UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou believes his fight with Tyson Fury will happen regardless of his future with the promotion.
Ngannou defended his title for the first time by outpointing Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 last weekend, marking the first decision victory of his MMA career.
'The Predator' had teased a fight with WBC champion Fury going into the bout, which marked the last fight on Ngannou's UFC contract.
He refused to sign a new deal before last weekend's event after feeling "unprotected" in certain terms and not being paid enough money.
And with Ngannou free to leave the UFC in December, he's confident a fight with Fury will happen.
"Listen Tyson Fury and I, we have been going back and forth for two years now and I do believe that this fight will happen," he said on The MMA Hour.
"We thought this would be something that the UFC can make it big because this is an opportunity that I have and they could have got involved and make it happen.
"But it seems like it's not their concern. Regarding what is going on, it doesn't look like they care about [it].
Fury congratulated Ngannou on his win over Gane, writing: "Congratulations Francis Ngannou but if you want to make some real money come see the GK".
'The Gypsy King' has labelled a potential fight with Ngannou as a "clash of the titans", also challenging him to box in 4oz MMA gloves.
Ngannou - who planned a career in boxing before switching to MMA - countered Fury's offer by welcoming him to an MMA fight with 12oz boxing gloves.
UFC fighters are not allowed to compete for other promotions whilst under contract, with Conor McGregor being the only fighter to do so when he boxed Floyd Mayweather in 2017.
Ngannou feels the power position will only change if fighters come together to unionise, something he believes will happen in the future.
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"Don't get it wrong, I have no power man. We are talking about a $10 billion company, I have no power," he continued.
"I definitely believe something like that will happen [a union], but you have to understand fighters don't have power at all. The company is so big.
"When people talk like 'oh fighters should do a union', you guys don't understand nothing. There are people here who fight for $10,000 or $15,000."
"By the time they have to fight again, they owe money, they have debts. You can't tell those guys even though they deserve more 'oh don't fight, do a union'."
