Outside Source
Francis Ngannou has grown weary of responding to things Dana White says about him. | PFL MMA
At this point in his life, Francis Ngannou feels like he is above responding to every Dana White comment that relates to him.
The UFC CEO recently made some serious allegations regarding the former heavyweight champion, when he accused Ngannou of getting physical with both him and fellow executive Hunter Campbell during an appearance on “The Flagrant” podcast.
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White’s comments were a topic of conversation when Ngannou was interviewed on “The Ariel Helwani Show” on Wednesday. However, Ngannou seemed weary of commenting on anything relating to the UFC boss, and he declined to refute any of the allegations White made against him.
“Why am I not surprised?” Ngannou said. “I think the best person to answer that question is Dana White. You have to ask him whenever you have the chance to ask him.
“.. At some point, it feels very annoying to just have to be responsible of what people say. Basically, if Dana says this, then I’m out here to defend myself of what Dana said, or whoever. I think, whatever he said, if he’s at peace with it, it’s OK.”
When pressed, Ngannou made it clear that he didn’t care what White had to say about him.
“No, I don’t find it important [to respond]. I don’t find it necessary. At some point it was, but over time, it’s not anymore,” Ngannou said.
“I don’t know. Maybe I’m getting old. I have less energy for drama or for stuff. I just want to be at peace, and for people to leave me alone. That’s all.”
Ngannou and White had a chilly relationship when the Cameroonian-born Frenchman was in the UFC, and White has rarely had anything positive to say about the former heavyweight champion after he parted ways with the promotion in 2023.
How Did We Get Here?
While much of the animosity seems to have stemmed from failed contract negotiations, Ngannou admitted that the relationship soured much more quickly than it should have.
“We shouldn’t have gone this way,” Ngannou said. “Why do we get all this way, first of all? What’s the purpose? How did we get from where we were to where we are right now? And I would just say, quite disappointing the way things went.”
Regardless of if there was any regret with how things went down, Ngannou still declined to outright deny the allegations that he got physical with White during his UFC tenure.
“In his office, that’s what he said, right?” Ngannou said. “Well, I’m sure he has a lot of cameras there.”
When clips of White’s interview made the rounds last month, Ngannou claims to have avoided spending any time on the comments. Of course, that changed on Wednesday — if only for a few minutes.
“If every time that somebody says something about you, then you have [to respond], it’s going to be tough,” Ngannou said. “As I said, over time, I just get tired of that stuff. I really saw that and scrolled. I get past it. I should’ve been thinking you [Helwani] were going to ask me that, obviously, but I’m long gone from that.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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