Ngannou would be defending his belt in September if the UFC didn't create an interim title

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Been seeing a lot of people talking about this situation and are blaming Ngannou so I just felt like making a thread to inform people what really happened and where the blame lies for Ngannou's first defense being delayed.

The UFC asked Ngannou to defend his belt against Lewis in early August in Houston(Lewis' home town). Ngannou said he couldn't fight till September. The UFC refused to schedule the fight for September and instead created an interim title so Lewis could fight for a belt against Gane in Houston.

If the UFC didn't refuse to schedule Ngannou vs Lewis 2 in September Ngannou would be fighting in September. They decided not to do this and instead scheduled Lewis vs Gane for an interim title. Ngannou likely won't fight till the end of the year or early next year cause he has to wait for his challenger and the UFC is to blame for that.

 

[blastoff]

Ngannou will be the one hurt most by his own decision

Gane is a much more difficult fight than Lewis

 

[Kryptt]

Everyone is playing games...

Don't care who or why - Jus Bleed!

 

[VinceArch]

Ngannou said he couldn't fight till September.

This is what I don't understand, did he have an injury that was preventing him from training? The way I understand back in June, he was still celebrating. Is there any info on why he couldn't fight in August?

 

[Kvothe_the_kingkiller]

Reading between the lines, that seems to be how it went down.

But that's just us interpreting various 'he said' / 'he said' points and counterpoints. We don't really know for sure, because like the man says, 'no one else was in the room when it happened'.

But yes TS, OP is good summary of how all evidence suggests it went down.

 

[Kvothe_the_kingkiller]

This is what I don't understand, did he have an injury that was preventing him from training? The way I understand back in June, he was still celebrating. Is there any info on why he couldn't fight in August?

Maybe TS should have said "wouldn't because of other commitments" or "chose not to" instead of "couldn't". A minor nitpick at best.

 

[Kos Fan]

I still think there’s something behind the scenes we don’t know about. Look at Jan, he took a decent amount of time off after beating Izzy and no one complained.

 

[svmr_db]

Ngannou will regret not fighting in August after Gane 50-45's him in his next title defense.

 

[sdpdude9]

Yeah. I think the UFC really needed a main event for August and Nunes vs. Peña wasn’t going to cut it. They really wanted Lewis because he lives in Texas but Ngannou didn’t agree. So UFC booked the interim title maybe partially to spite to Ngannou but mostly to get the main event they needed.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Maybe TS should have said "wouldn't because of other commitments" or "chose not to" instead of "couldn't". A minor nitpick at best.

I don't know for sure that there wasn't a reason he couldn't and I didn't want to suggest he could have fought in August because I don't know his reason for saying he needed another month.

That nitpick would put the blame on Ngannou which I feel is the opposite of where most of the blame should lie so I'm keeping it the way it is.

 

[Kvothe_the_kingkiller]

I don't know for sure that there wasn't a reason he couldn't and I didn't want to suggest he could have fought in August because I don't know his reason for saying he needed another month.

That nitpick would put the blame on Ngannou which I feel is the opposite of where most of the blame should lie so I'm keeping it the way it is.

Right.

Furthermore, no one here is denying that UFC has the legal right (whether morally right or wrong) to do what they did. But it's such an outlier that it deserves an honest analysis.

Tons of champs have chosen to take a few months off before negotiating for a fight a few months out after that. This situation - and UFC's response - is wholly unique.

 

[belowOrAbove]

Its purely speculation to think that Ngannou would be fighting in September. Just because his management says they would have fought at that date after the interim fight was already scheduled. Fact of the matter is they declined the 3 dates offered by UFC brass to fight Lewis. UFC moved on from it and will force his hand once an interim title holder is crowned. Ngannou and his management team priced him out and overplayed their hand and it backfired.

 

[Bend NvR Break]

They wanted Lewis fighting for a belt in Houston with or without Ngannou. They weren't going to pass up on it because Ngannou didn't want to get with the program.

Now we can have a unification fight in December/January and Ngannou can have all the extra time he needed.

 

[dittohead84]

Fighting in September after winning the title in March is perfectly reasonable. Anyone thinking he should have agreed to August is an idiot

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Right.

And, no one here is denying that UFC has the right (currently, right or wrong) to do what they did. But it's such an outlier that it deserves an honest analysis.

Tons of champs have chosen to take a few months off before negotiating for a fight a few months out after that. This situation - and UFC's response - is wholly unique.

Yes, it's a unique situation. I just don't like seeing MMA fans trash talk fighters for not being able to fight on certain dates especially when they give the UFC an option of them fighting like a month or less later and then the UFC makes a decision that causes said fighter to fight much later than they could have.

 

[TitoSchaubHighIQ]

An 6 months interval between fights is nothing abnormal in the UFC. An interim title is completely retarded in that situation but Dana is a person moved by emotions (most grudge) and not by logic. All decisions in the UFC seems to be very random and inconsistent.

I usually hate when fighters stagnate the division but Ngannou is not doing that yet.

 

[Bend NvR Break]

Its purely speculation to think that Ngannou would be fighting in September. Just because his management says they would have fought at that date after the interim fight was already scheduled. Fact of the matter is they declined the 3 dates offered by UFC brass to fight Lewis. UFC moved on from it and will force his hand once an interim title holder is crowned. Ngannou and his management team priced him out and overplayed their hand and it backfired.

This guy has critical thinking skills

 

[tech99]

Ngannou refused to fight on 4 different dates that they offered him. Now he’s going to regret that decision big time when he faces Gane and gets outclassed.

 

[VinceArch]

Maybe TS should have said "wouldn't because of other commitments" or "chose not to" instead of "couldn't". A minor nitpick at best.

But what were the other commitments? I'm not nitpicking the OP. I am genuinely curious why he couldn't fight in August.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Its purely speculation to think that Ngannou would be fighting in September. Just because his management says they would have fought at that date after the interim fight was already scheduled. Fact of the matter is they declined the 3 dates offered by UFC brass to fight Lewis. UFC moved on from it and will force his hand once an interim title holder is crowned. Ngannou and his management team priced him out and overplayed their hand and it backfired.

We're all those dates prior to September?