Chael Sonnen explains why Francis Ngannou wasn't getting fights towards the end of his UFC contract
Chael Sonnen weighed in on claims made by Francis Ngannou's manager Marquel Martin regarding the former heavyweight champion being stalled out of his UFC contract.
Sonnen uploaded a video to his YouTube channel, where he explained why Ngannou wasn't getting any fights towards the end of his deal with the UFC. He mentioned that his performances and status in the heavyweight division was one of the main factors and took the perspective of Dana White in that situation.
He said:
"You cannot take somebody and just put them in there with Francis...Francis will take the number-one contender and he will send that guy to the emergency room. You gotta put him in there with champions, you gotta put him in there with the absolute best you have." [6:14 - 6:31]
'The American Gangster' also brought up that 'The Predator' was winning fights so quickly that it made it difficult to keep him active because there wasn't anything available. He mentioned that the title picture at the time didn't do Ngannou any favors, because he was essentially the top contender waiting on the sidelines, saying:
"Stipe [Miocic] had started a program of business with Daniel Cormier, which ended up doing three matches, it just took a meaningful period of time. So, you keep Francis busy, you get Francis in there, you let the Stipe-'DC' thing go and move on, you start to get information that Jon Jones is coming up." [2:03 - 2:24]
Sonnen made valid points from the promoter's perspective, but the former heavyweight champion was calling for a fight with Jones at the time, which didn't materialize.
Check out the full video:
Chael Sonnen reveals why Bellator didn't make an offer for Francis Ngannou
Francis Ngannou was a highly sought after free agent and deservingly so, but one promotion that decided not continue their pursuit and offer a deal was Bellator.
While speaking to former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub, Chael Sonnen explained why Bellator didn't make a strong push for the former UFC heavyweight champion. He mentioned that Bellator representative Mike Kogan met with 'The Predator' but repectfully notified him that they wouldn't be making an offer, saying:
"He [Mike Kogan] just said, 'Francis, for the numbers that you're talking, you're going to need a pay-per-view model...I'm not gonna waste your time...We're not gonna give you an offer.' And Bellator never did put an offer forward for Francis. Once they heard him, they just realized that this isn't gonna work." [3:24 - 3:41]