Andreas Hale, ESPN
Francis Ngannou is bored with listening to UFC CEO Dana White and needs to set the document straight.
Ngannou, 38, efficiently returned to MMA after a two-year detour in boxing – and the demise of his 15-month-old son – by defeating PFL heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira in the principle occasion of PFL Tremendous Fights in Abu Dhabi.
Whereas a lot of the MMA world celebrated Ngannou’s return, White took intention at his former champion at a media convention forward of UFC 308 by saying that he thought of reducing Ngannou earlier than he grew to become champion and that “The Predator” actively ducked a struggle with present UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
Ngannou reacted to White on Sirius XM Combat Nation’s MMA Right this moment.
“I believe Dana’s attempting to make issues as much as purchase good religion within the place he has misplaced,” Ngannou stated on Friday. “Dana has misplaced on this state of affairs… and he can not stand it. Bro, I gained the whole lot: I left. It has been virtually two years, and the man continues to be on the market, he cannot stay with out hounding me. No matter the whole lot that occurred, I am not about him.
“The man cannot stand me. I do not know what his downside is. He could make the whole lot up. That’s his downside. I believe he must make peace with himself as a result of this example is sort of bizarre.”
White instructed that Ngannou would have made more cash had he determined to stick with the UFC reasonably than signal with the PFL. Ngannou left the UFC in January 2023 and signed with the PFL in Could 2023. Whereas being signed with the PFL, he had the liberty to pursue alternatives exterior the promotion and took on then-undefeated WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in boxing and adopted with an enormous struggle with former unified champion Anthony Joshua. Though he misplaced each, Ngannou reportedly made $20 million for each fights and raised his profile earlier than heading again to MMA final weekend.
White shrugged off Ngannou’s success away from the UFC and instructed he would have made more cash if he stayed.
“Francis left as a result of he knew that if he fought Jon Jones and did not win, it will harm his possibilities of making the cash that he wished to make,” White stated. “However realistically, his deal was greater right here. His deal was greater right here if he stayed within the UFC. They will deny all of it they need, why the f— would I lie? Why do I care? It would not matter to me in some way… he would have made more cash if he stayed within the UFC.””
For Ngannou, there’s extra to the story, together with cash that he says the UFC nonetheless owes him.
“Which cash is he speaking about? The cash that he owes me?,” Ngannou stated. “Keep in mind, all of this ended with [them] saying, ‘Oh, we’ll backpay you from the cash that we owe you for the Stipe [Miocic] and Ciryl Gane struggle,’ all of that. They by no means again payed me. Now I’ve made more cash than I’ve ever made within the UFC – I might say twice the cash that I might have ever made in my complete UFC profession if I had continued within the UFC.
“Both means, if I had made much less cash, if I am not making sufficient cash that I might’ve made within the UFC, that is my downside. Why is he so pissed about me not making that a lot cash? Like, c’mon man, stay your life.”
As for the Jon Jones struggle, Ngannou continues to be very a lot all in favour of it and believes that Jones would really like the struggle as nicely. Jones is about to face former heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic on November 16. Ought to Jones win, Ngannou would welcome a cross-promotion struggle, which might be one of many largest in MMA historical past. Whether or not it might occur is one other query.
“The one man standing in the way in which of that struggle is Dana White,” Ngannou stated. “I need the Jon Jones struggle. I am down for the struggle. Jones is down for the struggle. However this can be a new narrative. I used to be down for a Jon Jones struggle three years in the past and I’m down for it now.”
One one that might convey the struggle to fruition is the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s Basic Leisure Authority, Turki Alalshikh and his Riyadh Season occasions. Riyadh Season was a title sponsor for Noche UFC and Alalshikh was instrumental in financing Ngannou’s fights with Fury and Joshua. If anyone has the pull to make it occur, it will be Alalshikh.
Whereas Ngannou holds on to a sliver of optimism {that a} struggle with Jones might materialize, it will require White to verify his ego on the door.
“For that to occur, Dana has to let this beef go,” Ngannou stated. “He has to let it go.”
