The UFC has threatened SUE with heavyweight champion Francis Nganou’s agent for alleged talks with Jake Paul’s manager.
Ngannu, 34, fizzled out last weekend with the prospect of switching to boxing ahead of his successful UFC 270 title defense against former teammate Cyril Gain.
But hours before the bout, Cameroon’s manager Markel Martin received an email from the promotion claiming he had spoken to Paul’s manager, Nakisa Bidarian, about a possible boxing under Paul’s Most Valuable Promotion banner.
During an appearance on The MMA Hour, Nganou revealed: “I walked into the waiting room for my manager, my coach.
“And they were like, ‘Whoa.’ I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’
“They told me they just got an email from the UFC saying they were going to sue [Martin] To talk with this man, Nakisa.
“Yeah. I’m like, ‘Who’s Nakisa?'”
Ngannou insists he has no idea who Bidarian is, the former UFC chief financial officer.
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He said: “If you put him in front of me, I will not recognize him.”
Biderian, Martin and the UFC all declined to comment when contacted by ESPN.
Heavyweight King Nganou is set to become a free agent in December and will be able to entertain offers from interested parties.
Predator wants to continue his stint in the UFC but wants his contract to be amended so that he is paid more and has the freedom to box as he is an ‘independent contractor’.
He said: “The duration of the contract, everything they put [it], they hold you like a prisoner.
“You can’t do anything, you have no rights. The contract is one-sided.
“You don’t even have health insurance when you’re doing this, putting your body on the line to put on the show. Risking everything.”
He later added: “You can be free and fight for the UFC. I just want to be free.
“We are supposedly independent contractors. [An] An independent contractor is technically an independent person.
“That’s why they need some adjustments to that contract. That’s what I’m fighting for.”
UFC President Dana White opted not to wrap the heavyweight title around Ngannou’s waist after Cameron’s successful title defense and missed the post-fight press conference.
And according to Ngannou, the hype hasn’t reached yet to discuss the possibility of signing a new deal.
He added: “It doesn’t look like they want to talk to me any more.”
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