UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is currently being strong-armed into a contest with Ciryl Gane, a man the UFC awarded an interim heavyweight belt to after he beat Derrick Lewis at UFC 265.
Ngannou had been campaigning for a blockbuster fight with Jon Jones. However, the UFC made it clear that it did not want to meet both Ngannou and Jones’ price tags for what would be the biggest fight the promotion could make.
Now Ngannou faces two options: Fight Gane for less money than he would have commanded for Jones or sit out and risk having his title stripped away.