- Dana White took another dig at Francis Ngannou in a recent presser
- Jake Paul and Ariel Helwani immediately responded and ripped the UFC boss
Jake Paul and Ariel Helwani teamed up in clapping back at Dana White for his negative comments about Francis Ngannou.
Dana downplayed Ngannou’s success
In a presser following a Power Slap event, the UFC boss was asked to share his thoughts on Ngannou’s PFL debut. As expected, White slighted the former UFC heavyweight champion once again and even claimed that he was close to cutting Ngannou after his second consecutive loss in the promotion.
“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… They can deny all they want. Why the f**k would I lie? What do I care, it doesn’t matter to me, one way or the other,” White said.
“I was gonna cut Francis when he lost two in a row. I was gonna cut him, yeah. Somebody around here begged me not to do it,” he continued.
https://x.com/jedigoodman/status/1849532081350570174
Jake and Ariel fired back
White’s comments did not go unnoticed. Apparently, Paul has kept a receipt of the time White was mocking Jon Jones and favoring Ngannou. Evidently, “The Problem Child” was implying that the UFC boss is lying.
“3 years ago he was telling Jon Jones to move down to 185 to avoid @francisngannou and that Jon didn’t really want to fight Francis…but now the narrative doesn’t suit Dana,” Paul wrote on X.
https://x.com/jakepaul/status/1849625199580225660
Helwani also came up with a tirade in his response to White. The MMA journalist did not shy away from proving that the UFC boss is just hating on Ngannou.
“I had to watch this clip twice just to make sure it wasn’t satire. I think I can do 60-90 mins alone just breaking down all the outlandish falsehoods uttered in these two minutes,” he wrote.
“My favorite is the supposed criticism that Francis, a prize fighter, is “all about the money.” Like this is some kind of knock on him. And then ignoring the fact that we all know he ended up making way more in the Fury/AJ fights and that there are countless clips out there of him begging to fight Jones + clips of White himself saying Jones won’t fight Francis. The level of make believe here is astounding.”
https://x.com/arielhelwani/status/1849636894096691453
Helwani further pointed out that White’s claim about cutting “The Predator” was questionable, considering Ngannou headlined five of the next six UFC events after his second consecutive loss.
“And how about the revelation that he wanted to cut him after the Lewis fight? Even if true, now that the story has played out, why is this some kinda flex? Look at what Francis has done in MMA since then. Five of those 6 fights were main events, including the first fight night on ESPN. That wouldn’t have been the best move,” Helwani added.
https://x.com/arielhelwani/status/1849637691547131904
“Also, if Francis truly is all about the money and if the UFC’s deal was truly better than what he got … why didn’t he take that offer? 😵💫”
https://x.com/arielhelwani/status/1849641268445401460
“Also, Francis turned down multiple contract offers before and after the Gane fight. He chose to fight Gane for 600k, with no guarantee on the back end, a bum knee and the knowledge he’d be worth much less if he lost, then had surgery, sat out a year, turned down another round of deals to then become free and test the market with no guarantee there was a single deal to sign with PFL or fight Tyson on the backend (he signed 4 months later). In a sport where you should be “all about the money” – “it’s an opportunity, not a career,” a promoter once said – he’s actually one of the few who chose to sacrifice money for freedom.”
https://x.com/arielhelwani/status/1849652971883114889
Ngannou pulled off a PFL debut for the ages by knocking Renan Ferreira out in the first round. It is yet to be known who would Ngannou fight next but one thing certain at this point is that MMA fans are already looking forward to it.
