We won’t be seeing Francis Ngannou back in the Octagon for a while.
Road To Recovery
The UFC Heavyweight Champion is looking to repair a torn MCL and damaged ACL. The recovery process will be a long one, taking an estimated 9 months. These injuries were present in Ngannou’s last fight.
Ngannou will undergo surgery soon, but it will have to wait until after his trip to his home country of Cameroon. After a victory lap in Africa, the road to recovery will begin for ‘The Predator’. Details of the evaluation were provided by Ngannou’s manager, Marquel Martin.
The current status on Ngannou would be first reported by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.
The heavyweight king’s relationship with the UFC is currently rocky. Ngannou would defend his title successfully against Frenchman Cyril Gane at UFC 270. This would also be Ngannou’s last fight of his contract.
‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go’
However, with a successful retaining of the belt, Ngannou will now go through with his championship clause. He does have the option to wait out a year, if he wants to be released by the UFC. He could theoretically dive into the waters of free agency after that.
Coincidentally, given his current health, Ngannou will be sidelined for almost that period of time. Ngannou could refuse to fight in those remaining 3 months if he so desires. Or he could crack a deal that leaves both parties satisfied.
Whether him and the UFC come to terms for a new contract still remains to be a mystery. Until then, Ngannou will look to make a healthy recovery and perhaps the UFC will look to recover their once-good relationship with the heavyweight fighter.
