In the ongoing public battle between ‘The Predator’ and UFC president Dana White, Randy Couture has Francis Ngannou’s back. Couture believes the UFC is doing Ngannou a disservice. The UFC is planning on scheduling a bout between Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title. This coming barely five months after Ngannou’s historic title win over Stipe Miocic at UFC 260.
According to Randy Couture, Francis Ngannou and the UFC could face a legal battle.
Couture drew a line in the sand almost 15 years ago when he withdrew from the UFC. He had two fights left on his contract. He returned to the fold and re-signed to defend his title against Brock Lesnar at UFC 91. This was after a protracted court battle to recover his freedom to face Fedor Emelianenko. This drama personally cost him $500,000.
“I don’t think he wants to get involved in all this legal crap, but at the end of the day, right is right, and he’s willing to stand up and use his voice,” former UFC heavyweight champion and Hall of Famer said Monday on The MMA Hour. “I don’t see him giving in.”
Ngannou’s case differs from Couture’s in that he claimed he completed his contract at UFC 270 by defeating Ciryl Gane. It’s even more unusual because that contract included a five-year time limit. This was thought to be UFC’s strategy. It would limit potential damages from the promotion’s ongoing antitrust case by giving the appearance of a more free-flowing talent market. Due to this he believes it will make him a free agent by the end of the year. According to Couture, the UFC, which has a “champion’s clause” in Ngannou’s contract, will probably contest this.
“When he signed the contract did that clock start, or did it start when he fought that first fight, which was probably a number of months after that. That’s for legal teams and lawyers to adjudicate and figure out, and that’s the problem.
“These guys have endless – well, not endless – but a lot of money. They’ll drag Francis into court and try and bleed him of the money he has accrued through his fighting, and at some point, you have to make a decision what you want to do. This is what happened with me.
“Francis is going to find himself in a very similar situation. If he tries to walk away [and says] the contract ended here, they’re going to contest that, they’re going to drag him into court, force him to spend a lot of money on lawyers that he’s not going to want to do, and at some point, he’s going to have to make a decision … whether he wants to stop spending money on lawyers and legal issues and go back and doing what he loves to do, which is fight. It’s a shame to be in that situation.”
Couture has firsthand experience with the UFC’s hardball methods, so he wasn’t surprised when the company threatened to sue Ngannou’s agent on the day of UFC 270.
“This is classic Zuffa and Dana White,”
“This is classic Zuffa and Dana White” Couture said. “At the end of the day, they don’t want Francis to have that power. They would have been much happier if Francis would have lost that fight. I think that’s what they expected to happen, and I think Dana White can say whatever he wants, but he didn’t show up in that cage to put that belt around his heavyweight champion, he didn’t show up to the post-fight press conference, and there’s a reason for that. He can say whatever he wants, but it’s because he was sincerely hoping that Francis would not win that fight and he wouldn’t have to deal with Francis. We’d see Francis being cut right now, but Francis is still the champ and still holding that strap. They’ve gotta deal with him.”
Ngannou, like Couture, has stated that his demands for moving forward with the UFC are not purely financial. Instead, they’re about a level of respect and the chance to pursue long-held ambitions, such as a boxing match against Tyson Fury in the champ’s case.
They’ve expressed their plight using similar terminology. While Couture has sparred with Ngannou a few times at his Xtreme Couture gym, he claims he hasn’t discussed his past with the promotion. Mainly, he taught lessons to Eric Nicksick, his long-standing Xtreme Couture coach, who later became Ngannou’s head coach.
Couture doesn’t regret giving up his legal struggle. However, he laments that the UFC later closed many of the “loopholes” he noticed in the contract, making it even more restrictive. However, in the end, he concluded that fighting and being the best in the world were far more important than sitting on the bench.
“I wanted to fight,” he said. “At the end of the day, I’m a fighter. I wanted to take a stand for myself and my family for what was best and for my financial interest and future. I wanted to be considered the No. 1 athlete in the world, and that meant fighting Fedor Emelianenko. They had him ranked as No. 1 and me ranked as No. 2. As a fighter, that’s the guy I want to fight, and I’m sure Francis would feel the same way. At the end of the day, we’re fighters. This is what we love, this is our passion. We want to be able to do this.”
