Francis Ngannou has revealed that he lost out on more than $1 million in sponsorship deals today on social media.
Taking a cue from Luke Rockhold’s criticism of the UFC in his pre-fight media scrum yesterday, the reigning heavyweight champion took to Twitter to air his frustrations surrounding the ‘rip off’ sponsorship deals that are written into every UFC contract.
It’s currently unclear when, or even if Ngannou will return to the UFC after he recovers from knee surgery.
The ‘sunset’ clause written into the champion’s contract is set to expire at the end of this year, allowing him to test free agency and opening the ‘baddest man on the planet’ up to the world of professional boxing, of which he’s expressed interest in several times in the past.
The AllStar MMA roundup
- Inside Scoop: What does an MMA manager do for a fighter? An insider’s view
- UFC 278: Sean Woodson claims Luis Saldaña ‘doesn’t like dealing with pressure’
- UFC 278: Yanan Wu feeling “peaceful” ahead of Lucie Pudilova fight, plans diverse striking attack
- UFC 278: It’s hard for Jay Perrin to feel threatened by Aoriqileng when ‘he’s been sat down by flyweights’
The best of the rest
- Kamaru Usman ‘not kidding’ on pursuing UFC light-heavy title, responds to possible Jon Jones fight – MMAFighting.com
- Dana White believes Paddy Pimblett’s weight fluctuation ‘not good,’ but ‘he can do whatever the hell he wants to do’ – MMAFighting.com
- Jose Aldo confident he’ll get title shot with win at UFC 278, picks Aljamain Sterling to beat T.J. Dillashaw – MMAjunkie.com
- Luke Rockhold’s chin ‘has become very weak’ – Paulo Costa predicts KO win at UFC 278 – BloodyElbow.com
- Leon Edwards agrees with Dana White: Kamaru Usman trilogy next with UFC 278 title win – MMAJunkie.com
The soapbox
Luke Rockhold blasts Shawn MacDonald, the Full Send reporter:
Nate Quarry sounds off on shady management practices:
Merab’s take on Yan vs O’Malley:
Belal selling himself:
Iron Mike discovered a new workout:
Tyson Nam wants his cut:
Brunson applauds Rockhold’s new attitude:
The morning view
Kris Moutinho chats with JHK prior to his first fight since leaving the UFC:
Andy Nguyen talks her PAWFC 2 fight and plans to return to BKFC:
Dan Hardy previews Paulo Costa vs Luke Rockhold:
The Weasle goes over Usman vs Edwards I with a fine tooth comb:
Done deals
This week
- Misha Cirkunov to fight Alonzo Menifield at UFC Vegas 62 on October 15th
- Hamdy Abdelwahab to fight Parker Porter at UFC 280 on October 22nd (per MMA Junkie)
- Jared Cannonier to fight Sean Strickland at UFC event on October 15th (per Ariel Helwani)
- Mike Trizano to fight SeungWoo Choi at UFC 281 on November 12 (per Marcel Dorff)
- Robbie Lawler to fight Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC 282 on December 10th (per Brett Okamoto)
- Fares Ziam will fight Michal Figlak at UFC Paris on September 3rd (per La Sueur)
- L.Vannata out, Andre Fili will now fight Bill Algeo at UFC event on September 17th (per Iridium Sports)
- Dominick Reyes to fight Ryan Spann at UFC 281 on November 12th (per MMA Junkie)
- Derek Brunson to fight Jack Hermansson at UFC event on December 3rd (per Ariel Helwani)
- Mike Jackson to fight Pete Rodriguez at UFC event on October 15th (per MMA Junkie)
- Tim Means to fight Max Griffin at UFC event on October 29th (per Farah Hannoun)
- Charles Jourdain to fight Nathaniel Wood at UFC Paris on September 3rd (per Al Zullino)
- Tresean Gore to fight Josh Fremd at UFC event on October 29th (per Mike Heck)
On this day in MMA…
On the 18th of August, 2012, Ronda Rousey would make her first Strikeforce bantamweight title defense since taking the belt from Miesha Tate five months prior.
Rousey faced her toughest challenge (on paper) to date in the 15-1 Sarah Kaufman, however ‘Rowdy’ ran away with the fight and secured her signature Armbar just 54 seconds into the first round.
This would be Rousey’s final fight under the Strikeforce banner as the company was bought out soon after by the UFC’s parent company Zuffa, and as such the former Olympian would be named the inaugural UFC bantamweight champion.
