Ngannou Mocks Dana White, Ngannou To Last One Round

Francis Ngannou has had a dig at Dana White after he claimed he ‘always’ proves him wrong. 

The fighter’s relationship with White and the UFC turned sour after the former heavyweight champion left, as contract talks broke down.

Despite the UFC reportedly offering Ngannou near $8 million to fight Jon Jones, the star walked away from the sport. 

And in doing so, the bridges had been burnt as Ngannou and White fired shots at each other.

“I felt like I was slapped in the face with money. Like, ‘Take the money and shut up.’ That didn’t work with me.

“In that contract, I’m not free, I’m not an independent contractor. … I hand over all power to [UFC], and I’ve seen in the past how you hold that power over me. I don’t want that again,” Ngannou stated

“We worked with this guy [Francis Ngannou] for two years, we tried to get him a fight. “He’s absolutely impossible to deal with. He’s – no, he’ll never be in the UFC again. So, he made his decision – we worked hard, man.

“One of my guys, Hunter Campbell [Chief Business Officer], who works for me, must have done 75 dinners with his guy [Ngannou], trying to get him on board.

“We offered him a lot of money, showed him nothing but respect. “We wanted to keep him, and that ship has sailed,” White revealed

Ngannou Mocks White

Since then, Ngannou’s fortunes have changed. His recent deal with the PFL has given him the opportunity to box in 2023, something which the star has taken up.

He will face Tyson Fury on October 28th, 2023, for what will be the highest purse he has ever received.

And given that White was reportedly trying to get Fury vs. Jon Jones, the current deal made it all the more sweeter for Ngannou.

“For some reason, I always prove Dana White wrong — even when he’s on my side. I always prove him wrong, every single time. This is just our story.

“They were ready to do Jon Jones and Tyson Fury in MMA — why couldn’t they do Ngannou and Fury in boxing? I don’t know. I think [he] did that to try to take the fight away from me, and Dana did sent out a contract [for the Jones fight].

“He sent out the contract, which I think was very embarrassing because that contract was rejected, and he signed mine for the GIMIK Fight Promotions.

“It’s not a secret that so many people wanted me to fail. They don’t want me to succeed, it’s not a secret, it’s quite obvious, and you all know about it,” Ngannou

Ngannou’s Chances

Despite securing the fight, Ngannou has to perform. Prior crossover events have shown that MMA stars may not fare too well.

Conor McGregor’s 2017 loss against Floyd Mayweather proved that. In the aftermath of that fight, McGregor went on to lose the three out of four MMA fights. And since 2021, he has been out of action with no signs of a return date. 

And given that Ngannou’s PFL debut will occur in 2024, he cannot afford to take a punishing defeat. But when it comes to the actual fight, Ngannou’s chances of winning have been dismissed.

Carl Frampton opened up about how Ngannou would be at the mercy of Fury, who would ultimately decide how long the fight would go on for.

This is on the grounds that Ngannou may not last the pace since MMA has five-minute rounds, while boxing has three minute ones and 10 rounds in this instance.

This is something McGregor experienced against Mayweather, as the Irishman was visibly gassed before his stoppage in the 10th round. 

As such, Frampton had news for Ngannou. 

“It’s a real fight, but it’s not a competitive fight. This may sound a bit harsh on Ngannou, but if Fury wanted to do it in a round he could.

“With the MMA guys it’s a different world and if we flip it on it’s head and Fury fought Ngannou in the Octagon then it’s over quickly as well.

“So, Francis will be getting well paid but it’s not a competitive fight. Fury will hit him with ten jabs if he wants through the middle of his guard, it’s a complete mismatch,” Frampton

Ultimately, Ngannou will receive plaudits for having the courage to step into the ring . But if he does manage to pull off the unthinkable and get a victory, then it would be one of the biggest upsets of all time. 

And former UFC star has shown its possible to back yourself outside of the UFC.

With that being said, someone has to come out second best come fight night in October. Time will tell how it all plays out moving forward.