Randy Couture Slams UFC Treatment Of Francis Ngannou: ‘It’s A Disservice’
Randy Couture sides with Francis Ngannou in his ongoing feud with the UFC.
The recently crowned heavyweight champion is currently at odds with the promotion and its president, Dana White after they booked an interim title fight between Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane.
In an interview with Submission Radio, Couture said tonight’s interim title fight between Lewis and Gane is nothing more than a marketing ploy.
“It’s a ploy, in my opinion. I think they’re trying to find a way to use a title fight as a marketing tool, to get more eyeballs and more pay-per-views,” Couture said. “I think it’s a disservice to Francis, but it is what it is. Francis is an amazing guy, one of the most humble athletes and most talented athletes that I’ve been around. So, he’ll work it out, things are gonna be just fine. Pretty tough to overlook a guy that is that talented and that amazing. But yeah, I just think the interim championship that they’re creating, it’s kind of when they don’t get their way, they’re like, alright, we’ll make this interim title and then you can sort it out later.”
“I think that is part of the ploy, creating an interim title when Francis still holds the title. And now they’re gonna want to force and create that unification fight and have Francis fight Derrick,” Couture added. “I don’t think Francis is worried about fighting Derrick, but I think the Jon Jones fight would have been a much bigger fight for the fans and everybody involved.”
“I think when you start chirping about money, which both Jon Jones and Francis have done, and you have guys like Jake Paul, Logan Paul actually shining a flashlight on the disparaging difference between MMA and boxing as well, Dana’s one of those guys, he’s gonna dig his heels in and he’s gonna find a way to make it happen the way he wants it to happen.”
Do you agree with Randy Couture? Is the creation of an interim heavyweight title a disservice to Francis Ngannou?
