champion, with his next title defense against Adriano Moraes in the promotion’s U.S. debut on May 5. Meanwhile, if Ngannou decided to sign with ONE, there would be several must-see matchups, including interim champion Anatoly Malykhin and BJJ legend Marcus Buchecha.
