Francis Ngannou: UFC fighters ‘are losing power’ as company ‘gets stronger’

The heavyweight champion is an outspoken advocate of improved fighter pay

UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has said he feels that fighters are ‘losing power’ as the promotion ‘gets stronger’.

Ngannou has been an outspoken advocate of improved fighter pay in recent months, and the Cameroonian went into depth on the matter on Sirius XM this week.

“I’m sure over time, UFC fighters, we are losing a lot of power,” said Ngannou, 36. “The company is getting big, getting stronger, and we have no power.

“We have nobody there to advocate for us, just in the room making decisions, nobody cares for the fighters, even though there are about 700 fighters in the promotion [...] I don’t believe they make all those decisions to harm fighters, but sometimes they just don’t understand the fighters’ position.

“There’s a lot of things that can be changed. The fighter pay, that’s a huge problem that everyone’s aware of, and it seems like we keep rolling like nothing is going on. The health insurance, the same problem. I would like to see some of those solved.”

Ngannou last fought in January, when he retained his title with a decision victory over former teammate Ciryl Gane, and the champion is still recovering from a knee injury that he carried into that bout.

Ngannou is expected to return to the Octagon in early 2023, with a potential clash with former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones on the cards.

While discussing fighter pay in his interview on Sirius XM, the “Predator” revealed his hopes that UFC athletes might be able to achieve more freedom to work with sponsors going forward.

“Over time, I realised there’s a lot of issues that can be fixed. I was getting frustrated at some point, because I feel unprotected, which is exactly the situation that all fighters are in, too,” Ngannou said.

“I would like the UFC to consider their position in a lot of things now regarding to fighters. Sponsorships – I think fighters should also have the right to put a sponsor on their shirt, not just for the company to make money out of it. Why not? They are not making money out of it.

“I understand that they want to make this uniform, they want to make the sport [look] clean, I understand that – or not let any unappealing sponsor or brand get into the Octagon, which I truly agree with that. But we should have some sort of way to check and approve certain sponsors so you can bring a sponsor inside [the UFC] and make money out of it.”