“They won't regret losing him as a business” - Eddie Hearn discusses Francis Ngannou's feud with Dana White as boxer's popularity soars
Eddie Hearn doesn't see Dana White, and the UFC by proxy, regretting Francis Ngannou's octagon exodus.
In an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Hearn addressed the seismic Tyson Fury versus Francis Ngannou clash and the residual effects it will have on the heavyweight class as we encroach into 2024.
When asked if he thinks the UFC regrets letting 'The Predator' walk, Hearn said,
"I think that they won't regret losing Francis Ngannou as a business. The reason I say that is because they have their numbers, they have their targets, and his demands didn't work within their infrastructure. Within their budget, within their framework, within their splits, it just didn't work for the business."
"Are they sitting there looking at Francis Ngannou going and collecting a huge amount of money and becoming one of the biggest combat stars and boxing stars in the world? Yeah I mean, it's easy to say good luck to him but let's be honest, we're all competitors aren't we? Doesn't matter if it's me or if it's Dana. I'm sure Dana is not crying about it."
"But I think he would also be surprised with what Francis has done. Like him, think that his demands were too much, think whatever. You've got to respect him because he took the chance, went out there, did his own deal. Just rolled the dice and it double sixed. Probably the best job in the world right now to have is Francis Ngannou's manager (laughs)."
Check out Eddie Hearn's comments on White and Ngannou below:
Eddie Hearn and the Heavyweight Division in late-2023
Francis Ngannou massively impressed Eddie Hearn, and it seems like the Matchroom Boxing figurehead, as well as many power players in combat sports, are courting the services of Ngannou for his next outing.
The promoter of Anthony Joshua naturally took the opportunity to interject his client into this heavyweight conversation. Eddie Hearn wasted no time offering up his thoughts on how he sees AJ doing versus Ngannou as well as Fury.