UFC president Dana White has been told to reward heavyweight star Francis Ngannou with a pay rise as their contract row continues.
Ngannou defeated Cyril Gane in a title defence in the final fight of his UFC contract to leave his future in the promotion uncertain.
He has continued to be embroiled in a row over his pay with the promotion and will refuse to fight under his current contract unless a clause to enter the boxing ring is inserted.
MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz has disagreed with the narrative that White dislikes Ngannou and has hailed the Cameroon star for putting on "great shows".
“If anybody deserves to be paid, it’s Francis,” Abdelaziz told MMA Junkie. “You look at the story, the guy come from Cameroon, went to Moracco, got on a plastic boat to Europe – the man has a strong will.
“The man has a strong will, but Dana White been waiting 20 years for someone like Francis to arrive, to be on the scene, to become the baddest heavyweight on the planet.
"This whole narrative that Dana White doesn’t like Francis, I think is wrong. It’s almost impossible not to like Francis. He puts on great shows. He’s a great human being and I think it’s a lot of ego involved.
“Francis probably left in the last two fights $12 million on the table, this is a courageous man. How you not gonna respect this man and this man come from nothing? Do I think it was the smartest thing to do? Absolutely not.
"I don’t think you should leave this kind of money on the table, but his main thing is he wanted to box. I think Dana White will let him box, but it has to be, ‘I’m gonna be a team player here, we’re gonna work together.'"
Ngannou has since claimed that the row over his contract has cost him £5.2 million after being prevented from pursuing boxing opportunities.
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The Cameroon star has been exchanging call-outs with WBC champion Tyson Fury over a potential boxing clash but this looks extremely unlikely to take place until 2023 at the earliest.
He has also admitted that he would prefer pursue a boxing clash next as opposed to another defence against Jon Jones.
Former UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt has advised the undisputed heavyweight champion to consider his future after earning fifty times less than Fury in his last fight.
"With Ngannou, of course, he should sit out," Hunt told Submission Radio. "Of course, he should look at his other options.
"To me, the man in MMA getting paid $500,000 to $600,000 is a freaking joke - I just explained to you that I got paid $950,000 six years ago and I never had the belt.
"So, right there goes to show you how much these guys are getting exploited."
