Francis Ngannou blames decline of heavyweight MMA on 'mismanagement'

Francis Ngannou thinks heavyweight MMA isn't where it used to be.

Ngannou (18-3) parted ways with the UFC in 2023 as heavyweight champion. The split was far from amicable, but Ngannou managed to pursue his dreams of lacing up the gloves twice against two of the biggest names in Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.

He has only competed once in MMA since, when he knocked out Renan Ferreira in the first round to win the PFL Super Fights heavyweight title in October 2024. "The Predator" points to UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall's current rift with the promotion as a sign that heavyweight MMA is struggling.

"I think there is a lot of, I would say, mismanagement," Ngannou told The Schmo on the state of heavyweight MMA. "There is a lot of mismanagement that sometimes gets stuff screwed up, and then that's where we are today. You see, even now, there's a lot of heavyweights out there like Tom Aspinall. He's having troubles with this.

"I think there's a mismanagement. You see all these situations that don't come and entertain. When I say mismanagement, I wasn't talking about, like, managers. I was talking mostly about the promotion. So I think there's something like that out there, which is not right."

Ngannou returns to the cage when he takes on Phillipe Lins (18-5) in MVP's inaugural MMA event on May 16 from Intuit Dome, Inglewood, Calif. Lins is an experienced veteran, but doesn't carry the name value Ngannou does.

"Nowadays with all these different companies, it's hard to just focus on a name like, 'I want this name, I want this guy,'" Ngannou said. "I've done that for a while, and it didn't work really good. We can take a good example of the Jon Jones fight that we've been talking about around six years since I fought Jairzinho Rozenstruik to the point that it's kind of annoying to talk about. So whatever fight makes sense, opponent makes sense to fight, just fight. Remember, the goal at the end of the day is to fight."