UFC CEO Dana White and former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou have been butting heads since Ngannou was still under contract and holding the promotion’s title. Since Ngannou has left the promotion after a contract dispute, the UFC has been accused of attempting to scrub him from their history books, most recently when press conference comments by Israel Adesanya were edited on a UFC 305 “Countdown” episode to remove Ngannou’s name.
Speaking to the media after Tuesday’s Dana White’s Contender Series, White took responsibility for those edits while saying they should not have happened.
“My production team are a bunch of rock stars and they are truly f—ing awesome,” White said. “I make it so hard on them sometimes with some of the crazy s— I say, and it’s tough. When you asked me about that, I didn’t know anything about it. But someone was editing that and made a conscious decision, thinking that was the right thing to do — that that’s what we would have wanted, what I would have wanted.
“I’m in charge of everything production-related, so at the end of the day, the fact that it happened falls on me 100 percent. It’s my responsibility and I accept it. Blame me for that. I put them in such a tough spot sometimes saying all this crazy s—, it’s hard for them. Whoever was editing it, they thought that was the right decision and did what they thought I wanted. That’s not what I wanted, and had I known that, I would have not authorized that. But that’s on me — totally on me. I already called Israel Adesanya and apologized for it.”
Ngannou held the promotion’s title when negotiations for a new contract fell apart. Ngannou was looking for more money and the opportunity to pursue outside endeavors such as boxing matches. The UFC eventually released Ngannou and waived the contracted waiting period for a fighter to negotiate with other promotions.
Ngannou went on to sign with PFL but has not yet fought for the promotion. Instead, he made massive money in boxing matches with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Ngannou shocked the boxing world by knocking Fury down and losing a narrow split decision before suffering a brutal knockout to Joshua.
He is now set to fight Renan Ferreira in a PFL superfight on Oct. 19.
In August 2023, a UFC graphic for Tafon Nchukwi during a Fight Night card labeled Nchukwi as the “only Cameroonian fighter in UFC history.” Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, a Cameroonian-born fighter, fought in the UFC from 2007 to 2008. Ngnanou is also Cameroonian and fought in the UFC for nearly eight years.
