Tag: Francis Ngannou

UFC Omits Francis Ngannou’s Title Win Over Miocic From Top 100 Apex Knockouts

The UFC’s attempt to erase heavyweight great Francis Ngannou from its history continues. The knockout artist departed MMA’s leading promotion at the start of 2023, bringing to an end a lengthy contractual dispute that saw the Cameroonian fail to secure the terms he was after. He’s since found them under the PFL banner, where he’s […]

Continue Reading UFC Omits Francis Ngannou’s Title Win Over Miocic From Top 100 Apex Knockouts at MMA News.

The UFC’s attempt to erase heavyweight great Francis Ngannou from its history continues.

The knockout artist departed MMA’s leading promotion at the start of 2023, bringing to an end a lengthy contractual dispute that saw the Cameroonian fail to secure the terms he was after.

He’s since found them under the PFL banner, where he’s made the most of the freedom granted to him to explore a career in the professional boxing ring and begin a role as chairman for the promotion’s Africa expansion.

After two blockbuster boxing matchups against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, Ngannou made his long-awaited return to the cage last month in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Headlining the PFL’s latest pay-per-view, “The Predator” became the inaugural Super Fights heavyweight champion by battering Renan Ferreira en route to a first-round TKO.

The weeks since have seen Dana White attempt to detract from Ngannou. The UFC CEO has claimed that he didn’t like and even wanted to release Ngannou — who went on to win the title and become one of the greatest heavyweights of all-time — following his loss to Derrick Lewis in 2018.

He’s also insisted that Ngannou is “all about the money,” but simultaneously claimed that he turned down a more lucrative future in the UFC. That’s without mentioning the narrative that he ran from Jon Jones despite calling to fight “Bones” in the same year he defeated Stipe Miocic to capture gold.

And speaking of his title crowning, it would seem the UFC is doing what it can to erase the memory of it.

As the promotion prepares to stage the 100th UFC Fight Night to be hosted at the Apex this weekend, it compiled the “top 100 Apex knockouts” in a recent YouTube video. In terms of KOs witnessed there, not many were more brutal and important as Ngannou’s to finish the great Miocic in 2021.

With that in mind, surely it cracked the top five? Top 10? At the very least the top 50, right?! Okay, but it’s in the top 100, surely?!

The full video is below, so you can see for yourself which 100 knockouts were apparently better than Ngannou leaving the consensus heavyweight GOAT sleeping on the canvas…

Ngannou’s omission, which was first highlighted by MMA Orbit’s Logan Offord, is far from the first time that the UFC has been accused of attempting to eliminate the 38-year-old from its history.

The promotion has previously described Tafon Nchukwi as the first and only Cameroonian fighter in UFC history, of course ignoring Ngannou’s presence in that regard.

And just this past August, controversy swirled when Israel Adesanya’s comments were edited to take his mention of Ngannou as an African champion alongside him and Kamaru Usman out during the UFC 305 Countdown episode.

“The Last Stylebender” publicly spoke out against that, leading to White accepting responsibility for what he branded a mishap and call the former two-time middleweight champion to apologize.

But judging by the recent YouTube video, that incident evidently didn’t do much to alter the ‘avoid mentioning Ngannou’ approach.

Continue Reading UFC Omits Francis Ngannou’s Title Win Over Miocic From Top 100 Apex Knockouts at MMA News.

Ben Askren Not Shocked By Dana White’s Bashing Of Francis Ngannou: ‘When He Can’t Get What He Wants…’ 

Former Bellator and ONE Championship titleholder Ben Askren can relate to Francis Ngannou’s recent back and forth with UFC CEO Dana White. The aftermath of Ngannou’s successful return to mixed martial arts and PFL debut earlier this month has largely centered around the disparaging comments made by his ex-employer. White has claimed that he didn’t […]

Continue Reading Ben Askren Not Shocked By Dana White’s Bashing Of Francis Ngannou: ‘When He Can’t Get What He Wants…’  at MMA News.

Former Bellator and ONE Championship titleholder Ben Askren can relate to Francis Ngannou’s recent back and forth with UFC CEO Dana White.

