Nigeria-New Zealander, Israel Adesanya has voiced his frustration with the UFC after it seemingly attempted to distance itself from former Cameroonian heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou.
Ngannou, who left the UFC in 2023 to join the PFL, was notably edited out of a recent UFC video where Adesanya mentioned himself, Ngannou, and Kamaru Usman as the “three African kings” of the promotion.
Adesanya, originally from Nigeria and now fighting out of New Zealand, spoke out ahead of his upcoming fight against South African middleweight champion, Dricus du Plessis at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia.
“You can’t erase Francis’ legacy in the UFC; it’s part of what we’ve done,” Adesanya said. “I know he fights for the PFL now, but it’s history—trying not to talk about it is silly. The UFC are smart people; this is just business. They’ll rectify it eventually.”
Ngannou, who was stripped of his UFC heavyweight title after leaving the organization, cited a “lack of freedom” as the reason for his departure. Since then, he has participated in high-profile boxing matches against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua and is set to make his PFL debut against Renan Ferreira on October 19.
Adesanya is currently preparing to reclaim his middleweight crown in what will be the first all-African title bout in UFC history. After losing his title to Sean Strickland last September and taking a break from the sport, Adesanya is now set to face Du Plessis, who became the UFC’s first South African titleholder earlier this year.
A victory for Adesanya would make him only the second fighter in UFC history to become a three-time champion in the same division, following Randy Couture’s achievements in the heavyweight division between 1997 and 2007.
