French-Cameroonian mixed martial artist Francis Ngannou, fighting in in the UFC heavyweight category, announched that he will never fight for prize money under the conditions in his current UFC contract. According to Ngannou, his payments are too low and he is not going to fight for $500,000 or $600,000 anymore.
His upcoming fight with Gane on January 22 will become the last appearance of his eight-fight contract that he signed in 2017, and if tha last bout will retain the Heavyweight Championship for him, Ngannou will have the right to claim a championship clause in the contract. This clause might involve three fights within a year. However, Ngannou claim he won’t take part in any fights unless the new contract is offered.
Thus, it becomes unclear when the conract might legally end. The situation with Ngannou is unprecedented in modern MMA. According to him and Markel Martin, Ngannou’s manager, there is a clause in the contract stating it cannot last more than five years; however, the UFC also has extension rights if Ngannou pulls out of the fight.