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

[Bend NvR Break]

And the card has lost Nunes vs Pena because of COVID-19.

This whole card would've been scrapped if Ngannou got his way.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

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.

What are these 3 to 4 dates?

 

[avenue94]

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

Does it matter? He's not an employee, and I doubt most fans would have cared if he fought in 5 months or 6 months.

 

[Kvothe_the_kingkiller]

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

Gottcha.

I don't think anyone knows. Vagueries like "prior commitments" have been thrown around. He has been on the road pretty much since he won the belt as far as I can tell, so maybe he just planned a 4 month tour and wanted to fight after 7 (leaving him a 12 week camp), UFC countered with 5 months, and then before a compromise was set for 6, UFC went in a different direction.

Or, all the grumblings we've heard are all half truths, and there is some totally other explanation for all this lol who knows.

 

[belowOrAbove]

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.

I could see if Ngannou was in some wars in his last fights, he barely took any damage his last 5 fights. Not saying camps aren't grueling but these guys are heavyweights, give me a break. You cant make excuses for him and his management team blowing up his ego and making him think he is a super star. He is far from it.

 

[belowOrAbove]

We're all those dates prior to September?

It doesnt matter. He wasnt injured, he wanted to get paid and wanted to try and wait for Jon Jones which was never going to happen. It was bad judgement by his management team.

 

[Dirge]

Couldn't and wouldn't are two very different things.

Is Ngannou rehabbing an injury? If so that's the first I've heard of it.

Ngannou last fought in March of this year and they wanted him to defend his title in August. 5 months is not sufficient time for a training camp? Bullshit...

What difference does an extra month make?

These once a year fighters are getting a bit tiresome. The real issue here is that Ngannou asked for more money that the contract he signed stipulated and the UFC said no.

why make excuses for him?

 

[Rawplier]

Was September the original date Francis set? Did the UFC attempt (3 or 4 times) to get him to fight sooner?

Did Francis, or his management, say he declined multiple times before saying he would be ready in September?

 

[Kvothe_the_kingkiller]

Was September the original date Francis set? Did the UFC attempt (3 or 4 times) to get him to fight sooner?

Did Francis, or his management, say he declined multiple times before saying he would be ready in September?

Here's what's known, bare bones style:

1. Ngannou won the belt in March
   
2. Both parties agree that UFC tried to get him to fight in July and August. Both parties agree that Ngnanou declined.
   
3. Ngannou claims he countered with September. His team provided a text message saying so. UFC hasn't commented on that. (edit: below Jackonfire thinks that was after declining)
   
4. UFC book an interim for August.

And a few thousand little unknowns and a few hundred he said's / he said's.

 

[TitoSchaubHighIQ]

I could see if Ngannou was in some wars in his last fights, he barely took any damage his last 5 fights. Not saying camps aren't grueling but these guys are heavyweights, give me a break. You cant make excuses for him and his management team blowing up his ego and making him think he is a super star. He is far from it.

He just asked for one more month, it's shouldn't be a big deal especially considering DC and Stipe made the entire division waste 3 years of their physical prime waiting for the 2 grampas to resolve their business.

Yes, he didn't took damage in fights but we don't know about training. He could have being concussed in practice for all we know.

 

[spinup]

Couldn't and wouldn't are two very different things.

Is Ngannou rehabbing an injury? If so that's the first I've heard of it.

Ngannou last fought in March of this year and they wanted him to defend his title in August. 5 months is not sufficient time for a training camp? Bullshit...

What difference does an extra month make?

He fought the 27th March, that makes 4 months not 5.
He went 1 month home Cameroon.
Then he had residency paperwork to sort out.

 

[Jackonfire]

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.

Except Lewis manager said Ngannou also said no to the September date when initially asked. It wasn't until after the UFC decided to move on that all of the sudden he was willing to fight in September.

Lewis manager has no reason to lie. Obviously they would rather be fighting for the real belt. They were already promised a title shot. But when Ngannou's team turned down the September date, they felt they needed to move on.

 

[Rawplier]

Here's what's known.

1. Both parties agree that UFC tried to get him to fight in July and August. Both parties agree that Ngnanou said no to both.
   
2. Ngannou claims he countered with September. They provided a text message showing he said so. UFC hasn't commented on that.
3. UFC book an interim for August.

And about a million little unknowns.

Good to know.

The UFC wanted a "hometown" fight. The "hometown" fight would (or should) generate a lot more $$$. The venue was already booked months in advance.

Whatever Francis' reason for September is his own (family, travel, medical, money, no one's business but his own). He hasn't made anything public (as far as I've seen). Without knowing any reason, on month longer is no big deal. Dana, likes to stir the pot. Who knows what lies are, and still, being told. Fighters, management and Dana all have reason to lie.

Has Dana said any reason why September was good or not? Anything could happen in month. Look at Amanda and her situation.

Then there's the whole no worthless belt during the Stipe/DC trilogy. Not even five months into the current reign, a worthless belt is now on the line.

Didn't Francis return to camp in late June? Eight weeks of camp would make September ideal.

Derrick is ready to go rather often. Even he needs some down time. Derrick could have waited for the heavyweight title fight. He has publicly stated "I don't have that much more time to make money".

There's too much speculation and not enough facts.

 

[Kvothe_the_kingkiller]

There's too much speculation and not enough facts.

pretty much

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

It doesnt matter. He wasnt injured, he wanted to get paid and wanted to try and wait for Jon Jones which was never going to happen. It was bad judgement by his management team.

It does if he says he isn't available till September and then they offer him fights before September.

 

[horseshoe_pass man]

It does if he says he isn't available till September and then they offer him fights before September.

he "isn't available"? he's the ufc champ. the heavyweight champ. it's literally his job lol. he has nothing else to do. he won the belt in march and took zero damage. asking him to fight in august isnt some super quick unreasonable turnaround. does he need to celebrate for 5 months? he was trying to sit out and wait for jon jones. he was just fucking around doing nothing. and he was scared of losing his belt against lewis and jeopardising the jones fight

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

he "isn't available"? he's the ufc champ. the heavyweight champ. it's literally his job lol. he has nothing else to do. he won the belt in march and took zero damage. asking him to fight in august isnt some super quick unreasonable turnaround. does he need to celebrate for 5 months? he was trying to sit out and wait for jon jones. he was just fucking around doing nothing. and he was scared of losing his belt against lewis and jeopardising the jones fight

I don't know what is going on in his personal life and you don't either so don't pretend to. Being a prize fighter also isn't a normal job there are always negotiations on fights in regards to dates, you should know that.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Except Lewis manager said Ngannou also said no to the September date when initially asked. It wasn't until after the UFC decided to move on that all of the sudden he was willing to fight in September.

Lewis manager has no reason to lie. Obviously they would rather be fighting for the real belt. They were already promised a title shot. But when Ngannou's team turned down the September date, they felt they needed to move on.

Sure he does, creating hype around a fight for his fighter will increase his own pay if he gets a percentage of Lewis's earnings and he gets PPV points.

 

[belowOrAbove]

It does if he says he isn't available till September and then they offer him fights before September.

Obviously it doesn't matter because they scheduled the interim fight.

 

[milliniar]

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.

Judging by his IG he was not in the US until like end of June. So he likely wanted a full 6-8 week fight camp and August was too soon for that.

Edited: with better info.