UFC CEO Dana White has elaborated on his alleged physical confrontation with Francis Ngannou.
White recently accused Ngannou of putting hands on both him and UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell by grabbing them by the shirt after he was snubbed of a UFC fight night bonus years ago. For the first time Wednesday, Ngannou spoke about White’s allegation and was evasive when answering question, simply noting that cameras could prove what happened that day at the UFC office.
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When asked about the incident once again, White clarified what he meant by Ngannou getting physical with him.
“Let me be clear on something, too: When I say the physicality, it’s not like Francis Ngannou came in here and like threatened us or did anything like that,” White said in an interview with The MacLife. “But as men, everybody who’s a man knows there’s these situations where we’re in there and he’s telling me that, ‘I deserve the $50,000, I want the $50,000.’ I said, ‘I get it. ‘Whoever the fight was on the card, we determined that they were going to get the $50,000, and I’m in there for however long we’re talking and I’m like, ‘We’re done.’ I had another meeting. And this guy just used to walk around, wander around UFC headquarters like this was his house.
“This guy would literally spend the whole day here – breakfast, lunch, f*cking dinner. So I started to walk out, and he put his hand on my chest and said, ‘We’re not done talking yet.’ I said, ‘Oh, we’re f*cking done talking.’ It’s not like Francis Ngannou came in here and was like physically (attacking), but that’s what went down. And I tell you guys all the time: We’re in the f*cking fight business. Sh*t happens. You don’t have enough time in your life for me to tell you all the stories that have happened behind the scenes of what goes on around here.”
White paints a picture of being a big Ngannou supporter in the early days of their business relationship – but then came a time when the former UFC heavyweight champion showed his true colors.
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“My whole thing with Francis is, I have this philosophy where, if someone shows you who they really are, believe them. And there was nobody more into Francis than me. When I met this guy, I was like, ‘Holy sh*t, you are the way a heavyweight champion looks,’ all this sh*t, and I was all-in on Francis. Early on I had Francis sitting behind me in the f*cking Zuffa section in my seats. Then we were in Boston, and he showed me who he was, so I told the f*cking boys – he lost a couple and I said, ‘I don’t want to be in business with this guy.’ And two of my guys in the matchmaking department (complained). I said, ‘OK, is this what you want to do?’ They said, ‘Yeah.’ I said, ‘OK, I’m going to teach you a f*cking lesson. When someone shows you who they are, believe them. You’re both f*cking wrong, and I guess you’re going to have to learn the hard way.’ And here we are.”
Ngannou eventually left the UFC in January 2023 while holding the heavyweight title. He declined the promotion’s offer to become “the highest paid heavyweight in UFC history,” according to White, and instead signed with the PFL, which allowed him to venture into two lucrative boxing matches against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
Almost three years later, White indicated he’s happy with the end result.
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“There was nothing that made me happier than throwing that guy over to the f*cking PFL,” White said. “Let me tell you what: If we let guys go, feel bad for the company that gets them. We let them go for a f*cking reason. I don’t want to let anybody go. I don’t want to be in business with guys that I don’t like and that I don’t think are good guys. And when you talk about good guys and guys – I am in the fight business. Sh*t happens, you know what I mean? I’m pretty lenient when it comes to tough guy sh*t. I’m not lenient with bad guy sh*t.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dana White lambasts Francis Ngannou, no regrets ‘throwing’ him to PFL
