02 May 2023 , 13:03
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ONE Championship has withdrawn from their negotiations with former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou due to a "lack of alignment".
Ngannou, 36, split with the UFC in January after failing to reach an agreement with the promotion over a new contract. The Cameroonian was linked to a highly-anticipated title fight against Jon Jones but he opted to vacate his belt to pursue other options. Ngannou held talks with ONE boss Chatri Sityodtong this past weekend, but the two parties failed to reach an agreement.
"ONE has decided to withdraw from the process of bidding for Francis Ngannou’s services," Sityodtong told SCMP. "After careful reflection, we decided not to submit our final offer. Francis is a good guy and a good champion. I wish him continued success and happiness. At the end of the day, I didn’t feel Francis and I were fully aligned on non-financial matters. It is nothing personal. It is just a lack of alignment.”
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Ngannou has since responded to Sityodtong's comments by giving a different side of the story. According to MMA journalist Ariel Helwani, Ngannou went into his talks with ONE having verbally agreed to sign with another MMA promotion. Ngannou feels ONE tried to protect his promotion's reputation by insisting they were pulling out of negotiations rather than Ngannou.
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“Francis’s side of the story is a little bit different, he was very transparent,” Helwani said on The MMA Hour. “Francis was very close to signing a new deal with another promotion. According to Francis, he was very upfront [with ONE] about this, so they left the meeting on good terms. Both of them came to an understanding that because he had already kind of verbally committed to someone, more than likely he’s not going to ONE.
Francis Ngannou left the UFC in January (AFP via Getty Images)"His feeling is that Chatri tried to get ahead of the story and save face that they were withdrawing as opposed to, 'We couldn't close the deal and get this guy to come'. Maybe he wants everyone to know 'We're in control here, we're not offering this guy a deal, it's not that he's choosing someone else.'"
Ngannou was linked to a boxing fight against heavyweight stars such as Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder, but those plans could now be scuppered by an illustrious four-man tournament reported for the end of the year in Saudi Arabia. Bellator MMA and Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship have also both ruled out the possibility of signing Ngannou due to his financial demands.