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There are no African champions in the UFC as Cameroon's Francis Ngannou vacates the heavyweight title.
Cameroonian-French professional mixed martial artist Francis Zavier Ngannou has vacated the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight title.
UFC president Dana White confirmed the departure of Ngannou on Sunday, January 16, 2023.
The 36-year-old Ngannou was unable to reach a contract renewal agreement with the UFC and was stripped of his title.
According to several sources, there was a dispute between Ngannou and White that hampered the negotiation process.
White made the announcement of Ngannou's departure at a post-fight press conference.
White on Ngannou's UFC departure
He explained that Ngannou was unable to reach an agreement with the UFC despite being offered the most lucrative deal for a heavyweight in the history of the sport.
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He said, "We've been negotiating with [Ngannou] for more than two years.
"We offered Francis a deal that would've made him the highest-paid heavyweight in the history of the company - more than [Brock] Lesnar, more than anybody, and he turned the deal down.
"Francis is in a place now where he doesn't want to take a lot of risk. He feels like he's in a position where he could fight lesser opponents and make more money, so we're going to let him do that and release him from our contract. He can go wherever he wants and do whatever he wants."
He also announced other fights that have been concluded and will take place in the coming months.
White announced that the trilogy between Nigeria's Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards will serve as the main event of UFC 286.
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While Azerbaijani Rafael Fiziev meets American Justin Gaethje on the same night as the co-main event.
Ngannou was on a six-fight winning streak and his departure means that there are no African champions in the UFC.
The vacant heavyweight title will now be contested between France's Ciryl Gane and returning superstar Jon Jones at UFC 285 in Las Vegas on March 4, 2023.
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