UFC president Dana White has told Francis Ngannou that 'he can leave' if he no longer wants to be part of the organisation.
The UFC and its heavyweight champion have been at loggerheads for several months on more than one occasion, including Ngannou's fight frequency.
Despite the 34-year-old's star power, White says he is happy to let Ngannou go at the end of his contract if he no longer wants to fight.
Ngannou enters UFC 270 on the last fight of his contract and White revealed he is happy to let the 34-year-old star power go if successfully defends his crown against Ciryl Gane at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Saturday, Jan. 22.
'Look, if you want to be with us, we'd love to have you. If you don't want to be with us, no problem. It's all good,' White told ESPN.
'I think his contract, and this is off the top of my head, if he wins he still has time with us after this fight. He'd probably have one more fight.
'These things happen. Sometimes you don't always come to terms with people.
'When you're a fighter, you have to be careful who represents you.
'I don't think he's had the best representation.' Ngannou will kick off the UFC's pay-per-view calendar next year in a heavyweight title unification bout against former team-mate Ciryl Gane. The Cameroonian fighter is UFC's first African-born heavyweight after he knocked out Stipe Miocic in Las Vegas in March this year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mpMj60uK_o