Dana White is staying out of the Francis Ngannou business.
Since Ngannou parted ways with the UFC in January 2023—with Ngannou being stripped of a heavyweight title on his way out—he and White have been vocal about their disdain for each other both personally and professionally. That rift has seemingly erased any possibility of Ngannou ever stepping foot in the octagon again.
The feud was briefly revisited during White’s appearance on Nightcap on Thursday when the UFC CEO was asked if a matchup between Ngannou and retired pound-for-pound great Jon Jones could still happen.
“Listen, Ngannou is on my Oscar De La Hoya list,” White said. “Look at the history of Francis Ngannou and the other companies he’s been with. He’s a bad guy and I’m at a point in my life where I just don’t want to do business with bad guys. I just don’t.”
Ngannou joined the PFL after leaving the UFC, signing on not just to compete for the league but to serve as the chairman of PFL Africa. The partnership produced mixed results, with Ngannou competing in just one PFL bout, a 2024 win over Renan Ferreira, before his departure from the organization this past March. Ngannou’s most notable appearances in the past few years came in high-profile boxing matches outside of the PFL against heavyweight stars Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.
White’s claim that he won’t work with Ngannou due to character issues is a dubious one, especially when mentioning Jones, who has dealt with multiple legal issues, including being the perpetrator in a 2015 hit-and-run that resulted in the UFC stripping him of his light heavyweight championship.
Also, this past July, UFC 329 was headlined by the return of Conor McGregor, who competed a year-and-a-half after being found liable for sexual assault in a civil suit. Like Jones, McGregor has also been embroiled in several outside-of-the-cage controversies.
White even alluded to Jones’ unsavory character when praising his fighting acumen.
“Jon Jones is the baddest dude to ever walk the face of the earth,” White said. “People always bust my balls when I say it, Jon Jones is not just a stone cold killer—That guy’s dark. He’s dark.”
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