Many fans were left heartbroken when Francis Ngannou’s UFC exit was revealed by UFC President Dana White. He was not only the UFC heavyweight champion but also one of the most exciting and supported UFC fighters. However, it was evident that there was a rift between the UFC President and Ngannou. Evidently, Ngannou recently blasted UFC head honcho in a social media row after UFC’s recent blunder.
Francis Ngannou has been a long-time fighter of the UFC. He first made his UFC debut back in 2015 against Luis de Oliveira. After winning his first 6 UFC fights, the 36-year old faced a setback in his career losing back-to-back fights against Stipe Miocic and Derrick Lewis. However, ‘The Predator’ went on another six-fight winning streak clenching the heavyweight title before parting ways with the promotion.
It was evident that Ngannou’s exit was not due to his performances or the fact that he wasn’t sellable but there were issues between Ngannou and White. Thus, they were not able to reach an agreement for a contract extension. Perhaps that is why the former UFC Heavyweight Champion wasn’t happy and lashed out at Dana White after UFC’s recent blunder.
Francis Ngannou blasts Dana White after a recent UFC blunder
UFC Fight Night: Luquevs. Dos Anjos event saw Tafon Nchukwi lose against AJ Dobson in the middleweight fight. During his walkout, UFC had a banner showing that he was the only Cameroon fighter in the UFC. This did not sit well with the former heavyweight champion Ngannou as he put up an Instagram post addressing the issue and also blasted Dana White while replying to a fan in the comment section.
The fan wrote, “You have put Dana in so much pain and shame. Dude is hurting real bad.“
This is not the first time that Ngannou and White have locked themselves in a war of words. Many fans are aware of the beef between White and Ngannou. However, not many fans aware about the issues they have over the years.
White-Ngannou feud
Ngannout and White’s beef first began when Francis lost his fight against Stipe Miocic. Miocic is considered the greatest heavyweight of all time. However, White was not kind to the former UFC Heavyweight Champion after his loss to Miocic. White claimed that his ego had gotten over his head. This did not sit well with Ngannou.
After his losses, Francis Ngannou began to stack up win after win. However, he was still not awarded a title shot. Thus, the 36-year old was left frustrated and only fight once in 2020 which agitated the UFC management. After a relatively inactive period, Cameroonian-French fighter finally defeated Miocic and won the heavyweight title.
After the title win, UFC wanted Ngannou to defend his title soon again in August 2021. However, it was too soon for him. So he asked to postpone the fight to September and UFC were not agreeing with it. So they made an interim title fight. After all the issues, the former Heavyweight Champion also spoke about fighter pay and wanted to include fighter benefits as a part of his deal, which ultimately didn’t materialize.
