UFC president Dana White admitted that he wanted Ciryl Gane to beat Francis Ngannou when they fought at UFC 270 in January 2022.
Gane and Ngannou met in the main event of UFC 270 with the undisputed UFC heavyweight title on the line. But despite the UFC president actively rooting for Ngannou to lose the fight, he earned a unanimous decision win over Gane.
It’s a fight that White can admit he wanted the Cameroonian native to lose.
Dana White Wanted Francis Ngannou to Lose at UFC 270
Speaking to Big Boy, White admitted that he wanted Ngannou to lose against Gane at UFC 270 when asked when the last time he wanted a UFC fighter to lose a fight.
“A guy that I wanted to lose… it would have to be Francis Ngannou,” White said.
“Damn right I wanted Ngannou to lose.”
“Guy that I wanted to lose? It would have to be Francis Ngannou vs Ciryl Gane. Damn right I wanted Ngannou to lose.”
(via @BigBoy)
Dana White Doesn’t Like Francis Ngannou
In case you didn’t know, White has made it clear in the past that he does not like Ngannou and despises working with him.
Earlier this week, White called Ngannou a “bad guy” and said he was glad to have washed his hands with the former UFC heavyweight champion.
“Ngannou is on my Oscar De La Hoya list. Look at the history of Francis Ngannou and the other companies he’s been with. He’s a bad guy, man. He’s a bad guy, and I’m at a point in my life where I just don’t want to do business with bad guys, you know what I mean? I just don’t,” White said.
For his part, Ngannou seems to have taken the high road to White’s recent comments so far, though we may hear him respond to his former boss after he admitted that he wanted him to lose against Gane.
Either way, Ngannou is no longer a UFC fighter, and it’s time White just moved on from talking about him, as it does nothing good for anyone.
Instead, White should probably focus on the current state of the UFC heavyweight division, which has seen its champion, Tom Aspinall, not step foot inside the Octagon in nearly one year.
Dana White Wanted Ciryl Gane to Beat Francis Ngannou