Dana White has never been one to mince his words and the 57-year-old has been involved in a handful of public feuds, some more recent than others.
From public back and forths with Jake Paul to heated posturing with Eddie Hearn, White has been involved with plenty of big names in the combat sports industry, for both good and bad reasons.
Now, during an appearance on the Nightcap Show as part of the build-up to a Zuffa event, the president of the UFC did not hold back on one of the company’s former champions.
As part of Dana White’s movement into the boxing world, the promoter helped put together a bout between the USA’s Ryan Garcia and the United Kingdom’s Conor Benn in Las Vegas.
Dana White Provides Latest on Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua
As part of the promotion, White appeared conducting multiple interviews with the media, many of which asked him about one very familiar topic: Tyson Fury against Anthony Joshua.
From his involvement to Eddie Hearn’s involvement, White was asked almost every question under the sun. However, one response stuck out.
“My latest update is I’ve never seen a guy who is supposed to be a promoter hurt a fight more than this guy has, he’s hurting this fight.
“He’s hurting AJ, he’s hurting Fury, it’s the weirdest thing ever, and the way the fight business goes is that you go where the money is,” White said about Hearn’s involvement in the prospective bout.
Surprisingly, though, Hearn wasn’t the one who received the worst of White’s words during press appearances, with the UFC president tearing into a former champion of his organisation.
Dana White Scolds Former UFC Champion
After being asked about a prospective bout in the UFC, White admitted he would never work with one of his former champions again as he deemed him a ‘bad guy.’
Shannon Sharpe, one of the hosts of the Nightcap Show and an NFL legend, asked White: “Can we get Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou?”
He received a stern response from White, who said: “Listen, Ngannou is on my Oscar De La Hoya list.”
Dana White and Oscar De La Hoya have had a very public feud dating back almost half a decade, with the pair taking shots at each other since White accused the former boxer of faking a COVID-19 diagnosis to avoid a fight with Vitor Belfort back in 2021.
“Look at the history of Francis Ngannou and the other companies he’s been with. He’s a bad guy, man, 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.”
Francis Ngannou was involved in the UFC between his debut in December 2015 and his final bout in January 2022, where he defeated Ciryl Gane and unified the UFC’s heavyweight championship once again.
Ngannou and the UFC did not come to an agreement on his new contract, however, likely due to the dispute between himself and White, and the UFC heavyweight championship was vacated following the expiry of his contract in mid-December of 2023.
Questions about his potential return and a superfight with Jon Jones have been floating around since the Cameroonian’s departure from the organisation. However, the man himself has admitted he has no intention of a UFC return.
Now, after White’s words on the Nightcap Show, a Ngannou return looks more unlikely than ever.
