LAS VEGAS – UFC president Dana White shared his thoughts on Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 224 and expressed his public reaction to Francis Ngannou signing with PFL. While White admitted to lacking detailed knowledge about the financial aspects of the deal, he questioned the rationale behind Ngannou’s move for both the fighter and the promotion.
White stated, “From what I understand, which isn’t much, it doesn’t make sense to me.” He expressed confusion over paying Ngannou to refrain from fighting for a year, especially considering that it has already been approximately 18 months since his last fight. White emphasized that such a practice doesn’t align with the UFC’s principles, and he foresaw the outcome when they released Ngannou.
Following the expiration of his contract, Ngannou left the UFC in January and explored opportunities with various combat sports organizations, including PFL, Bellator, and ONE Championship. In the aftermath of Ngannou’s departure and the subsequent title fight between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 on March 4, White accused Ngannou of avoiding a fight with Jones due to his expectations of the likely outcome.
During his recent remarks, White reiterated his previous comments about the PFL deal while attempting to provide further clarity. He said, “I don’t think he’s afraid of anyone; it’s just that he doesn’t want to take any risks.” White criticized PFL for compensating Ngannou to train for a potentially non-existent boxing match, questioning the logic behind such an arrangement.
According to reporter John Nash, Ngannou’s contract details include two or three fights with a “high seven-figure purse” for each bout, the ability to have personal sponsors in the cage, and a $2 million payout for his opponents. The boxing terms of the contract are non-exclusive.
Regarding the boxing component, White expressed doubt about Ngannou’s pursuit of a lucrative crossover into boxing. Despite the commercial success of the MMA vs. boxer match between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather, which White co-promoted in 2017, he stated that there is no comparable option currently available. White emphasized, “This is one of the major issues with boxing right now. It’s all about these gimmicky fights, which is not something we do here. I promote fights featuring the world’s best fighters and the fights people want to see.”
White disclosed that the UFC had made significant efforts to reach an agreement with Ngannou. He stated that Hunter Campbell, an executive in the organization, went to great lengths, attending numerous dinners with Ngannou and doing everything possible to secure the fight. However, Ngannou appeared to believe he had a potential McGregor-Mayweather scenario on his hands, which White refuted, emphasizing that the McGregor-Mayweather fight was a unique occurrence driven by exceptional circumstances and demand. White also voiced his opposition to MMA fighters facing boxers, asserting that it doesn’t make sense to him and dismissing the idea of significant financial gain from such matchups.
