Kamaru Usman made it clear he is struggling to accept Dana White’s retelling of a past meeting with Francis Ngannou, a moment the UFC boss described as turning physical. According to White, Ngannou grabbed him by the shirt, pushed him back inside the office and repeated the same toward UFC executive Hunter Campbell. White said the entire exchange began because Ngannou was upset over missing out on a bonus.
Usman addressed the story during his conversation with Henry Cejudo on their “Pound 4 Pound” program, and from his perspective, the sequence of actions just does not sound realistic.
“Listen, I wasn’t there, but I don’t think this happened like this,” Usman said on the show.
Before he could expand further, Cejudo jumped in and asked whether he was calling White a liar. Usman quickly clarified.
“Did I say that? No, absolutely not,” he replied. “All I’m saying is, it’s hard to believe to go to Dana White, ‘Get back in your office Dana, you’re not the – what? Get out your checkbook. Give me $50K.’ And then, ‘Oh Hunter, you leaving? Get back here Hunter. We’re not done talking.’”
Usman then explained that the entire scenario sounds exaggerated in his mind.
“It’s hard because that’s the picture that we’re really seeing in our head here. It’s hard to believe that, because listen, it’s Dana White here. Dana, just like Francis has this – this aura around Francis, to where you just know, OK, I can’t f*ck around here. I got to be on my Ps and Qs. He has that aura, but in just that sense, because Francis is a fighter and he has that scary aura, Dana White has a different aura as well, because Dana White’s the head of the UFC. Dana White’s this guy. So, everybody moving around Dana White, hey, you’re gonna know, hey, I gotta conduct myself accordingly so here.”
Their History And Why Usman Is Hesitant To Believe It
Usman and Ngannou have known each other for years and were part of the celebrated era where Usman, Ngannou and Israel Adesanya held UFC titles simultaneously. Ngannou also supported Usman at major moments, including appearing on stage during the ceremonial weigh-ins for Usman’s most recent appearance this past June.
Because he knows both personalities well, Usman feels the tone of the story Dana White told does not match how he imagines such a meeting would play out.
“I find that a little hard to believe,” Usman said. “I’m not saying that’s false. I’m just saying it might not have went down the way that quote sounded like, and it made us kind of think about the situation.”
Ngannou has not made any public statement about the matter, and until he does, the only version on record is Dana White’s. Usman simply believes the situation may not resemble the dramatic picture painted during the podcast retelling.
