2 weeks Ago
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA - APRIL 09: UFC President Dana White looks on during the UFC 273 event at ...
[+] VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on April 09, 2022 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images) The beef between Dana White, the UFC, and Francis Ngannou has gone too far. We understand White dislikes Ngannou.
He told us that after last month's Power Slap event in Abu Dhabi, but it's a bad situation when a beef gets in the way of the sport's history. The UFC will present its 100th event at the Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday. The venue is special.
While it lacks the atmosphere of a packed arena, it, in many ways, symbolizes the promotion's resilience as it helped keep events rolling during the pandemic. That said, the UFC is moving to have fewer events at the Apex in 2025 as they plan to hit more arenas in the coming year. The promotion posted a video on Monday highlighting the 100 best KOs in the venue's history.
That's a great idea, right? But there were two problems with the video. The first is far less serious than the second. First, who does a countdown video or a listicle and begins it with No.
1? The video would have been much better had it started with the 100th-best KO in Apex history and ascended to No. 1. As it is, it begins with the best KO.
It gets progressively less cool or more insignificant as the video continues. Here is a look at the video. Samsung’s Update Decision—Bad News For Millions Of Galaxy S24 And S23 Owners Gmail 2FA Cyber Attacks—Open Another Account Before It’s Too Late Trump Vs.
Harris 2024 Polls: Harris Up By Razor-Thin 1 Point In Final Forbes/HarrisX Survey Secondly, the folks in charge of the video did not include Ngannou's KO win over Stipe Miocic at UFC 260 in March 2021. Ngannou didn't just avenge his loss to Miocic in January 2018; he obliterated the most accomplished heavyweight in UFC history to win the world title he's never lost. How is that not one of the 100 greatest KOs in the history of any building, let alone the Apex? For context, the video has a KO from Ottman Azaitar over Khama Worthy at No.
18. It was a solid finish, but was this anywhere close to Ngannou over Miocic? No, and the same could be said for several other finishes in the video. Here is a look at Ngannou’s KO win over Miocic.
This omission wreaks of the same pettiness that led to several other Ngannou scrubs from UFC production. Former UFC middleweight champion and Ngannou's friend, Israel Adesanya, called the UFC out for their previous moves to erase the reigning Professional Fighters League Superfights and lineal heavyweight champion of the world from UFC fans' memory. Adesanya referenced Ngannou during his pre-fight interview before he fought Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305 in August.
However, every mention of Ngannou's name was removed. UFC CEO Dana White said the scrubbing was not something he asked for and that his production team made those decisions. White said it would be fixed and even began referring to Ngannou by his first name.
Brendan Fitzgerald also mentioned Ngannou's name during a UFC Apex card shortly after White addressed the situation. However, things have headed south again since Ngannou returned to MMA and defeated Renan Ferreira in October. Over the past month, White has launched multiple rants and insults aimed at Ngannou and the PFL.
While not including Ngannou's finish of Miocic in the Apex video isn't quite on par with scrubbing his name from everything the promotion broadcasts, it's along the same lines. The blatant disrespect calls more attention to Ngannou's exit and his subsequent success than would be the case if the UFC was simply handling things like it was business as usual..
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