Dana White has made it clear that his time dealing with Francis Ngannou is finished. After previously mentioning that the two had a tense moment inside UFC headquarters, White recently went into more detail regarding what actually happened and why he considers the matter closed.
Speaking to TheMacLife, White tried to simplify the story but did not back away from his belief that Ngannou crossed a line.
What happened during the exchange
White explained that the situation was not a violent confrontation but still carried a level of seriousness.
“Let me be clear on something, too, when I say the physicality,” White said. “It’s not like Francis Ngannou came in here and threatened us or did anything like that. But as men, everybody who is a man knows there’s these situations with, you know, we’re in there and he’s telling me that ‘I deserve the fifty thousand dollars. I want the fifty thousand dollars.’ I said, ‘You’re not getting it.’ … I am in there with them for however long we are talking and I am like, I am done. I had another meeting. And this guy just used to walk around, wander around UFC headquarters like this was his house. This guy literally spent the whole day here. Breakfast, lunch, f*cking dinner.”
White then described the moment things escalated.
“So I started to walk out and he puts his hand on my chest, he says, ‘We are not done talking yet.’ And I said, ‘Oh, we’re fucking done talking.’ It is not like Francis Ngannou came in here and was, like, physically. That is what went down. I tell you guys all the time, we are in the f*cking fight business. Shit happens.”
White’s long standing frustrations
White explained that his frustrations with Ngannou did not begin with that moment. He recalled the period after Ngannou lost to Stipe Miocic and then Derrick Lewis.
“My whole thing with Francis is, I have this philosophy where when somebody shows you who they really are, believe them,” White said. “And there was nobody more into Francis than me. OK? When I met this guy, I was like, ‘Holy shit, you are what a heavyweight f*cking champion looks like,’ all this shit. I was all in on Francis.”
White said things changed after the loss to Derrick Lewis.
“Early on, I had Francis sitting behind me in the fcking Zuffa section, in my seats. And then we were in Boston and he showed me who he was. So I told the fcking boys, he lost a couple and I said, ‘I don’t want to be in business with this guy.’”
Where things stand now
Ngannou eventually returned to form, reclaimed the heavyweight title by defeating Miocic in their rematch, and later won a decision over Ciryl Gane before leaving the organization to explore free agency. Once the negotiations collapsed in early 2023, Ngannou exited and joined the PFL.
White now says he has no desire to reconnect.
“There was nothing that made me happier than throwing that guy over to the fcking PFL,” White said. “Let me tell you what, if we let guys go, feel bad for the fcking company that gets them. We let them go for a f*cking reason. I do not have to let anybody go. I do not want to be in business with guys that I do not like and that I do not think are good guys.
“And when you talk about good guys and bad guys, I am in the fight business. Shit happens and I am pretty lenient when it comes to tough guy shit. I am not lenient with bad guy shit.”
