Dana White and Francis Ngannou had some serious problems when Ngannou was in contract with UFC. Things got tense enough that he left UFC to chase his dreams. Ngannou went for boxing and PFL after that. But when he was in the UFC, Dana White didn’t want to lose a talent like Francis Ngannou. Especially to make the fight of Jon Jones against Ngannou happen for the fans.
Dana White didn’t fire him, but at last ‘The Predator’ decided to leave on his own. A few days ago, Ngannou finally returned to PFL after his incredible boxing performance. He defeated Renan Ferreira in the first round of their heavyweight fight at PFL, known as the Battle of the Giants. This was one of his most legendary matches, and we didn’t see him in such fights since the UFC.
Francis Ngannou against Dana White
Francis Ngannou wanted to chase his dream of boxing, but the disagreement between White and Ngannou was one of the reasons why “The Predator” refused a UFC contract renewal. But recently Dana White did something that changed everything.
Dana White was speaking to the media at the Power Slap Press Conference, and he said that the Predator would have earned more money if he remained in the UFC. However, White also revealed a surprising fact from the past relating to Ngannou: he said that he had planned on firing Ngannou from the UFC back in 2018.
Legacy in UFC
The reason that Dana White wanted to get rid of Francis was his performance at that time. Ngannou lost two fights in 2018. Firstly, he lost to Stipe Miocic and the heavyweight title as a result of the fight. Six months later, he lost again, this time to Derrick Lewis, in an ill-fought fight that most observers considered one of the worst in recent UFC history. After these losses, Ngannou returned to fighting and won some incredible fights that earned the UFC a lot of money.
He worked hard in the gym, and when he came back, he went on and won four fights in a row, all by knockout in the first round. That was a turning point for Ngannou. That brought him back to the same Octagon against the two-time World Heavyweight Champion, Stipe Miocic. Francis Ngannou did not disappoint and he continued to succeed. He knocked out Miocic in the second round and became the UFC heavyweight champion.
After that, Ngannou successfully defended his title against Ciryl Gane. Despite many expecting that he would headline a fight with Jon Jones in the UFC, he decided to sign for the PFL. For Dana White, that was the last time he has paid any attention to Ngannou. Even though Jones and Miocic will fight for the heavyweight title fight in the main event fight of UFC 309 next month, people still talk about Ngannou vs. Jones.
Final Thoughts
We know we have two champions fighting for the title of heavyweight, but we also have another upcoming contender for the title of heavyweight champion, Tom Aspinall. He has been in the middleweight division, and most importantly, he is already the interim champion. Tom Aspinall also met with Jon Jones a few times, but their rivalry was not quite hot at that time, and it was not a heated face-off.
Finally, he gained the attention of the UFC world when he began to launch a war of words with Jon Jones on social media. But his fight against Jones does not seem possible because Miocic and Jones have clarified that they will not be active in the Octagon after UFC 309. What do you expect about the future of Francis Ngannou, Tom Aspinall, and Jon Jones?
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