Picture Credit: UFC
The current UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has revealed that he wants the inclusion of the Tyson Fury fight in his upcoming contract negotiations. After the Gypsy King defeated Dillian Whyte at the Wembly Stadium, he expressed that he would like to take on Ngannou in an exhibition match.
While talking in The MMA Hour podcast, Ngannou said, “The Tyson Fury fight has to be part of the discussion. That’s not an option. It has to be part of the discussion because if that’s not part of the discussion, it will never be. If I sign another contract now, basically the same model of the contract, I’m screwed. That’s not happening ever. So we have to figure out a way to implement this into a contract.”
“After Tyson Fury, there’s still a lot of fights”
However, the 35-year-old will still want to fight in the octagon even after the Fury bout. He also acknowledges there are many big-ticket fights left for him in UFC, but demands that the Fury fight must happen.
“I think the UFC is a good promotion, and I want to keep fighting,” Ngannou added. “Tyson Fury is not my last fight. I want to keep fighting. After Tyson Fury, there are still a lot of fights. There’s the Jon Jones, there’s the Stipe trilogy.”
“There are big fights I can do in the UFC, and I would really like that to happen. I would really like us to get to a common point. Yes, I can do the Tyson Fury fight on my own, but what’s next? I would like to keep fighting. I would like for us to come to an agreement,” he continued.
“We had a dinner with the UFC, and that wasn’t about the contract situation”
Ngannou also opened up about the condition of the contract negotiations and expressed that the meetings so far have been about clarity between the two parties. He said, “We had dinner with the UFC, and that wasn’t about the contract situation. That was just about clearing the air because it is clear at this point that we had to clear the air. “
“It was just to clean things out, speak things out, and we kind of just spoke. I was speaking about my frustration, but also I had to go back home because it’s not a thing that’s supposed to be solved in one night or over one or two dinners.”