"I was going to cut Francis when he lost two in a row" - Dana White continues verbal beef with 'The Predator' who is "all about the money"
UFC president Dana White is back at his scorched earth campaign against his former heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou. In the post-event media scrum after the conclusion of his Power Slap 9 event in Abu Dhabi, White was asked about Ngannou's recent career trajectory.
Last weekend, 'The Predator' made a triumphant return to MMA by dismantling Renan Ferreira to win the PFL heavyweight Superfight title. This was the culmination of a less-than-stellar journey involving two losses in boxing and the tragic death of his son, Kobe, this year.
When asked what he thought of how Ngannou's career went after leaving the UFC in 2021, White said:
"Francis [Ngannou] is all about the money. 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."
White added:
"I was gonna cut Francis when he lost two in a row [vs. Miocic and Lewis in 2018]. I was gonna cut him, yeah. Somebody around here begged me not to do it [motions his head to people at the back]."
Check out Dana White's comments below:
Dana White puts Power Slap above PFL, goes off on PFL founder Donn Davis
In the same press conference, Dana White was asked about Donn Davis, founder and co-owner of PFL, and his claims that the Ngannou event last weekend put on more numbers than any UFC event this year. As expected, White didn't take this statement lightly as he proceeded to verbally beat down Davis and the PFL.
The outspoken millionaire crunched the numbers as a reply:
"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, alright...First of all, let's start with followers. Power Slap has 19.2 million followers, PFL has 10. Video views. PFL fight week did 326 million, Power Slap 8 did 690 million. PFL fight week [and the aftermath] Instagram views, 76 million. Power Slap 9, [just] the week of, they had 68 million on Power Slap - and we haven't even had a fight yet."
White went on to cite more statistics to prove his point, and then target his words toward Davis' claims, saying:
"Listen, I understand and I love the stuff that he [Daivs] said. He sounds like [US presidential candidate] Kamala [Harris]. Talks a lot, but says nothing."
Check out Dana White's comments on PFL below (3:10):