The UFC CEO, Dana White, has reacted to the Francis Ngannou vs. Tyson Fury boxing match.
It was almost a week ago that the former UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou, entered the ring in his first professional boxing match to fight WBC heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury.
‘The Predator’ vs. ‘The Gypsy King’ took place at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, October 28th.
The outcome after 10 rounds was a close split decision victory for Fury.
Ngannou believes he was robbed in a fight where he was able to drop Fury with a left hook in the 3rd round, the only knockdown of the fight. Many Fans and fighter alike agree with Ngannou – that he deserved the nod.
Dana White recently spoke on the ‘Triggered’ podcast, and although claiming he didn’t see the fight, shared his thoughts on Ngannou vs Fury:
“The fact that he went 10 rounds with Tyson Fury is crazy. He just went 10 rounds with Tyson Fury, Conor (McGregor) made it 9 or 10 with Floyd. Anthony Pettis just beat Roy Jones Jr. — I know Roy is friggin’ 60 years old or whatever, but I don’t know what the hell is going on. It’s crazy. I didn’t see the fight, but the fact that he went 10 rounds is unbelievable.”
Ngannou and the UFC parted ways in early 2023 and the 37 year old went on to sign with the PFL (Professional Fighters League) where he will make his MMA debut in 2024. Ngannou had been wanting to entering the boxing ring for a while, and the PFL were okay with that crossover.
When asked if Francis Ngannou’s success would hurt the UFC brand, Dana White responded:
“I don’t care. Listen, these guys, at some point, everybody is going to move on. Everybody has to do what’s right for them and make money for their families, so whatever they’ve got to do, they’ve got to do.”
Concluding White shared he’s in no hurry to deal with these ‘boxing guys’ (h/t MMAMania):
“Every time I get on the phone with one of these boxing guys, I go, ‘What the f**k am I doing? Am I out of my mind? These guys are all horrible to deal with.”
What do you make of Dana White’s thoughts concerning Ngannou?
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