{"id":331872,"date":"2019-11-12T11:48:55","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T19:48:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=331872"},"modified":"2019-11-12T11:48:57","modified_gmt":"2019-11-12T19:48:57","slug":"francis-ngannou-accuses-ufc-of-using-him-as-a-gatekeeper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/francis-ngannou-accuses-ufc-of-using-him-as-a-gatekeeper\/","title":{"rendered":"Francis Ngannou accuses UFC of using him as a gatekeeper"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Francis Ngannou wants another shot at the UFC heavyweight title, and believes a fight with Alexander Volkov could be the key to earning that opportunity. Unfortunately, the Cameroonian-Frenchman is convinced that Volkov is avoiding him and that the UFC is content to use him as a so-called gatekeeper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cJust for the record, Volkov turned down the fight against me twice,\u201d Ngannou told <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"MMA Junkie (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/mmajunkie.usatoday.com\/2019\/11\/ufc-francis-ngannou-alexander-volkov-wont-fight-me\" target=\"_blank\">MMA Junkie<\/a>. \u201cOne was July 2017 and August 2018. He clearly denied to fight me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe UFC have made it clear for everybody that I\u2019m who you have to fight if you want to fight for the title,\u201d Ngannou added. \u201cIt seems like I\u2019m just there to be, to go to the gate. That\u2019s 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\u2019t seem to be in the talk, so that\u2019s exactly what the UFC has made me appear, to be the gate holder. And, yeah, I think Volkov is dodging me clearly. That\u2019s not a secret that he\u2019s dodging me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ngannou added that he believes all three of his most recent opponents were promised title shots in victory \u2014 though none made it out of the first round with him. Yet the UFC does not seem willing to make him the same assurances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI think all my three opponents, they had a title shot promise,\u201d Ngannou said. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Francis Ngannou is currently on a three-fight win-streak, having recently knocked out Curtis Blaydes, Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos, all in the first round. These wins were preceded by a pair of decision losses to Derrick Lewis and Stipe Miocic, the latter of which marked a failed bid at the heavyweight belt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This article first appeared on&nbsp;<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\"><em>BJPENN.COM<\/em><\/a><em>&nbsp;on 11\/12\/2019. &nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Francis Ngannou wants another shot at the UFC heavyweight title, and believes a fight with Alexander Volkov could be the key to earning that opportunity. Unfortunately, the Cameroonian-Frenchman is convinced that Volkov is avoiding him and that the UFC is content to use him as a so-called gatekeeper. \u201cJust for the record, Volkov turned down [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54430,"featured_media":284798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[27345,10646,39610],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.7 (Yoast SEO v19.14) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Francis Ngannou accuses UFC of using him as a gatekeeper | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Streaking UFC heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou accuses fellow ranked contender Alexander Volkov of ducking a fight with him.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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