Dana White disputes the idea that Francis Ngannou made more money in boxing than he would have in the UFC.
Over the past few years, one of the biggest stories in combat sports has been Ngannouâs departure from the UFC to move to the PFL and pursue boxing. Though Ngannou had many reasons for leaving the promotion, one of the biggest was his claim that he would make more money in boxing than he would with the UFC.
But Dana White refutes this claim.
On Tuesday, the UFC CEO spoke with Kevin Iole where he unloaded on the notion that Ngannou made more in boxing than in the UFC, saying that the idea of money in boxing is âa myth.â
âThatâs not necessarily true,â White said. âThatâs the bullshit publicly that people believe, but thatâs not the truth. Total bullshit. Total bullshit.
âThatâs that whole myth that makes everybody go, âOh, letâs fcking go to boxing!â and all this bullshit. Boxing donât work. Boxing does not work. What makes it work? You need a Saudi fcking trillionaire to make fcking fights. And even Saudi trillionaires get tired of the fcking bullshit. Itâs all a f*cking myth. Itâs all a myth.
âLike the whole statement you just made is absolutely positively not true. Itâs those types of fcking statements and those type of quotes by the media that makes all this shit. All these fights are happening, it takes a Saudi fcking trillionaire. Every fcking guy that tries to do the boxing thing, they all end up losing shit-loads of fcking money. The model doesnât work. A Saudi unlimited amount of money pops up and thatâs what makes these fights happen, and even guys with that kind of money get f*cking tired of the bullshit.â
Over the past few years, Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia, has invested heavily in boxing, including bankrolling Ngannouâs boxing matches against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua which reportedly netted Ngannou $30 million between the two fights. Thatâs a considerable sum more than the $8 million Ngannou claimed the UFC offered him to fight Jon Jones, but when speaking with reporters following the latest episode of Contender Series, White reiterated his denial.
âI know all the shit that you people donât know, and I donât care what everybody says,â White told reporters. âIt doesnât matter to me. But thatâs a fact. He was offered more money, because I know the real numbers.â
Ngannou makes his long-awaited return to MMA later this month when he faces PFL heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira at PFL: Battle of the Giants which takes place on Oct. 19 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The real money Francis made boxing is less than the hypothetical money he couldâve made in the UFC. Good one Dana.
Dana is stupid for even discussing the money. He should just say, Iâm happy the guy got to live his dream but I knew he would get embarrassed like he did by Joshua and I wasnât interested in being part of that. Thatâs literally the only thing he should say regarding Francis
Financially, Francis made the right move.
LOL @ Dana.
He also said Ronda Rousey was the best athlete ever in the UFC.
Funny that all his top stars want to get into boxing for THE REAL payday.
Preceded by a typical, red-faced meltdown rant where Dana absolutely cares what everybody says.
Well Iâm glad he explained that! So it doesnât work because it doesnât fucking work and itâs a myth and it takes a Saudi fucking trillionaire and it doesnât fucking work. Now I get it.
He could have made more in UFC if he won his fights and stayed active but he wasnât active in ufc so no reason to think thatâd magically happen. Boxing big money fights are hard to come by and he got lucky he got 2 of them in a decent timeframe. Right move for him.
Although to be fair if he won his boxing fights hed be looking at 50 million dollar offers for his next boxing match.
Absolutely the right move for him. He said he was broke when he was still with the UFC and that made him go in the direction that he did. Maybe Dana means if Ngannou went for a class action lawsuit against the UFC he could have made more money with them but thatâs about it
From a financial perspective he absolutely made the right move. At the time of his last MMA fight he was already on the wrong side of 35, coming off of surgery and had an uncharacteristically tough 5 round fight where he had to change up his usual tactics. There was no guarantee at all that he was gonna stay winning in MMA long enough to make more money than the instant cash out money he was getting from fighting Fury.
So glad the UFC are above accepting billionaire oil money from the middle east, unlike those scumbags in boxing. Oh waitâŚ
Dana is including the 50k fight of the night bonus he could have won and the value of the reebok kit.
lol at just straight up lying like that.
âNot necessarily true ⌠and it takes a Saudi trillionaire because the model doesnât workâ
Heâs obviously trying to count Francisâs potential total UFC contract of 3+ fights with win bonuses and other potential bonuses, against what he made guaranteed for 2 losses in boxing.
But he can only get through the first sentence before he shifts to a general boxing industry rant.
dana is not a guy iâd ever get into business with. but i would hire him.
Everyone was hating on Big Francis. Dude fought the UFC, and won.
Brotha deserves more respect and appreciation from MMA fans.
Nothin but respect for Franny.
Danas always trying to shit on the guy.
Tragic.
Itâs the same exact shit Dana pulled when trashing Fedor all those years ago, claiming he was offered a contract for something like $35 million. Then you look further into it and realize heâs factoring in theoretical win bonuses, sponsorships, and speculative ppv points over a 5-10 year career.
Francis absolutely made the right choice. He could have been KOâd just as brutally by Aspinall or Sergei and walked away with $1-3 million for his effortsâŚ
How is Dana white not jewish. I saw Francis a couple months ago at some fancy hotel in the states. Dude was not happy but satisfied and the stories has about white are just silly.