Francis Ngannou has a message for UFC fighters unhappy with their contracts but are unwilling to walk away. Grow a pair.
Ngannou claims that if UFC fighters would just “have the balls” to choose free agency, they would have access to more money and opportunities. He would know. He has made over $30 million since leaving the UFC. Then again, not all fighters are as successful as he has been.
“There’s always opportunity,” the former UFC heavyweight champion told ESPN this week. “I think you just have to be around and be free. Make sure you’re in the position to catch that opportunity when it comes. Because if you get yourself stuck in a contract because you’re afraid of being alone out there, then when the opportunity comes, you might be stuck in some contract.
“That’s what happened to a lot of fighters. They are just so scared of being free, being without a promotion, without a promoter, or something that they can do. They will sign up for everything just to be in the promotion, and then the day that the opportunity, the real opportunity, comes around, they are not there.
“This fight, this one could have been an opportunity for so many people, but they are all locked somewhere in the contract that they are not very happy about, that are not helping them,” he continued. “But they don’t have the balls to stand on their own and claim that freedom.”
Francis Ngannou has pursued boxing and competed in the PFL since leaving the UFC. His most recent bout took place in October 2024. On May 16, Ngannou will make his cage comeback against Philipe Lins on the Ronda Rousey–Gina Carano card.