When it comes to Dana White’s continued attempts to paint his UFC departure a certain way, Francis Ngannou is doing his best to take the high road – but he also wants to keep it real.
On Thursday, White was asked to share his thoughts on Ngannou’s performance in his first-round TKO win over Renan Ferreira this past weekend at PFL: Battle of the Giants. The fight marked Ngannou’s return to mixed martial arts for the first time since defending the UFC heavyweight championship in his final promotional appearance against Ciryl Gane in January 2022. One year later, Ngannou left the UFC to sign with the PFL.
Rather than give his take on Ngannou’s in-cage performance, White went out of his way to re-hash how things ended with Ngannou – at least according to him.
“(His performance) was better than Donn Davis’ – way better,” White said with a laugh. “Listen, man, I’m going to tell you what I think about Francis: Francis is all about the money. Francis left because he knew if he fought Jon Jones and didn’t win, it would hurt his chances of making the money he wanted to make. But realistically his deal was bigger here. His deal was bigger here if he stayed in the UFC. I think I told this story a million times. They can deny it all they want. Why the f*ck would I lie? What do I care? It doesn’t matter to me one way or the other.”
White later said that he wanted to release Ngannou in 2018 after consecutive losses to Stipe Miocic and Derrick Lewis, but he didn’t because someone “begged” him not to.
Ngannou responds directly to White
Ngannou can’t seem to understand why White won’t stop talking bad about him.
“Regardless of everything that happened, I’m not about him,” Ngannou said Friday in an interview with Sirius XM Fight Nation. “I went out there, did a fight, had a good fight for my son’s memory, but the guy can’t stand – I don’t know what is his problem. He can make everything up as he wants. That’s his problem. I think he needs to make peace with himself. …
“(He) could’ve just said, ‘We didn’t find an agreement. We couldn’t come to a deal, but good luck to him.’ That’s it, you know? Good for him, and we continue our lives. What’s the problem here? I think the problem is he can’t handle this loss.”
And that’s a point Ngannou wants to drive home
“Dana has lost in this situation, and the only thing is that he cannot stand it,” Ngannou said. “Bro, I won everything.”
A big reason why Ngannou couldn’t come to terms with the UFC on a new contract was because the promotion wouldn’t support his desire to venture into boxing. The PFL obliged that request and after signing with the promotion, Ngannou took part in two lucrative fights with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua in October 2023 and this past March.
While he lost both matchups in the ring, Ngannou widely has been lauded for finding his way out of a restrictive UFC deal and maximizing his earnings. Ngannou can only imagine how much that bothers White.
“I’m sure he’s been praying for my downfall, but I just keep doing my thing, rising,” Ngannou said. “Since I left the UFC, in many senses, I’m more than what I was. …
“Now I have made more money than I would have ever made in the UFC. I would say maybe twice the money that I could have made in my entire UFC career if I had continued in the UFC. I’m not just saying from the moment that I stopped. Either way, if I have made less money, if I’m not making enough money that I could’ve made in the UFC, that would be my problem. Why is he so pissed about me not making that much money? C’mon, man, live your life.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Francis Ngannou takes high road after Dana White gripes about UFC departure: ‘What’s the problem here?’
