Ngannou shoots down Dana White’s allegations over UFC exit

Francis Ngannou has responded to Dana White’s recent allegations that the former UFC champion left the promotion to avoid fighting Jon Jones.

“I think Dana’s trying to make things up to buy good faith in the position he has lost,” Ngannou said on Friday.

“You could’ve just said, ‘We couldn’t find an agreement, or couldn’t come up with a deal, good luck to him. That’s it, good for him,’ and we continue our lives.”

In the post-fight press conference of Thursday night’s Power Slap event, White had claimed that Ngannou left the UFC because he was focused on money.

“Francis is all about the money,” he said.

“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 Ngannou refuted this claim, saying that White is fabricating details because he is upset that he left.

“Dana has lost in this situation, and he cannot stand it.

“Bro, I won everything: I left.

“We’ve been apart almost two years and the guy is still out there, he can’t live without it, and hounding me.

“Regardless of what happened, I’m not about him.

“I went out there, did a fight, had a good fight for my son’s memory, but the guy can’t stand it.

“I don’t know what his problem is.

“He can make everything up as he wants, that’s his problem. He needs to make peace with himself.

“What’s the problem here? I think the problem is that he can’t handle this loss.

“I’m sure he’s been praying for my downfall, but I keep doing my thing and rising as soon as I left the UFC. In many senses, I’m more than what I was.”

Ngannou left the UFC in 2022, with the Cameroonian citing a pay dispute as the primary reason.

However, White claimed that Ngannou had a better deal at the UFC than he is currently on at the PFL.

“Realistically, his deal was bigger here,” he said.

“His deal was bigger here if he stayed in the UFC.

“They can deny it all they want, why the f*** would I lie? Why do I care? It doesn’t matter to me one way or the other.

“I was going to cut Francis when he lost two in a row. I was going to cut him.

“Somebody around here begged me not to do it.

“So, it wouldn’t have mattered to me, one way or the other.

“There’s a much deeper story to this whole thing, and he would have made more money if he stayed in the UFC.”

White’s comments come after Ngannou made his PFL debut on October 19, where he lived up to expectations of top sports bookmakers and knocked out Renan Ferreira to claim the promotion’s heavyweight title.

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