2 weeks Ago By BoxingNews.com
Dana White has had another dig at Francis Ngannou , saying he nearly cut him from the UFC roster when he lost two fights in a row. White and Ngannou have not been on the best of terms since The Predator left the UFC. Ngannou departed on bad terms after contract talks broke down.
Reports indicated that he rejected an $8 million offer with suggestions that he did not want his rights as an independent contractor damaged. White responded by stating that he would never work with Ngannou again. He also accused The Predator of ducking Jon Jones , a fight that has been teased throughout the years.
Ngannou successfully returned to MMA on his PFL debut this month, where he knocked out Renan Ferreira in the first round. That was his first MMA win since beating Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 in 2022. Ngannou recently said he is optimistic about the fight with Jones in Saudi Arabia.
Donn Davis , The Chairman of the PFL, has also said something similar. However, White hit out at Ngannou’s reason for leaving. He made it clear that Ngannou did not want to face Jones and knew that his financial package with the UFC would suffer if he lost to Jones.
White also stated that Francis would have made much more money in the UFC, which would have depended on whether he beat Jones. And he did not hold back on his words. White On Ngannou Dana White admits he almost cut former #UFC champ Francis Ngannou in 2018: "I was going to cut him.
Somebody around here begged me not to do it." pic.twitter.
com/VzW006wjQf “Francis is all about the money. Francis left because he knew if he fought Jon Jones and didn’t win, it would hurt his chances of making the money he wanted to make. But realistically his deal was bigger here.
His deal was bigger here if he stayed in the UFC. “I think I told this story a million times. They can deny it all they want.
Why...
would I lie? What do I care? It doesn’t matter to me one way or the other...
.I was going to cut Francis when he lost two in a row. I was going to cut him.
Somebody around here begged me not to do it,” White said Nevertheless, it is important to bear in mind the following. Ngannou has reportedly made more money than his entire UFC career earnings via the PFL. His PFL deal allowed him to box.
He faced Tyson Fury on his boxing debut. He dropped the Gypsy King in the third round and put up a commendable performance. While he lost a split decision, some in the boxing community felt he should have won that fight.
The fight reportedly earned him $10 million. He then secured the Anthony Joshua fight, getting knocked out in the second round. Despite losing that fight, it allegedly earned him $20 million.
With his financial future secure, it is understandable that Ngannou wants the Jones fight. However, Dana White is reluctant to work with the PFL. White On The PFL He hit out at its chairman, Donn Davis, stating that the PFL is not even in the same league as Power Slap.
White made various references to the amount of views that Power Slap has gotten compared to the PFL. He questioned their viability, stating that it made no sense for him to work with the PFL, telling Davis to keep the UFC’s name out of his mouth. Dana White responds to Donn Davis' recent comments: First of all, the PFL should keep the #UFC out of their mouth.
They can't even deal with Power Slap. Power Slap destroys PFL. pic.
twitter.com/O4vI8YJKL4 “The PFL should keep the UFC out of their mouth. Power Slap has 19.
2 million followers, PFL has 10 [million]. Video views, PFL fight week did 326 million. Power Slap 8 did 690 million.
PFL fight week Instagram views: 76 million. So if you look at PFL, fight week and the aftermath, these guys had 76 [million]. “Just the week of [the event] they had 68 million on Power Slap and we hadn’t even had a fight yet.
PFL’s Instagram reel with Francis and Ronaldo did 14 million views. Power Slap 9’s Instagram reel with contender Isaih [Quinones] had 22 million views. That was a repost of an old fight.
The repost of the old fight beat Francis and Ronaldo,” White stated This article first appeared on BoxingNews.com and was syndicated with permission..
