Francis Ngannou warned he’d be ‘STUPID’ to leave the UFC as fierce contract row with Dana White continues

UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has been warned he would be 'stupid' to walk away at the end of the year.

Ngannou's contract with the UFC is set to expire in December and he has rejected the promotion's offer of a new deal worth £5million.

The Cameroonian-born Frenchman, 34, wants more freedom in his contract and to be able to box with the UFC's blessing but is seemingly willing to test out free agency should they decide not to meet his demands.

But future hall-of-fame commentator Bruce Buffer believes The Predator would be foolish to leave the biggest mixed martial arts promotion in the world.

During a recent episode of his It's Time podcast, Buffer told Ngannou: “It would be stupid to go your own way.

"The UFC is the NFL."

Buffer believes all the other MMA promotions across the world would be a major step down for the heavy-handed Ngannou.

He continued: “No offence to other organisations, but you become irrelevant when you leave the UFC after a while. To a degree.

“Instead of losing in the UFC your contract is being ended in the UFC, and you fall from the Octagon down into Bellator [etc].

“Let’s just hope everybody gets together [to sort out a deal].”

Ngannou's future with the UFC is well and truly up in the air as he's set to be on the sidelines for a minimum of NINE months after he undergoes knee surgery.

He is, however, eager to extend his stint in mixed martial arts' premier promotion but won't do so unless the UFC agrees to his terms.

During an appearance on The MMA Hour, he said: "You can be free and fight for the UFC. I just want to be free.

"We are supposedly independent contractors. [An] independent contractor is technically a free person.

"That's the reason why they need some adjustments in that contract. That's what I've been fighting for."

FREE BETS: GET OVER £2,000 IN NEW CUSTOMER DEALS