100% this.
Ngannou will have had something like 5 months time by August.
Ducking the contender = strip
you’re an idiot. Ngannou is already way more active than Stipe, he fought once a year If that. This has to do with Dana getting into an argument with Ngannou management. so he’s pulling this toddler bullshit.
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Correct. Nigerian and Cameroonian are different nationalities.
It’s not about just an argument with the manager, it’s about how Ngannou has been since he won the title.
How do you deal with a guy who has only said the following publicly:
- I don’t want to fight Lewis (the #1 contender).
- I want the Jones fight (after that ship already sailed).
- Why don’t I get paid like Jake Paul?
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That’s a very long way of saying Ngannou doesn’t want to lose his title.
What you’re saying makes sense, but according to Francis’ manager, they accepted the Lewis fight for Sept. They said they can’t do August, but Sept or later was fine. The Aug 7 date is 6 weeks away. Because Francis wasn’t ready to take the fight, they create an interim? It also sounds like Francis has a reason not to fight…his manager eluded to the UFC “knowing why he can’t fight in August.”
That’s really the missing piece here. The big mystery reason he has to wait.
If it absolves him and makes Dana look bad then they should just say it. Unless it’s something hugely private and personal, or if it’s just bullshit.
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The talk after the interim title was announced has been overwhelmingly in support of Francis. Not alot of people agree with Dana doing this. Of course they dont fault Gane or Lewis for accepting the fight. But the fact that Francis said he can fight in Sept instead of Aug and the UFC/Dana says fuck you fight or we create a new title has been poorly received.
The guy just fought not too long ago. Fucking Khabib literally retired and Dana didn’t strip him for like 7 months.
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^This^ Lewis has done stuff for his community and when there was a flood he was helping people out with all he had.
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Maybe its an issue with certain medications effecting his abilities to perform…
Conor had the LW title for 11 months before an int. title was created and he held the LW title for 1 1/2 years with no defense before being stripped. Also got to hold the FW title for a year with no defenses.
Cruz got to hold the BW title for nine months before an int. title was created while he was out and he was then allowed to stay champ another 1 1/2 years with no fights before the int. champ was declared the UFC champ.
In general, UFC does whatever the fuck they want with their title shots, their UFC undisputed and interim titles.
The UFC titles are a promotional tool moreso than a sporting prize any athlete can pursue based on performance in the sport.
UFC promotes their titles like world titles any athlete can pursue but you can’t even compete without agreeing to a single promoter’s financial terms and conditions. You pretty much have to agree to enrich the promoter in a disproportionate manner than you would if there was a sanctioning body governing the titles instead of a promoter.
The UFC titles are basically the Don King Productions titles and you better agree to Don’s terms unless you think Bellator might be interested in you.
Sure guys like Anderson and GSP made some money but they made a lot more money for the promoters than they would have if MMA sanctioning bodies controlled the titles instead of Don King Productions.
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Realistically though, guys take time off all the time. Jan beat Izzy 3 weeks before Francis beat Stipe, and he immediately said he wanted some time off, and they booked his first title defense for Sept 25, and they announced it in fucking April…and they announced this week that it was moved to Oct 30 instead…so Jan wants time off? Cool, we’ll announce your next fight 5 months after we book it. Francis wants September? Nah, fuck you and your annoying prick manager, we’re doing an interim title 6 weeks after Gane just fought a 5 rounder.
I guess that’s where I can’t wrap my head around it. If Francis flat out said “I don’t want to fight until Sept” without giving a reason, what’s the issue? Guys like Jan, Stipe and others have taken long breaks and weren’t really given any shit about it.
It’s possible Francis’ team were being pricks and saying they won’t fight Lewis, but everything I read says they were good with Lewis in Sept, and that’s only 6 months after his last fight.
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This is all true. I have to think it stems from the original attitude and comments. And who knows how management has handled it.
As you have evidenced, I think if Ngannou came out a month or two ago and said, I’d like some time off, I’ll fight Lewis in September, then maybe they’d treat it like they did for Jan. We know the Lewis fight has been out there for a while.
We don’t know much here, but what we do know is Francis wasn’t talking that way so this comes off as more of a “fine, I’ll fight Lewis. But not until September.”
It may be a subtle difference in approach but more than enough to irk the grudge master himself Dana.
We’re in agreement on all of it…I just don’t love the response from the UFC on it. “Fine but not until September” doesn’t warrant an interim title fight IMO. I get the UFC doesn’t want to be bullied, and doesn’t like it when fighters don’t just reply with “yes sir, and thank you!” but we’re talking about the difference of 4 weeks here. It’s not like Francis wanted to take an extra 9 months so he can focus on his acting career.
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Agents will never learn. Your fighters have very little leverage.
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New development on why Francis won’t fight- He doesn’t like the number of fights the UFC is offering for his new contract. And the UFC won’t allow him to box.
Apparently his dream is to be the HW champ in boxing.
If he doesn’t fight in the UFC again, there goes the lineal championship.
He’s still under contract. They’re trying to pay him more on a new deal but he doesn’t like the terms.
They should just work on a deal for him to box under the UFC banner Ala Conor.
Sometimes they do have leverage like Khabib and Conor, but agents and fighters always pull that trigger prematurely.
Like fucking paulo costa coming off an embarrassing loss, blaming it on drinking wine, pulling out of a booked card and then demanding jake paul money. LOL.
Francis could have KOed lewis and gane and then demanded a red panty night with jon jones. instead he pulls this on his first title defense.
Same with jon jones. Who gets popped for picos, has a whole list of legal trouble that UFC helped him get out of, has two fights that end in close decisions and then retires, AND THEN thinks he can leverage for the big bucks.
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