One of the biggest and most talked-about stories in the MMA space in the last five years is Francis Ngannou’s departure from the UFC. ‘The Predator’ was stripped of his undisputed UFC heavyweight title in January 2023 after talks over a new contract never progressed, which resulted in the messiest and most publicised departure in the history of the promotion.
Although at one point Ngannou was the most backed and promoted star in the entire company, as soon as he was out of the UFC, Dana White expressed dislike for him. Still to this day, White expresses his dislike for the Cameroonian and has pretty much always shut down any talk of him ever returning to the promotion one day, despite him recently showing an interest in a fight Jon Jones in the summer of 2026.
During a recent appearance on Andrew Schulz’s podcast, the UFC boss dropped a bombshell to finally revealed what happened between him and Ngannou for their relationship to collapse so publicly.
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Dana White Claims Francis Ngannou “Grabbed” and “Pushed” him
Dana White has finally explained why he thinks Francis Ngannou is “a bad guy” after years of speculation and being vague when asked about him. During a recent appearance on Andrew Schulz’s podcast, the UFC boss dropped a bombshell and claimed the former heavyweight champion put his hands on him and the UFC’s Chief Business Officer, Hunter Campbell, several times.
In the video, which you can watch below, White claims Ngannou put his hands on him on two separate occasions, which led to him almost getting cut from the promotion early.
“The conversation’s over, and I’m starting to leave, and he grabs me by my shirt and pushes me back in my office, and I said ‘dude, get your f*****g hands off me.’ I could see in this guy’s face and in his eyes and the way he’s acting who this guy really f*****g is.”
If what White has claimed is true, then it is understandable why he has been so harsh on Ngannou in many interviews over the last few years. However, the former UFC heavyweight champion is yet to respond, so he may deny the claim or have a different account of events which may have happened.
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