Dana White alleges former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou once put his hands on him and another promotion executive during a meeting.
White and the former champion had a major falling out after UFC 270, when Ngannou decided not to re-sign with the promotion after unifying the title by defeating Ciryl Gane. In multiple interviews after the two parties separated, White has stated that the Ngannou behind the scenes is different than the public-facing person.
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However, White has never specified why he felt that way until now.
“Trust me, I’ve had my moments with plenty of fighters,” White said on Andrew Schulz’s “Flagrant” podcast. “I don’t ever talk about all the behind-the-scenes sh*t. Behind the scenes, sh*t goes on every f*cking week. … I guess the one I will tell you is – some of them have been public, most of them have not – but, everybody has this thing about Francis Ngannou.
“Francis Ngannou is a bad guy. He’s not a good guy. He plays the whole, ‘dur-dur-dur, I don’t know understand the language,’ and he tries to come off like he’s a f*cking nice guy, you know what I mean? And people go, ‘Oh, it’s the language barrier, probably.’ No, there’s no f*cking language barrier with this guy. He’s a bad guy.”
White has not had many nice things to say about Ngannou since he left the UFC. Ngannou has attributed White’s disdain after leaving the promotion to him being bitter about not being able to win at the negotiating table. At the time, Ngannou wanted the ability to take pro boxing fights while competing in MMA, which is something the UFC would not allow.
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Ngannou didn’t budge on his desires and left the UFC, leaving the heavyweight title vacant. He went on to sign with the PFL and landed the marquee boxing fights he wanted against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
After repeating the story that he wanted to cut Ngannou in 2018 after losing to Stipe Miocic at UFC 220, White said that Ngannou got physical with him behind the scenes.
“I told my guys I wanted to cut him early,” White said. “Two of my matchmaker guys were like, ‘Oh, no, you don’t understand.’ I said, ‘Guys, let me tell you a story: When someone shows you who they are, believe ’em, and this guy has shown.’
“So, he’s going in to fight Stipe Miocic in Boston, and he knows he’s gonna f*cking kill Stipe. So, after the press conference, we’re walking down this hallway, and he comes over to me, and he grabs me and he says, ‘Let me tell you what’s gonna happen.’ His English is f*cking great, no language barrier whatsoever. ‘When this fight’s over, you’re gonna book me a private plane to Paris.’ I laughed and he goes, ‘I’m not joking. You’re gonna book me a private plane to Paris.’ I say, ‘Oh, OK.’ So, we go our own ways. Stipe Miocic beats the f*cking sh*t out of him. Beats the sh*t out of him. So, that ended that whole conversation, and I should have f*cking cut him that day.”
Francis Ngannou, Dana White – UFC 270 press conference
White described the moment as the “first run-in” with Ngannou. According to the UFC boss, another incident occurred involving him and UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell.
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“When you’re an athlete that’s signed by the UFC, you get full access to the Performance Institute, you can eat there for free, everything’s free, you do all this stuff – this guy was f*cking living there,” White said. “He just fought and he comes up to my office. … I say, ‘Come on in, what’s going on?’ He was pissed off that he didn’t get a $50,000 bonus in his last fight, that he didn’t get the bonus of the night. I said, ‘Francis, you didn’t get it because this, that,’ and he’s in my office, and he’s arguing with me. ‘Yeah, this guy got this, this guy got that, and this is why.’ So, the conversation’s over, I’m starting to leave, and he grabs me by my shirt, and like pushes me back in my office. I said, ‘Dude, get your f*cking hands off me.’
“I could see in this guy’s face and in his eyes and in the way he’s acting, who this guy really f*cking is. Then, my guy Hunter, they were talking about something, it might have even been the same thing, and when Hunter started to walk away, Francis grabbed him by the f*cking back of his collar and f*cking pulled him back and said, ‘We’re not done talking yet.'”
It’s unclear which fight White is referring to in which Ngannou did not receive a bonus. He’s likely referring to the Cain Velasquez victory in 2019, as it was one of only two wins Ngannou did not receive a bonus for after the loss to Miocic – the other was his final fight in the UFC against Gane.
Ngannou went on to box against Fury and Joshua. His only MMA fight since exiting the UFC was a quick knockout win over Renan Ferreira at PFL: Battle of the Giants. It’s been a slower schedule of activity than many expected, although personal tragedies have altered Ngannou’s competitive plans.
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Not only is Ngannou a fighter under the PFL banner, but he’s also a chairman for PFL Africa. PFL CEO Donn Davis recently expressed his disappointment with Ngannou for not attending a PFL Africa-branded event. White says he’s not surprised.
“This guy’s not a good f*cking guy, he’s a bad guy,” White said. If you look now, now he’s over and he’s done a deal with PFL and Saudi Arabia, and now he’s asking to fight, ‘Me and Jon Jones need to fight.’ I’m sure they wish they never f*cking signed him. I don’t have to hear one f*cking word from any of those guys over there to know, ’cause I know. I’ve dealt with him. I know who he really is.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dana White alleges Francis Ngannou once grabbed him during meeting
