Francis Ngannou is not looking to get into another back-and-forth with UFC CEO Dana White over the semantics of his choice to leave the promotion.
As the three-year anniversary of Ngannou’s final octagon appearance approaches, the former UFC heavyweight champion doesn’t have a sliver of doubt that he made the right call leaving the company behind. Since then, Ngannou has achieved his dream of competing in professional boxing after a pair of significant bouts against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua that figure to have cashed in big paydays.
There was a point in time when White said Ngannou would never get what he wanted in the boxing world by parting ways with the UFC, especially after he left an offer on the table to be the highest paid heavyweight in UFC history. More recently, White said the idea that boxing provides greater paydays than what’s possible in the UFC is “a myth,” and he knows for “a fact” that Ngannou was offered more money to stay in UFC because he knows the “real numbers” that others don’t.
Ngannou can only scoff at White’s comments and cautioned the public to not buy into the narrative peddled by the UFC boss.
“Personally at this point, it’s been a while since I’ve taken anything from Dana White as credible,” Ngannou told MMA Junkie on Tuesday. “I don’t give any importance because the things that he says a lot of times cannot make sense. But just for this statement, I will say for everything that I left the UFC for – every single thing – I have had more. Way more. Everything. Name it. Just say I have had everything way more, just for the reference.”
Ngannou (17-3) did not get the results he wanted in the boxing ring as he lost a controversial decision to Fury in October 2022 despite knocking him down and then suffered a brutal knockout loss to Joshua in March. Now Ngannou is about to begin the second chapter of his MMA career as he’s set to make his long-awaited PFL debut when he takes on Renan Ferreira (13-3) in the “Battle of the Giants” main event Oct. 19 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (ESPN+ pay-per-view, DAZN).
Although Ngannou doesn’t have the UFC platform behind him, he is happy with his life. He does not regret a single business decision he has made from the time of his UFC exit to today. Because of that, all of White’s statements are irrelevant to him.
“I’m very comfortable,” Ngannou said. “To this day, I fight because I love fighting. I don’t fight because I need to pay bills or because I need to pay debts. I don’t fight because I need to make a living. I fight because I want to. I can say, ‘OK, I’m out.’ And I will be good. And it would be the last time that you see me.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL: Battle of the Giants.
