UFC CEO Dana White still insists the promotion did everything to retain Francis Ngannou on the roster. His antipathy about the topic isn’t really unknown. Moreover, he brings out his most valuable weapon in the equation – Jon Jones. White says the French-Cameroonian had no inclinations to make a mega-fight with Jones. Hence, he has no regrets about his departure.
Dana White has been known to dunk on mainstream MMA media for dissing Jones’ long absence from the octagon. Even recently, the 54-year-old doubled down his No. 1 P4P claims on Andrew Schulz’s FLAGRANT Podcast. Despite complaining in April 2021 that ‘Bones’ was pricing himself out of the matchup with a $30 million demand, the UFC CEO now retracts.
He went through Ciryl Gane like that – easily…In my opinion, he does the same thing to Francis…Francis didn’t want to fight Jon Jones. Jon Jones is the scariest, most bad-a** fighter of all time…when you talk about who the baddest man on the planet is – two guys get locked in a room, who is walking out? It’s fu*king Jon Jones all day.
Dana White via the “Club Shay Shay” podcast with Shannon Sharpe (@ClubShayShay)
Now, he says Francis Ngannou did not want that matchup. The ‘Predator’ found his prey at UFC 270, defeating Ciryl Gane with a wrestle-heavy attire. Ngannou then made a rare move in early 2023, quitting despite reigning as the undisputed heavyweight. At UFC Fight Night 217’s post-fight conference, White said UFC allegedly offered him the biggest heavyweight contract.
Jones sat out three years from February 2020 due to pay distribution for the super fight with Ngannou. The latter disagreed and up and left, ending his contractual run. Jon Jones would later dominantly make his heavyweight debut against Gane after said departure. With the issues Jones faced outside the ring and how he still dominantly captured gold at UFC 285, White backtracks on Ngannou being unwilling.
No White Lie: Dana White gives his take on Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou
Dana White has time and again gone scorched earth on defending his claims about heavyweight Jones. Despite the Team Jackson’s Acoma MMA fighter boasting a sum total of one fight at 265 pounds, the UFC CEO upkeeps his vision of Jones being a G.O.A.T. More to it, he scales the absentee fighter levels above knockout artist Francis Ngannou.
Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones performing (Source: boxemag.com/UFC.go.com)It would be tough to put faith behind his claims. Ngannou would later make the rare move of a crossover boxing stint before his PFL MMA debut. He was highly competitive and wobbled former WBC lineal heavyweight Tyson Fury. However, he’d then face boxing’s own “Ngannou” when Anthony Joshua rocked him. White provides a counter-argument when it comes to the topic of MMA.
If he [Gane] doesn’t go for that f*cking (kneebar), he beats Francis Ngannou and becomes the heavyweight champion. Jon Jones walked through him like it was fu*king nothing…Jones is the best pound for pound.
Dana White via the FLAGRANT Podcast (@OfficialFlagrant)
In this “enemy that beat my enemy” scenario, White alludes to the fact that Gane could keep up with Ngannou initially. The latter would capitalize on a costly kneebar reversal and win the matchup. On the other hand, Jones had a more dominant showing against Gane.
Renan Ferreira (13-3-3) will welcome back Francis Ngannou back to MMA in his PFL debut. Ferreira laced up his 2023 PFL heavyweight title with a TKO of Denis Goltsov. Followed by a 21-second finish of Ryan Bader in February. It remains to be seen if White’s claims hold merit when the 37-year-old from Cameroon gets back into the fold against other heavyweights.