The aftermath of Ngannou’s successful return to mixed martial arts and PFL debut earlier this month has largely centered around the disparaging comments made by his ex-employer.

White has claimed that he didn’t like and even wanted to release Ngannou — who went on to win the title and become one of the greatest heavyweights of all-time — following his loss to Derrick Lewis in 2018.

The UFC boss has also accused the Cameroonian of being “all about the money” while simultaneously insisting that Ngannou turned down a more lucrative future in the Octagon. That’s in addition to saying he ran from Jon Jones despite “The Predator” calling to fight “Bones” in the same year he defeated Stipe Miocic to capture gold.

Though White has usual set of backers in the community, many have poked holes in the UFC president’s remarks. That includes someone previously on the receiving end of such a barrage.

During a recent episode of his Funky and the Champ YouTube show alongside Daniel Cormier, Askren likened Ngannou’s situation to his own when a potential UFC signing back in 2013 fell through.

From PFL standouts Ngannou and Cris Cyborg to former fighters like himself and Randy Couture, “Funky” noted the multitude of examples when it comes to White berating athletes who go against him.

“Dana spent years lying, saying I didn’t want to fight the best, I didn’t want challenges, I was running away, and that couldn’t have been further from the truth,” Askren said. “So, it sucked to have this guy – it’s essentially slander, saying things about me that I knew weren’t true. Dana has this part of his personality when he can’t get what he wants, and in that case, he didn’t offer me a contract, so he kind of got what he wanted. But then I think because I was continuing to have success and people were continuing to follow me, he wanted me off in a dark corner where everyone ignored me or something.

“He’s done the same thing with [Cris] Cyborg, I believe Randy Couture had a similar experience, obviously now Francis. If I thought really hard I could probably think of some other ones. But there’s this weird part of Dana’s personality where, if he doesn’t get exactly what he wants, he just starts crapping on people,” Askren continued. “And because he has a big microphone and because he’s generally very truthful and generally correct, people just believe him. So I had to deal with many years of Dana telling lies about me that were very harmful to me, that he had no reason or basis for doing.”

In this instance, Ngannou has had plenty of support from the MMA masses. A number of fans and media members have called White out for his recent remarks and accused him of contradictory statements regarding “The Predator.”

The Cameroonian himself doesn’t appear fazed. In addition to securing the contractual terms he was after away from the UFC, Ngannou has also been able to fulfil his dream of competing against the best competition in boxing.

Continue Reading Ben Askren Not Shocked By Dana White’s Bashing Of Francis Ngannou: ‘When He Can’t Get What He Wants…’  at MMA News.

Dana White’s ‘Weird Personality Trait’ Exposed? Ben Askren Opens Up on UFC Chief’s Feud Tactics

Dana White’s ‘Weird Personality Trait’ Exposed? Ben Askren Opens Up on UFC Chief’s Feud TacticsDana White tends to throw a hissy fit when he doesn’t get what he wants. At least, that’s what…

Dana White’s ‘Weird Personality Trait’ Exposed? Ben Askren Opens Up on UFC Chief’s Feud Tactics

Dana White tends to throw a hissy fit when he doesn’t get what he wants. At least, that’s what Ben Askren thinks.

In 2018, Askren was part of a history-making trade that sent him from ONE Championship to the UFC in exchange for P4P great Demetrious Johnson. While ‘Mighty Mouse’ flourished in his new surroundings, winning both the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix and the ONE flyweight world championship, Askren struggled to find the same success inside the Octagon that he found in other promotions.

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After dropping back-to-back bouts against Jorge Masvidal and Demian Maia, ‘Funky’ laid down his gloves and called it a career.

However, before Askren exited the sport altogether, he found himself at odds with Dana White after the UFC CEO accused him of refusing to fight the best possible opponents and infamously declared that he’d “rather watch flies f*ck than watch Ben Askren fight.”

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Funky’ believes White is now doing something similar to Francis Ngannou, who has been regularly accused by White of ducking a fight with the UFC’s current undisputed heavyweight champion, Jon Jones.

