Francis Ngannou‘s voluntary departure from the UFC in 2023 surprised many fight fans. Before leaving the UFC, the promotion wanted Ngannou to face Jon Jones in a heavyweight match. Months after his exit, the Jones vs. Ngannou argument continues, with UFC CEO Dana White playing a major role.
Francis Ngannou is gearing up for his upcoming MMA clash with PFL star Renan Ferreira in October. During their first press conference, Ngannou was asked whether White’s comments about him avoiding Jones were true. Ngannou disagreed with the claims and mentioned that White controls the narrative.
As far as I’m concerned, Jon Jones didn’t want to fight me according to them[UFC]… The guy who controls the narrative can say whatever he wants.
Francis Ngannou via PFL presser
Ngannou’s major reason for leaving the UFC was the mutual low fight purse and lack of freedom in the UFC. On top of that, he felt like the promotion was disrespectful towards him. After leaving UFC, Ngannou struck gold with his multi-million dollar deal with PFL. White was not happy with this and made fun of the PFL for their contract deal with Francis Ngannou.
Francis Ngannou reacts to Dana White saying he didn’t want to fight Jon Jones:
“As far as I’m concerned, Jon Jones didn’t want to fight me according to [the UFC]…
The guy who controls the narrative can say whatever he wants.”
🎥 @PFLMMA #UFC #MMA #PFL pic.twitter.com/m0uZuCKmQb
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) August 22, 2024
It was clear that White didn’t like Ngannou’s financial success post-UFC days. Recently, UFC tried to wipe Ngannou’s history from the promotion, which created an outrage led by Israel Adesanya. White had no other option but to apologize for whatever happened. Since Ngannou’s departure, the UFC CEO has frequently lauded Jones against Ngannou.
How did Dana White try to change the narrative regarding Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou super fight?
Francis Ngannou always wanted to box but couldn’t do it during his time in the UFC. After leaving, he participated in two high-profile bouts against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Although he lost both, the ‘Predator’ did manage to impress a few and made a ton of money. On the other hand, Jon Jones did make his UFC heavyweight debut and remains injury-riddled after winning the title.
Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones (via Imago)Jones is currently scheduled for the upcoming fight with Stipe Miocic, and White is busy hyping up Jones as much as possible. However, when Ngannou was in the UFC, White had a different opinion about the clash. When Ngannou won the heavyweight championship by defeating Miocic at UFC 260, White had a different opinion about Jones vs. Ngannou.
If I’m Jon Jones and I’m home watching this fight I will start moving to 185…You can say you wanna fight somebody but do you really want to?
Dana White via UFC 260 press conference
The narrative has changed quite a bit since Francis left the UFC. When he was on the roster, the narrative that Dana used to push was that a fight between Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones wouldn’t happen because Jon didn’t want it. pic.twitter.com/o7sp6Q7MY7
— Greg Ehrenberg (@gehrenbergdfs) August 22, 2024
After the Conor McGregor debacle, for White, the upcoming Jones vs. Stipe fight is one of the year’s biggest fights. As a promoter, White is doing his best to engage the fans. However this has met with severe criticism. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to see how Jones does in his first heavyweight title defense without any potential hiccups.
!
.
