Dana White promises that Francis Ngannou is the last thing on his mind.
Despite not working together for nearly two years, the UFC CEO and the former heavyweight champion rarely escape questions about each other. The latest fracas started after White revealed that he wanted to cut Ngannou after he suffered back-to-back losses in the UFC in 2018.
That earned a response from Ngannou, who called his former boss a “bully” and added that White is probably “praying for my downfall” while also claiming that the UFC actually owes money that was promised to him after wins over Ciryl Gane and Stipe Miocic.
“When have you ever heard a story in all the years we’ve been in business, even when it was upside down, where we owed somebody money? Never happened,” White said about Ngannou’s claims at the UFC 308 post-fight press conference. “So he’s full of shit there.
“Then, I lost? I didn’t lose anything. I was done with Francis after the [Derrick Lewis fight]. Actually, he owes me money because we had to watch that fight with him and ‘The Black Beast.’ He should actually pay me back for that fight and all of you. Me praying [for his downfall] — trust me, I don’t think about Francis that much. You guys ask me the question about the PFL and I responded. Other than that, the only one who’s praying for his demise is probably the PFL because they signed a shitty contract with a guy that doesn’t deliver any numbers and ticket sales or pay-per-views. They’ve got to keep paying this guy for however long and good for him. Not good for them.”
As much as White maintained that he absolutely wanted to release Ngannou from the UFC roster, there’s no denying that he bounced back from those losses and eventually won the heavyweight title. Ngannou’s run with the UFC ended after six straight wins including victories over four ex-champions.
But White says the issues he had with Ngannou had nothing to do with his talent as a fighter but rather personal problems between them that spiraled out of control. While he didn’t reveal the nature of their fallout, White explained that his relationship with Ngannou was never the same again.
“Someday, I’ll tell you the story. I was all about Francis in the beginning and then I found out who Francis was,” White said. “I told the two guys who asked me not to cut Francis when somebody shows you who they are, believe them. Believe me, I have no sleepless nights over Francis leaving.
“I didn’t like Francis as a person. It wasn’t a guy I wanted to do business with. My boys were telling me he’s misunderstood. I told them when somebody shows you who they are, believe them. It wasn’t about him becoming heavyweight champion of the world. Francis isn’t a good guy. He plays the good guy. ‘I don’t understand the language’ so he seems like he’s a nice guy. He’s not, and he’s just not a guy I wanted to be in business with, period. End of story. Whether he became the champion or not.”
Ngannou obviously left in free agency before booking a pair of boxing matches against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua before finally making his PFL debut with a win over Renan Ferreira.
He remains under contract with the PFL but has also hinted at a potential return to boxing in the future.
No matter where he goes next, White promises there’s no word where he ever gets back in business with Ngannou again.
“We won’t be. We’ll never be in business together,” White said. “You can tell. We don’t like each other. This goes back to before the first Stipe fight. He pulled some shit before the first Stipe fight, and I said I’m done with this guy and then Stipe beat the shit out of him. Great night. We never had a relationship after that.”
It’s safe to say that White won’t be bending over backwards to present Ngannou with any opportunities and that includes a potential fight against UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
While that’s a matchup that White desperately wanted to see once upon a time, that’s no longer and option and if Jones is going to fight anybody after he faces Miocic at UFC 309, it certainly won’t be Ngannou.
“He didn’t want that fight,” White said about Ngannou facing Jones. “He could have stayed and took that fight. He didn’t want that fight. Tom Aspinall deserves that fight.”
