Dana White said there was no conspiracy behind his disappearing act after Francis Ngannou defeated Ciryl Gane to defend his title in the UFC 270 main event.
UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard was the person to put the belt around Ngannou’s waist on Saturday night following the heavyweight champion’s unanimous decision win — a duty that has generally fallen to the UFC president. White skipped the UFC president’s post-fight press conference and his regular post-fight interviews.
During a fan Q&A session on ESPN+ on Wednesday, White offered an explanation for why he wasn’t there to congratulate Ngannou on his victory.
” I wasn’t there for the main show — I was actually walking out of the arena after the co-main because I had to deal with some stuff backstage,” White stated.
” For anyone to believe that I showed any disrespect toward Francis, I have seen Francis throughout the week. I shook his hand, I said hi to him, I was out there for the staredowns, the whole thing.”
White’s absence was particularly notable due to Ngannou’s contentious status with the UFC after failing to come to terms with the promotion on a new deal.
A champion’s clause will keep Ngannou bound to UFC until December. However, Ngannou and his team believe that the champ will be unrestricted, free agents at that time.
In addition, Ngannou’s manager Marquel Martin was sent a letter by the UFC just hours before UFC 270, which threatened a potential lawsuit over alleged contact with Jake Paul’s business partner, Nikisa Bidarian.
Still, White said it was incorrect to suggest that he was leaving the arena simply to ignore Ngannou.
” For anyone to believe there was any type of disrespect towards Francis, I wasn’t out there either for Michael Bisping [vs. Luke] Rockhold because I was dealing some stuff,” White stated. White said, “I ran from the back. I didn’t have my jacket. I only had my shirt on to go out there and put the belt on Bisping. But I couldn’t make it out there to put the belt on Francis.
“I have only once walked out of a fight. I made this clear and showed up at the press conference to say that it was why I had left. It was in Abu Dhabi with Anderson Silva [at UFC 112], it was the Demian Maia fight. That’s it. It’s not clear if anyone asked this, but someone wanted it. There you go.”
Ngannou, for his part didn’t care that White was not there to give him the title of heavyweight champion.
” It was an honor to receive the belt from Mick Maynard,” Ngannou posted on Instagram. “Couldn’t be a better person. .”
Love this man
Because White wasn’t at the press conference, he also didn’t address Ngannou’s performance in the aftermath of UFC 270 — a performance which saw Ngannou rely heavily on his wrestling to take Gane down numerous times in order to secure the unanimous decision.
White praised Ngannou for the surprise attack, which he’s sure Gane never saw coming.
“I think the heavyweight main event was a shocker,” White said. I don’t believe anyone expected Francis to come in and wrestle. During the fight I was shocked [by Ngannou’s game plan]. It was brilliant after the fight.
“It was genius for him to go work on his wrestling. Although I can’t prove it, I do know that Ciryl Gane didn’t practice much wrestling in preparation for the fight. It was amazing .”
to implement his game plan.
White didn’t address the UFC’s future plans for Ngannou, although the reigning heavyweight champion will likely be out for the rest of 2022 — with or without a new contract — as he plans to have surgery on his badly damaged knee later this year. The injury is expected to keep him sidelined nine or 10 months.
If Ngannou does end up coming to terms with the UFC on a new deal, White said a possible superfight against former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones would appeal to fans.
“I think another big fight if it’s possible to get it done would be Jon Jones and Francis,” White said when addressing matchups fans most want to see.
Jones has been teasing a move to heavyweight for almost two years, but if he’s waiting for Ngannou, he’ll likely be sitting out until at least 2023 while the champion recovers from knee surgery.
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