Francis Ngannou excluded from the UFC's Black History Month video, fighters and fans speak up

Fans and fighters have been left outraged after the UFC's Black History Month video failed to feature former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.

Dana White announced earlier last month that the UFC had failed to reach an agreement with Ngannou over a new contract. As a result, 'The Predator' vacated the heavyweight title and was released by the organization.

The general consensus amongst fans is that due to Ngannou's release, the UFC has decided to exclude him from the historical video.

"We’re proud to celebrate #BlackHistoryMonth by acknowledging the achievements of our past and present African-American and Black athletes."

Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more

Fans and fighters have criticized the organization for its decision. Former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold claimed that the UFC was trying to erase Ngannou's contribution to the organization:

"Just gonna erase @francisngannou from the record books huh? @francisngannou is the most historical black figure in MMA. Baddest man on the planet straight from Africa."

An eagle-eyed fan even spotted former men's flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, who is usually ignored in the UFC's videos:

"Rare mighty mouse highlight on a UFC post. Even he is getting more than Ngannou here lmao"

Another fan added that Francis Ngannou winning the title and having a successful title defense is more than enough to be given some recognition:

"I get Francis was released and all but come on man, dude was a champ and had a defense. He deserves recognition"

Check out more fan reactions below:

Oscar De La Hoya open to promoting Francis Ngannou

Francis Ngannou now finds himself a free agent after he was unsuccessful in his attempts to sign a new deal with the UFC that would have included allowing him to face Tyson Fury in boxing.

Oscar De La Hoya, the Golden Boy Promotions CEO, recently weighed in on the situation with 'The Predator'. According to De La Hoya, he'd be more than willing to sit down and have a conversation with Francis Ngannou about his future. He told The MMA Hour:

“I would love to speak to [Ngannou]. Any fighter who is an MMA fighter, I’m here, I would love to speak to anybody. I would love to pick their brain, I would love to maybe sit down and discuss some business. I’m all for it. I think these fighters who are MMA fighters who have been with the UFC or are with the UFC, I would love to just talk from fighter to fighter and pick each other’s brains and see what happens.”

Catch Oscar De La Hoya's comments here (1:30:00 mark):

About the author

Will began his tenure at Sportskeeda as an MMA writer over 2 years ago and has penned over 1800 pieces so far, including 35+ exclusives, which have garnered close to 5 million views.

Will graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Media and Communications from Bournemouth University, where he was also a valued member of their communications team. His degree heavily focused on social media and writing, which eventually led him toward sports writing.

He turned into an MMA fan after witnessing Conor McGregor’s 13-second TKO win over Jose Aldo at UFC 194 in 2015. The Irishman sits at the top of his list of top-five MMA fighters of all time, which also includes world champions like Demetrious Johnson, Michael Bisping, Max Holloway, and Georges St-Pierre.

Will especially enjoys working on event days and feels his contribution to Sportskeeda’s UFC 300 coverage was one of the high points of his time with the organization. He ensures his articles are accurate by going through multiple sources, which also helps his writing be as informative as possible.

His interests away from work include football, gaming, live streaming, and listening to music.

Know More

Follow One Championship News, Schedule & Results at Sportskeeda.

Edited by Aziel Karthak