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Dana White Stunned By Francis Ngannou's Performance: "The Fact That He Went 10 Rounds With Him is Unbelievable"

UFC CEO Dana White gave his two cents on the Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou fight.

Zain Bando

Dana White Stunned By Francis Ngannou's Performance: "The Fact That He Went 10 Rounds With Him is Unbelievable"
Dana White Stunned By Francis Ngannou's Performance: "The Fact That He Went 10 Rounds With Him is Unbelievable" /

Although UFC CEO Dana White is no longer part of the Francis Ngannou business, the 22-year veteran fight promoter finally chimed in regarding Ngannou's near-upset win against WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in his boxing debut.

Ngannou fell victim to a controversial judges' decision, losing on two of the three scorecards in Saudi Arabia. 

White, absent since his last Power Slap event in late October, sat down with Donald Trump Jr. on a recent episode of the 'Triggered' podcast to discuss a variety of topics, which included White's philosophy on business, his relationship with the ex-President and the current state of the UFC.

When it came to Fury-Ngannou, White had little to say but did offer the former UFC heavyweight champion high praise for going the distance with "The Gypsy King."

"The fact that he went 10 rounds with Tyson Fury is crazy," White said. "He just went 10 rounds with Tyson Fury, Conor (McGregor) made it nine or 10 with Floyd. Anthony Pettis just beat Roy Jones Jr. — I know Roy is friggin’ 60 years old or whatever, but I don’t know what the hell is going on. It’s crazy. I didn’t see the fight, but the fact that he went 10 rounds is unbelievable.”

White added there's no ill will between him and Ngannou regarding how their business relationship ended.

"I don’t care," he said. "Listen, these guys, at some point, everybody is going to move on. Everybody has to do what’s right for them and make money for their families, so whatever they’ve got to do, they’ve got to do.”

At press time, White has no plans to venture into promoting boxing but has been seen regularly supporting Callum Walsh, an unbeaten 21-year-old Irish prospect whose fights appear on UFC Fight Pass.

It's safe to assume White and Ngannou won't be best friends anytime soon, but only time will tell.

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Zain Bando
ZAIN BANDO

Zain Bando is a writer for MMA Knockout, part of the Sports Illustrated/Minute Media umbrella. He has covered combat sports since 2019 for notable outlets BJPenn.com and FanSided MMA. He also co-hosts a podcast called "The MMA Outsiders," part of the Empty The Bench Podcast Network, which airs Tuesday nights at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT. A Chicago suburban native, Bando has been enthralled with MMA since 2006 and has been fortunate to attend some of the most high-profile events in the sport's history, both as a fan and media member, including UFC 264, Bellator 297 and Kayla Harrison's PFL MMA debut. He is excited to take the next step in his combat sports writing journey and looks forward to continuing his following of the fight game for years to come. Bando can be reached via email at zainbando99@gmail.com or by social media @zainbando99

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