Francis Ngannou silenced critics who claimed he'd "fumbled the bag" by leaving the UFC in 2023. Ngannou parlayed his newfound freedom into lucrative boxing fights against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Yet, UFC CEO Dana White recently claimed Ngannou would have made more by sticking with the mixed martial arts promotion. Ngannou says White is lying.
Ngannou once claimed he made more in the Fury fight than in his 13 UFC fights combined. Ngannou's decision to leave UFC wasn't entirely driven by money. Ngannou previously said he was offered $8 million to fight Jon Jones but UFC's refusal to budge on its notoriously restrictive contracts compelled him to leave. White recently called "total bullshit" on the idea that Ngannou profited more from boxing than he would have in the UFC, but Ngannou begs to differ.
"Unless he was the one writing me the check, I don't see how he could know that," Ngannou told CBS Sports ahead of his return to mixed martial arts against 2023 PFL heavyweight tournament winner Renan Ferreira at Oct. 19's "Battle of the Giants" event.
"But me as the insider who was receiving the money after leaving the UFC, and from what the UFC was proposing -- which was just a trap. It wasn't a solid contract either. That's a lie."
Ngannou was responding to various statements White had made while speaking with combat sports journalist Kevin Iole and various reporters.
"I know all the shit that you people don't know, and I don't care what everybody says," White said. "It doesn't matter to me. But that's a fact. He was offered more money because I know the real numbers."
White has adamantly refused to cross-promote, particularly with the Professional Fighters League to book Jones vs. Ngannou. White slightly softened his stance when CBS Sports asked if Turki Alalshikh, Saudi Arabia's chairman of the general entertainment authority, could change his mind about cross-promotion during June's UFC 303 post-fight press conference. At the time, the promotion was preparing for their debut at the Sphere in Las Vegas. UFC brought on Riyadh Season -- Saudi Arabia's entertainment event series -- as UFC's first partnered sponsor for UFC 306.
Ngannou said he hadn't had serious talks with Alalshikh about cross-promoting with the UFC but alluded to White's hypocrisy after long condemning boxing for relying on Riyadh Season to book big fights.
"We haven't had a serious talk but you can imagine why Dana White is changing his mind now," Ngannou said. "He's been to Riyadh."