“I’ve obviously had the same experience with Dana. And I mostly think Dana does a great job,” Askren said on his Funky and The Champ podcast with Daniel Cormier. “Obviously as a businessman, he does an amazing job. I think he showed a lot of courage when he brought the UFC back before all the professional sports, I respect that a lot…to which point Dana spent years saying I didn’t want to fight the best, didn’t want challenges, I was running away. And that couldn’t’ve been further from the truth. So it sucked for this guy, it’s essentially slander, saying things about me that I knew weren’t true…

“Dana has this part of his personality when he can’t get what he wants, and in that case, he didn’t offer me a contract. He did the same thing with Cyborg, I believe Randy Couture had a similar experience, Francis…but there’s this weird part of Dana’s personality where if he can’t get exactly what he wants, he starts crapping on people.

“And because he has a big microphone and he’s generally very truthful, and correct, so people just believe him…I had to deal with many years of Dana telling lies about me that were just really harmful. He had no reason or basis for doing [it]…it’s a really big negative, I don’t know why he’s like that, and it doesn’t really make sense given the stature and power he has, for him to throw fits when he doesn’t get exactly what he wants” (h/t BJPenn.com).

Francis Ngannou makes a splash in his PFL debut while his feud with Dana White Rages on

White and Ngannou have been traded barbs over the last several weeks with the UFC CEO recently claiming that he wanted to cut ‘The Predator’ from his UFC contract after he’d lost back-to-back bouts against Stipe Miocic and Derrick Henry. White claimed that Ngannou was “not a good person” and only kept him on the roster after two other UFC associates convinced him to give the Cameroonian another chance.

Whether or not that’s true or not is now irrelevant as Ngannou went on to capture the heavyweight division’s top prize before exiting the promotion to score a bigger bag under the PFL banner.

Ngannou recently made his promotional debut at the ‘Battle of the Giants’ pay-per-view in Saudi Arabia, landing a dominant first-round TKO against Renan Ferreira.

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Francis Ngannou and Jake Paul Mock Dana White Over Flip-Flopping Narrative

Francis Ngannou and Jake Paul Mock Dana White Over Flip-Flopping NarrativeFrancis Ngannou and Jake Paul are not letting UFC president Dana White off the hook for entirely changing his…

Francis Ngannou and Jake Paul Mock Dana White Over Flip-Flopping Narrative

Francis Ngannou and Jake Paul are not letting UFC president Dana White off the hook for entirely changing his narrative and flip-flopping over the years.

Francis Ngannou and Jake Paul Mock Dana White

After his first title defense for greener pastures, the UFC heavyweight world champion Francis Ngannou walked away from the organization vacating his crown. The Cameroonian star signed with the PFL and took on two blockbuster boxing bouts against the royalty of the sport as he faced Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. It is estimated that Ngannou made over $30-$40 million for these three bouts.

When Francis Ngannou captured the UFC heavyweight throne, Jon Jones was the long-reigning light heavyweight champion but refused to step up to heavyweight. ‘Bones’ waited until Ngannou left the UFC before trying a heavyweight move. Dana White claimed this was because Jones was scared of Ngannou.

Francis Ngannou PFL
Photo by Tim Wheaton

As Dana White explained in 2021 after Ngannou captured the heavyweight title by way of knockout, suggesting Jones would be better off cutting to middleweight rather than up to heavyweight. White explained:

“If I’m Jon Jones and I’m at home watching this fight I’m moving to ’85 … If Jon Jones really wants the fight Jon Jones knows he can get the fight … If you really want the fight, Francis Ngannou is the heavyweight champion of the world right now, all he’s gotta do is pick up the phone and call Hunter [Campbell] and we can get the deal done.”

Years later, Dana White says that Francis Ngannou is all about the money and that the UFC offered him one of the biggest deals in UFC history, certainly recognizing his value.

Jake Paul did not let White forget, in a recent Tweet, he said:

“3 years ago he was telling Jon Jones to move down to 185 to avoid [Francis Ngannou] and that Jon didn’t really want to fight Francis…but now the narrative doesn’t suit Dana…”

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Francis Ngannou

The lineal MMA world champion Francis Ngannou added:

“Divert attention to the real matter by manipulating the narrative. Lol”