Opinion: Same Old Story - or Not?

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You probably heard this story before: Dana White is at war with the UFC heavyweight champion.

Everything Francis Ngannou said about the UFC on Saturday night after retaining his title has been expressed in some form or fashion by a litany of men who also called themselves champion of the organization’s heavyweight division during White’s reign.

Disrespect and power plays.

That has been a tried-and-true part of the experience for more than a few UFC fighters when dealing with White and the company he runs. If you followed the UFC with interest, none of this should be a surprise to you.

Almost 15 years before Ngannou aired out his frustrations, respected UFC champ Randy Couture called me from a movie set in South Africa with some news.

“The Natural” said he had “resigned” from the UFC because he was “disenchanted” with the promotion.

Especially White.

"I'm tired of being taken advantage of, played as the nice guy and basically swimming against the current with the management of the UFC," Couture said at the time. "I have a lot of other things going on in my life that I'm doing just fine with. I don't need the problems. I don't feel like I get the respect I deserve from the organization, and that's motivation No. 2 for the letter of resignation that was sent today."

(Motivation No. 1 was landing a fight with Fedor Emelianenko, who also famously feuded with the UFC president but never made White any money for the trouble.)

Much of what Couture said to me all those years ago was echoed by Ngannou as he thoughtfully addressed the media following his unanimous decision victory over Ciryl Gane in Anaheim.

Again, the story is familiar: A UFC champion eyeing a lucrative fight that the UFC can’t or won’t provide has run afoul of the company.

If Ngannou manages to secure the payday he covets against undisputed boxing heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, it is likely to come without UFC approval, meaning he’s correct and will be out of contract a year from now.

"It's not simply money,” Ngannou said. “Obviously money is a part of it, but also the terms of the contract — I don't agree with it. I don't think it's fair. I don't think I'm a free man. I don’t think I've been treated good. It's unfortunate I need to be in this position to say that.”

Couture sued the UFC with the support of Mark Cuban, who wanted to air the bout with Emelianenko on HDNet, in an attempt to secure a way out from Zuffa’s restrictive contract. Throughout 2008, Couture’s legal challenge went nowhere in the courts. Years later, via a separate lawsuit brought by other fighters, the issue is currently being litigated in front of a U.S. District Court Judge in Las Vegas.

Shortly after the very public confrontation with White began, the two-division UFC title holder stopped pursuing remedies in court and accepted whatever the UFC was obligated to pay. He lost the heavyweight belt to Brock Lesnar in his return. Though it didn’t turn out how he wanted, Couture hoped the attempt to free himself might set a precedent “that down the road requires athletes to be treated better.” He called that possibility “icing on the cake.”

Little changed until the antitrust lawsuit became a threat and the UFC reportedly reacted by altering contractual language to loosen its grip on talent by limiting the number of years fighters remain tied to the promotion to five.

This is where Ngannou’s situation diverges from his peers; for once a current champion appears to have the upper hand on White. So “The Predator” is resolved to steer clear of the Octagon again in 2022 — pushing his streak of one-fight years to three straight.

He said he needs right knee surgery to repair torn ligaments injured 25 days before the fight, and, more to the point, he simply doesn’t see why he should have to toil under White’s control.

"I've been going to the UFC for a long time [to discuss a contract],” Ngannou said. “I kind of exhausted all my options."

For the money he gets? For the terms as currently constructed? When White won’t walk into the cage to put the belt around the waist of his company’s heavyweight champion? When the UFC president follows up one shun with another by failing to address the media on a night when the only African UFC heavyweight champion ever successfully defended the belt for the first time?

The disrespect and the games, of course he’s done with that. He should be.

"It's been a long time and a lot of things have been going on,” said the 35-year-old Cameroonian. “I think at this point my feelings don't matter. I've felt a lot of things in the past year. I expressed my willingness to be in the UFC and have a contract to be respected. The only reason we're here is at some point I wasn't respected. It could have been way less to get this deal done, but it went to a power position and got everybody frustrated. It got me frustrated. It made me lose the desire to do things.”

Odds are the Baddest Man on the Planet won’t reside in the Octagon much longer.