Dana White opened up about an intense confrontation with Francis Ngannou that occurred over a $50,000 bonus issue. Speaking on the *Flagrant* podcast with Andrew Schulz, White recounted the events in detail, claiming the Cameroonian former UFC heavyweight champion became aggressive.
“So when you’re an athlete that’s signed by the UFC, you get full access to the Performance Institute. You can eat there for free, everything’s free, and do all this stuff. This guy was f**king living there,” White explained. “He had just fought and he comes up to my office, he’s in the hallway hanging out and I said ‘come on in, what’s going on?’ He was pissed off he didn’t get a $50,000 in his last fight, that he didn’t get the bonus of the night.”
White described how the discussion escalated physically.
“I said Francis you didn’t get it for this or that and he’s in my office and he’s arguing with me. I’m like this guy got this, this guy got that and this is why. The conversation’s over, and I’m starting to leave, and he grabs me by my shirt and pushes me back in my office. And I said ‘dude, get your f**king hands off me.’ I could see in this guy’s face and in his eyes and the way he’s acting who this guy really f**king is.”
Alleged Second Incident With Hunter Campbell
White claimed the tension did not end with him. A second encounter involved UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell. According to White, Ngannou physically confronted Campbell during a separate discussion.
“My guy Hunter, they were talking about something, it might have even been that same thing,” White said. “And when Hunter started to walk away, Francis grabbed him by the f**king back of his collar and f**king pulled him back and said ‘we’re not done talking yet.’”
White emphasized that Ngannou’s behavior was not simply a misunderstanding due to language, saying:
“Francis Ngannou is a bad guy. He’s not a good guy. He plays the whole ‘I don’t understand the language’ and tries to come off that he’s a king nice guy. People go ‘oh it’s the language barrier probably.’ There’s no f**king language barrier with this guy. He’s a bad guy.”
The relationship between Dana White and Francis Ngannou has been tense for years, particularly near the end of Ngannou’s UFC heavyweight reign. Ngannou eventually left the UFC undefeated as champion and moved on to boxing and PFL competitions, earning substantial purses against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
White noted that Ngannou often leveraged perceived language barriers and status to mask aggressive tendencies. These incidents, he said, reveal the fighter’s true nature and explain the difficulty in maintaining a professional relationship.
Former UFC public relations lead Ant Evans said he found Dana White’s description believable, noting that Francis Ngannou’s presence in the office could make staff uneasy and sometimes create tension during interactions.
With claims that Ngannou physically grabbed both White and Hunter Campbell, and White repeatedly calling him a “bad guy,” it seems that if fans were hoping for a UFC return, those chances appear very slim.
