02 February 2023 , 15:15
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Francis Ngannou has been excluded from the UFC's Black History Month tribute weeks after leaving the organisation.
Ngannou is considered one of the most dominant heavyweight champions in recent UFC history defeating the likes of Stipe Miocic, Alistair Overeem and Ciryl Gane during his stint as king. However 'The Predator' recently announced his departure from the UFC having failed to agree a new contract, after being left unhappy with his financial reward.
The heavyweight champion has since vacated his belt and will now move on, as he is now considering a stint in the boxing ring or with another MMA promotion. Having cut most ties with Ngannou, the UFC have now dealt their final blow to Ngannou leaving him out of a traditional social media video to pay tribute to Black History Month.
During the video, some of the most iconic fighters from the modern era can be seen including Jon Jones, Israel Adesanya, Kamaru Usman and Aljamain Sterling. However the feature video even included former champion Demetrious Johnson who has not fought under the UFC banner since 2018.
The UFC captioned the post: "We’re proud to celebrate #BlackHistoryMonth by acknowledging the achievements of our past and present African-American and Black athletes." Fans and fighters alike appeared unhappy with his disbarring from the important video, with UFC star Luke Rockhold leading the protest.
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He wrote: "Are you just going to erase Frsncis Ngannou from the record books huh? Francis Ngannou is the most historical black figure in MMA. Baddest man on the planet straight from Africa." Another even pointed out Johnson's inclusion, adding: "Rare 'Mighty Mouse' [Johnson] highlight on a UFC post. Even he is getting more than Ngannou here."
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One fan continued the protest, commenting: "I get Francis was released and all but come on man, dude was a champ and had a defense. He deserves recognition." Another agreed: "They didn't even consider my boy Ngannou. The UFC have done him dirty."
Another fan believes this could be a reaction to the difficult departure, adding: "That comes across madly salty lmao. They put Demetrious Johnson before Francis. Love the UFC of course and Dana. But watching it throughout the years that is really tough." A final fan concluded: "Francis Ngannou is from Cameroon, held the title, his journey is one of the craziest stories anyone could ever hear, yet you took him out."
Ngannou is likely to receive a host of offers from promotions outside the UFC as he eyes a debut in the boxing ring, which has already included talks to face Anthony Joshua from Matchroom Boxing's Eddie Hearn. The former champion could also continue his MMA career and has been heavily linked with an appearance in the PFL, particularly in Jake Paul's new 'super-fight' division.