“I’m about to ask that too”- Francis Ngannou demands to know why Dana White didn’t present him his heavyweight belt
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Francis Ngannou and Dana White
Francis Ngannou defied all odds at UFC 270 and won the fight by unanimous decision. After the decision was announced Dana White was nowhere to be found. Mick Maynard put the belt around Ngannou’s waist.
Ngannou was asked in the press conference why didn’t White present the belt to him after his hand was raised in the main event, Ngannou was as curious about it as all the fans and media members. He said this is something White needs to address and the media should question him about the matter. Dana White didn’t show up to the UFC 270 post-fight press conference.
Earlier, Ngannou after being down two rounds pulled off an amazing performance and pulled all the strings to get the victory. Ngannou surprised everyone and relied on his newfound wrestling skills. Ngannou took down Gane over and over in the rounds 3 to 5 and won the unanimous decision by having the top control in the fight. This is the first time Ngannou has won a fight via decision. Ngannou had 100 percent finishing recorded prior to this fight. Also, this is the first loss of Gane’s young career. He fell to 10-1 after this fight.
Ngannou, when asked about White’s absence, said, “I don’t know you have to ask him. No, I don’t have anything to do about that. That’s their decision, I’m about to ask about that too.”
When informed that White was not at the post-fight press conference, Ngannou said, “He didn’t come to the press conference? I didn’t know that too.”
When asked about his future in the company and is the money the issue with his deal, Ngannou said,
“Well, it’s been a long time that I’m wondering about my future in this company so nothing has changed and I’m in similar position.“
“It’s not just money obviously money is the part of it but it is also the term of the contract, I don’t agree with it, I don’t feel like it’s fair, I’m a free man and I don’t feel like I’ve been treated good and it’s unfortunate that I’ve to be in this position to be able to do that to say that but I think it’s something that everybody should at least have a right to claim for what’s best for him. Because at the end of the day we put a lot work in this job. We take a lot in our body to make it happen. So at least we can have a fair and square deal”
When asked if he would go to the UFC, Ngannou said, “Well I’ve been going to the UFC a lot. So I kind of like exhaust all my options“
When asked if his contract expires at the start of the next year if doesn’t fight again, Ngannou replied, “I think so“
Here’s the full clip from Youtube.
Related Article – Tension builds as Dana White skips the ceremonial crowning of Francis Ngannou at UFC 270
Francis Ngannou and Dana White are not on the best of terms
Going into this fight with Ciryl Gane, Francis Ngannou had many things which would have distracted him from his main target, the fight itself. Ngannou had injuries going into the fight, this fight was the last fight of his contract and his relationship with his former coach, these are things which he had to overcome to get the victory in the main event.
Ngannou fought his last fight of the contract and everybody was surprised to not see Dana White inside the octagon when the results were announced. White putting the belt around the champion’s waist is a tradition in the UFC. Ngannou has not felt respected in the UFC in recent times. After his win over Stipe Miocic, he wanted to have a showdown with Jon Jones. White had even announced that Jones would be next for the winner but Ngannou never heard anything from the UFC.
Ngannou had a call from UFC to fight a relatively short notice fight in Houston against The Black Beast Derrick Lewis. When Ngannou couldn’t do the fight due to it being too early for him, the UFC built an interim championship fight on that card with Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane. UFC had to do a championship fight in Houston and with Derrick Lewis, it would have been massive but when Ngannou couldn’t do it they had nothing else for that card and they went with the interim championship route. Ngannou felt disrespected about the whole situation.
Ngannou has verbally been open to talking about how he is not getting respect from the UFC and now for Dana White to not showup inside the cage to put the belt around the champion and not face the media when he knows all the questions about Ngannou’s contract situation will be brought up, is bit retard. Even Ngannou is curious to find out why White was missing from the octagon.
Ngannou’s future in the UFC is unsure right now. Ngannou believes he is not treated well in the UFC and he has not been compensated well enough. He wants to pursue things outside MMA especially Boxing. He wants to fight in the UFC but he also wants to do some boxing fights. Ngannou is not sure about his future and is waiting for the UFC’s offer. Let’s just hope the badest man on the planet stays with the UFC and he finds some ways to get those boxing paydays as well. UFC has always found a way to get things done and this should be a testing situation for them.
Also Read – “Jon Jones is champion of Twitter” – Francis Ngannou snubs Jon Jones again, hails Jones’ Twitter work
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Deepak Kumar
(66 Articles Published)