Francis Ngannou has walked away from his UFC heavyweight title and has secured his freedom from the UFC. The Cameroonian fighter opted not to re-sign with the UFC, citing the lack of independence in UFC deals (which prevent fighters from competing in boxing and anything else the promotion would prefer they didn’t).
Ngannou joined the UFC in 2015 and went on a tear to earn a UFC title fight against Stipe Miocic. He was outworked by Miocic and lost by unanimous decision. A few months later he dropped a lacklustre decision to Derrick Lewis.
After a switch in camps, Ngannou began fighting like a man possessed.