Francis Ngannou Believes UFC Is Using Him As A Gatekeeper

Former title challenger Francis Ngannou has accused the UFC of using him as a gatekeeper for the rest of the heavyweight division.

Ngannou is on a three-fight winning streak that included devastating first-round knockouts of Curtis Blaydes, Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos. He seemed to be next in line for a title shot.

However, the UFC has plans on making a Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier trilogy next. As a result, Ngannou is left without an opponent.

He has been looking for a fight for a while and recently called out Alexander Volkov following the latter’s win at UFC Moscow this past weekend. Ngannou notably told him not to turn him down again as he later revealed that “Drago” had done so twice before:

“Just for the record, Volkov turned down the fight against me twice,” Ngannou told MMA Junkie. “One was July 2017 and August 2018. He clearly denied to fight me.”

It would come as a surprise then that Volkov would deny a fight with Ngannou this time, especially as the latter feels the UFC are using him as the benchmark for any other contender to get the next title shot:

“The UFC have made it clear for everybody that I’m who you have to fight if you want to fight for the title,” Ngannou added. “It seems like I’m just there to be, to go to the gate. That’s how it looks now. If they want to fight for the title, they have to fight me, but how about me fighting for the title?

“It doesn’t seem to be in the talk, so that’s exactly what the UFC has made me appear, to be the gate holder. And, yeah, I think Volkov is dodging me clearly. That’s not a secret that he’s dodging me.”

In fact, “The Predator” believes his last three opponents would have received a title shot if they ended up beating him:

“I think all my three opponents, they had a title shot promise,” Ngannou said. “I think so, because Curtis Blaydes was title (shot) guaranteed. Cain Velasquez I think it was the same thing. Junior Dos Santos after three wins, it was the same thing. But they are just forgetting about me.”

What do you make of Ngannou’s theory?