Dana White claims he planned to cut Francis Ngannou from UFC back in 2018: ‘I was going to’
In the latest twist in the saga surrounding UFC CEO, Dana White and recent PFL debutante, Francis Ngannou — the promotional leader claimed he had planned to cut the Batie native from his contractual obligations back in 2018 following his decision loss to former title challenger, Derrick Lewis.
Ngannou, a former undisputed heavyweight champion under the banner of the UFC, made his PFL debut over the course of last weekend, turning in a dominant opening round knockout win over Brazilian contender, Renan Ferreira in his first venture to the SmartCage.
And sidelined from mixed martial arts for two years before his debut against Ferreira, Cameroonian knockout artist, Francis Ngannou landed a unanimous decision win over then-interim champion, Ciryl Gane, handing the Frenchman his first professional loss in the pair’s title unification pairing.
Dana White claims he was set to release Francis Ngannou back in 2018
However, despite receiving a massive amount of backing from White before his eventual title fight loss to Stipe Miocic in 2018, the former claimed he was set to cut Ngannou from his contract with the organization after his forgettable fight with Lewis, before UFC officials forced his hand.
“Francis (Ngannou) is all about the money,” Dana White said following Power Slap this evening. Francis left because he knew that if he fought Jon Jones and didn’t win, it would hurt his chances of making the money that he wanted to make. But realistically, his deal was bigger here. His deal was bigger here if he stayed in the UFC. … They can deny it all they want, why the f*ck would I lie? Why 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,” White continued. “I was going to cut him. Somebody around here begged me not to do it. So it wouldn’t have mattered to me, one way or the other. There’s a much deeper story to this whole thing and he would have made more money if he stayed in the UFC.”
