Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship is interested in Francis Ngannou’s services.
Over the past few weeks, it has been noted that Ngannou’s contract is nearly expired, or was expired, and there was no deal done. Then, on Saturday, it was revealed Jon Jones would face Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 for the heavyweight title on March 4 and Dana White then announced the UFC would be releasing Ngannou.
Dana White On Francis Ngannou
“We offered Francis a deal that would have made him the highest-paid heavyweight in the history of the company,” White said at the UFC Vegas 67 post-fight press conference. “More than [Brock] Lesnar, more than anybody, and he turned the deal down. We get to this point where I’ve told you guys before, if you don’t want to be here, you don’t have to be here. I think Francis is in a place right now where he doesn’t want to take a lot of risk.”
“[He] feels he’s in a good position where he could fight lesser opponents and make more money. So we’re going to let him do that. We’re going to release him from his contract, we’re going to give up our right to match, and he can go wherever he wants and do whatever he wants. That’s where we’re at.”
As of right now, it’s uncertain who Ngannou will sign with. However, he will no doubt have options and BKFC has already made it clear they are looking to sign the former heavyweight champ.
David Feldman to Send Offer to Francis Ngannou
“We’re very interested in signing Francis Ngannou and would very much like to have him compete in the stacked BKFC heavyweight division,” Feldman said Sunday in a statement to MMA Junkie. “We’re tabling an offer for his services, and hopefully fans will see him in the BKFC squared circle in 2023.”
Whether or not Ngannou is interested in BKFC is another question, but Feldman is confident BKFC will have a strong offer regardless.
Francis Ngannou (17-3) is coming off a decision victory over Gane last January to defend his heavyweight title for the first time. He became the champ in March of 2021 with a KO win over Stipe Miocic. In his career, he holds notable wins over Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, and Andrei Arlovski among others.
