YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul has insisted Francis Ngannou is still MMA's undisputed heavyweight champion despite leaving the UFC and forfeiting his world title.
The hard-hitting heavyweight defeated legendary champion Stipe Miocic for the title in a 2021 rematch before defending the belt against top contender Ciryl Gane last January. But after a lengthy battle with injury, which coincided with his contract running out, he opted to test free agency, costing him the belt he never lost in the cage.
And Paul believes that until he is defeated, Ngannou will remain the greatest heavyweight in the world to MMA fans despite not holding the UFC title. While the champion entertains offers from other promotions, legendary former light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones will face Gane for the vacant title in March.
" Francis Ngannou is the baddest man on the planet and is a free agent because he chose to be," Paul wrote in a tweet yesterday. "He’s the heavyweight champ in MMA and will be until he loses. They are not happy about this. But it’s reality and they have to deal with it. They have to live with that everyday."
Ngannou's UFC contract saw him make scandalously low money despite being the heavyweight champion and one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters in the world. He earned a guaranteed purse of just $600,000, or around 50-times less than his boxing equivalent Tyson Fury, for his last defence against Gane, and was unhappy with negotiations for a new agreement.
His former promoter Dana White has already claimed Ngannou has decided to test free agency in order to take "less risks" and face lesser opponents for more money.
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“We offered a deal to Francis that would’ve made him the highest paid heavyweight in the history of the company, more than Brock Lesnar, more than everybody," White said when giving an update on Ngannou's UFC future on Saturday night. "And he turned the deal down. We’re going to release him from his contract, give up our right to match.
"He can go wherever he wants, do whatever he wants. I think Francis is at a place right now, where he doesn’t want to take a risk. He feels like he can fight lesser opponents and make more money. The guy weighs over 300lb, just had knee surgery, hasn’t had a real training camp. I think that probably has a lot to do with it."
Ngannou had been publicly calling for a fight with Jones for years, and entered his bout with Gane last January as the underdog. He later revealed that heading into that fight with Gane, his former training partner, that he had suffered a serious knee injury and was competing injured despite not having a UFC contract to fall back on if he were to lose the belt.
