Francis Ngannou has had an ongoing feud with the UFC and Dana White for some time. As he is now likely approaching his MMA return, the heavyweight champion has cleared the air on the origins of the problems with the promotion.
‘The Predator’ has been rumored to be making his UFC comeback after spending almost an entire year on the sidelines following surgery.
Although nothing is official as things stand, it looks like the heavyweight king is preparing to defend his throne against arguably the greatest fighter of all time, Jon Jones, in his heavyweight debut.
In a recently released video on his YouTube channel, Francis Ngannou opened up on where things went wrong with the UFC, claiming that the company was trying to “control the narrative” whilst he was out of the spotlight.
“This situation with the UFC, it started, kind of like, a long time ago. Way long time before people even realized… I was silent and they were trying to control the narrative and then manipulate people’s perspectives, people’s opinions about it… Then, I was just like a bad guy, a guy that didn’t want to fight. Then you go out there, control everything and make me be the bad guy, which I’m not… I just want what’s best for me, as everyone should, and you should understand that because you guys want what’s best for you. Same here.”
Despite still finding himself in a difficult situation with the UFC, the Cameroonian has received a lot of praise for realizing his own value and for the way he has taken control back from the promotion.
A timeline for Francis Ngannou’s return
Francis Ngannou’s injury early into the year meant he was going to be out of action until at least 2023. However, it seems the frightening heavyweight could be on his way back to the cage.
As previously mentioned, the 36-year-old could be set to welcome Jon Jones into the division and defend his title against the Hall-of-Famer, according to a subtle update by one of his coaches.
Posted on Twitter by Eric Nicksick of Xtreme Couture, Ngannou could be stepping back into the octagon and headlining the upcoming UFC 285 event scheduled for March 4.
Check out what Francis Ngannou had to say about his feud with Dana White and the UFC in the video below.