Israel Adesanya Defends Francis Ngannou After UFC Exit: 'He's Not Being a Diva'

Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya voiced his support for Francis Ngannou in his fight to get better pay for fighters in the promotion.

Speaking to reporters in Australia after Saturday's UFC 284 event, Adesanya explained Ngannou was "not being a diva" with his contract demands:

"I've been saying the same thing. I'm not gonna harp on about it, but he's right, it's little things —he's asking for things that should be mandatory. He wasn't asking for, you know, crazy, ridiculous diva-ish demands. There's something as little as for the guys fighting on the opening [bout], having the fourth or third corner man being paid for and the hotel is being paid for. That sets them up nicely, and they don't have to fork it out of their 10 and 10, to pay for their fourth or third corner. Little things like that."

UFC president Dana White announced on Jan. 14 that Ngannou was stripped of the heavyweight title and free to negotiate with other promotions after the two sides couldn't come to terms on a new contract.

Appearing on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani on Jan. 17 (h/t ESPN's Marc Raimondi), Ngannou explained UFC rejected all of his requests including waiving extension clauses and providing health insurance for all fighters under contract.

"In that contract, I'm not free," Ngannou said of what UFC wanted to give him. "In that contract, I'm not an independent contractor. In that contract, I have no rights, I have no power. I hand over all the power to you guys, and I've seen in the past how you can utilize that power."

There has been a growing discussion around the pay and benefits for fighters in UFC. Raimondi noted in August that recent data from an ongoing antitrust lawsuit involving former fighters against the promotion shows that UFC pays its fighters around 20 percent of its revenue.

According to Raimondi, sports leagues like the NFL, NBA and MLB share about 50 percent of their revenue with players. One key difference between those leagues and the UFC is those leagues are unionized and have collective bargaining agreements.

There are no mixed martial arts promotions that have a union. Ngannou is planning to switch to boxing when he recovers from damage suffered to his ACL and MCL in his victory over Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 in January 2022.

Deontay Wilder recently told Trill Boxing (via the Mirror's Donagh Corby) he would like to sign a two-fight deal with Ngannou that includes one boxing match and one mixed martial arts match.

Ngannou also accepted a challenge from WBC and The Ring heavyweight champion Tyson Fury for a special-rules fight to take place at some point in 2023. He agreed to the fight on Twitter, and there's no indication at this point any deal has been signed, so take it with a grain of salt.

At the time Ngannou left UFC, he was the undisputed heavyweight champion. The 36-year-old has a 17-3 career record in mixed martial arts and won each of his last six fights in UFC.