Francis Ngannou fires back at Dana White's claim about losing earnings post-UFC exit: "I have all the receipts"
Francis Ngannou has not competed in mixed martial arts in nearly three years as his last bout came when he defeated Ciryl Gane via unanimous decision to defend his heavyweight title at UFC 270 all the way back in January 2022. He has had plenty happen in his career in the time since as he vacated the title, left the promotion, signed with the PFL, and took two high-profile boxing matches.
'The Predator' is set to make his highly-anticipated return to the sport when he faces Renan Ferreira at PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants this weekend. Despite being nearly two years removed from his departure from the promotion, Ngannou and UFC CEO Dana White have not made any public progress in mending their issues.
The promotional frontman recently claimed that the former UFC heavyweight champion earned less in boxing and the PFL than he would have if he remained in the UFC. Speaking to Ariel Helwani on his new self-titled show, Ngannou claimed that his departure had more to do with the freedom of doing his own thing than money. He was then asked if the money was the same, responding:
"No. Not even [more than] the PFL one. And let me point this out, it was only for the [Jon] Jones fight... After the Ciryl Gane fight, they called me for a meeting and they promised me that they're going to backpay me. And then, when they were making this offer, which again is lower to whatever fights I have made or I'm going to make, I was like, 'you talked about the backpay'. They said, 'it's included'. If the backpay is truly included then that means I'm not being paid for this fight."
Ngannou revealed that the UFC's offer was not even close to what he made in his two boxing matches before adding:
"If this continues, if [Dana White] wants, I can bring out all the numbers. I have all the numbers. I have all the receipts. I have numbers. I don't like to bring numbers up, but if I need to, I will."
Check out Francis Ngannou's full comments on Dana White below:
Ngannou added that he is unsure why White has taken his departure personally. 'The Predator' became the first reigning champion to leave the promotion since B.J. Penn in 2004.
Dana White previously claimed Francis Ngannou was offered more to fight Jon Jones than he earned in boxing
Francis Ngannou's departure from the UFC shocked fans as it had been nearly two decades since the promotion was unable to retain an active reigning champion. Dana White recently claimed that 'The Predator' was offered more money to face Jon Jones than he would have in his boxing fights against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua combined.
Speaking at his Dana White's Contender Series post-fight press conference, the UFC CEO was asked why he didn't previously bring up his claim that Ngannou would have made more to stay, responding:
"Because, why? I don't give a s**t. What's the difference?... Because I know all the s**t that you people don't know and I don't care what everybody says. It doesn't matter to me, but that's a fact. He was offered more money. Because I know the real numbers."
Check out Dana White's comments on Francis Ngannou below:
Ngannou quickly fired back the following day claiming that White's comments were a lie. He noted that the UFC CEO would have no way of knowing how much he brought home from his two high-profile boxing matches.