Francis Ngannou quit the UFC last year (Image: Mohammed Saad/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Explosive footage has emerged suggesting the UFC may have censored mentions of former heavyweight in the run-up to UFC 310 this weekend. The year’s final pay-per-view event is set to be a thrilling affair, headlined by a flyweight championship clash between Alexandre Pantoja and promotional newcomer Kai Asakura.
With a card brimming with tantalising bouts, the co-main event features two unbeaten talents, Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Machado Garry, squaring off in a welterweight showdown with significant divisional ramifications. Also gracing the main card, Ciryl Gane aims for victory against Alexander Volkov in a heavyweight bout that’s guaranteed to be a sizzler.
During the UFC 310 press conference on Thursday night, when quizzed about comparing Volkov’s power to other opponents, Gane remarked: “Yes, you see, I already tested his power and I already tested the power of Francis Ngannou and a lot of other big guys. So, yeah, he (Volkov) has the power, me too. This is heavyweights and this is perfectly normal.”
However, a sharp-eyed fan noticed something amiss in two different videos from the Las Vegas presser and stitched them together for comparison. One clip, shared on MMA Fighting’s official YouTube channel, featured Gane’s response in full, unedited form.
A recent video on the UFC’s YouTube channel has sparked intense reactions amongst fans for censoring Francis Ngannou’s name by overlaying music when Cyril Gane discussed it. This editing move has led to some fans expressing their opinions forcefully; one fan outrageously labeled the company as the “UPC – Ultimate Petty Company.” Another added a touch of humour in their lament, saying: “Lmao in such a sneaky way too, so pathetic.” Furthermore, another viewer didn’t mince words, describing the UFC as “I love watching but man they are such a petty s*** company.”
There appears to be a pattern – last year, the UFC went as far as to blur out a T-shirt featuring Ngannou’s name, alluding to a deliberate attempt to write the former heavyweight champion out of UFC history. Ngannou and the UFC parted ways at the beginning of 2023 after his contract ended, with him seeking more lucrative offers in the boxing world.
The UFC censored Francis Ngannou’s name at the press conference(first clip is from MMA Fighting, second clip is from the UFC’s channel)
— Borrachinha Depot (@FullContactMTWF)
The controversy resurfaced earlier when Adesanya noticed UFC editing out Ngannou’s name in a promotional video for UFC 305. The edited clip showed Adesanya speaking at the UFC 305 Pre-Sale Press Conference, where he noted, “There’s always tension whenever you fight anyone. This is a fight at the end of the day, we’re not playing chess. We’re fighting so there’s always gonna be tension there but him discrediting me, Kamaru Usman..”
Adesanya’s original remarks included a mention of Du Plessis discrediting Ngannou, but his name was later removed from the comments. Reflecting on the incident, Adesanya remarked: “You can’t erase Francis’ legacy in the UFC. It’s part of what we’ve done. It’s forever in history, in stone. So trying to whitewash it or just not talk about it is silly.”
He continued: “And I know he’s fighting for the PFL right now, but it’s still history. You can’t just turn a blind eye to it. I’m sure they’ll fix it eventually. This is how business goes with the UFC.”
In a conversation with Kevin Iole following DWCS in August, White admitted he had reached out to Adesanya to apologise for the editing error on the UFC’s YouTube channel.
“My production team are a bunch of rock stars and they are truly f****** awesome I make it so hard on them sometimes with some of the crazy s*** I say, and it’s tough. When you asked me about that, I didn’t know anything about it. But someone was editing that and made a conscious decision, thinking that was the right thing to do – that that’s what we would have wanted, what I would have wanted.”
“I’m in charge of everything production-related, so at the end of the day, the fact that it happened falls on me 100 percent. It’s my responsibility and I accept it. Blame me for that. I put them in such a tough spot sometimes saying all this crazy s***, it’s hard for them. Whoever was editing it, they thought that was the right decision and did what they thought I wanted. That’s not what I wanted, and had I known that, I would have not authorised that. But that’s on me – totally on me. I already called Adesanya and apologised for it.”