Dana White and Francis Ngannou continue their war of words as UFC CEO says former champ is 'not a good guy'

The relationship between Francis Ngannou and UFC CEO Dana White has reached an all-time low. White hurled minor insults at Ngannou while responding to the former UFC heavyweight and reigning PFL Superfight champion's recent criticisms.

“The guy can’t stand me,” Ngannou told Sirius XM’s “Fight Nation” on Friday. “I don’t know what his problem is. He can think of anything. That's his problem. I think he needs to make peace with himself because this situation is kind of strange.”

Even though White and Ngannou have different opinions, they can find common ground in Ngannou's claims that White doesn't like him. The UFC CEO reached new lows when he spoke about Ngannou at the UFC 308 post-fight press conference, accusing the African-born champion of using a language barrier to paint himself in a positive light.

“Francis is not a good guy. He plays a good guy. 'Duh, duh, I don't understand the language', so he seems like a nice guy. He’s not,” White said. “And he’s just not the guy I wanted to do business with. We will never do business together. We don’t like each other.”

Both sides have previously confirmed that it was Ngannou offered a new UFC contract before giving up the promotion. White's claim that he didn't want to do business with Ngannou contradicted several previous statements from the UFC CEO. White previously accused Ngannou of backing out of a new contract with the promotion in 2023 because he was greedy and afraid of UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones and others. White once suggested that Ngannou had done so earned more money Stick with the promotion, something Ngannou refuted in an interview with CBS Sports.

“I think Dana is trying to make amends to gain confidence in the position he lost,” Ngannou said. “Dana lost in this situation… and he can't take it. Brother, I won everything: I left. It's been almost two years and the guy is still out there, he can't live without stalking me. Whatever happened, it's not about him for me.

Ngannou proved his status as lineal UFC heavyweight champion, a belt he relinquished following his UFC exit, in box office boxing matches against former unified heavyweight champions Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Most recently, Ngannou returned to mixed martial arts, defeating Renan Ferreira at the Professional Fighters League pay-per-view on October 19.

During Friday's interview, Ngannou accused the UFC of owing him money for fights against Stipe Miocic and Ciryl Gane.

“What money is he talking about? “The money he owes me?” Ngannou said. “Remember, this all ended with [them] say, “Oh, we'll pay you back the money we owe you for the stipe.” [Miocic] and Ciryl Gane fight', all that. They never paid me back. Now I've made more money than I ever did in the UFC – I would say twice as much money as I ever could have made in my entire UFC career had I continued in the UFC.

“Either way, if I made less money, if I didn’t make enough money that I could have made in the UFC, then that would be my problem. Why is he so mad that I don't make as much money? Like C' man, man! Live your life.

White volleyed back at Ngannou at Saturday's press conference, accusing him of doing something vague before Ngannou's first fight with Miocic in January 2018. White mocked Ngannou by suggesting the fighter owed him money for his notoriously boring fight with Derrick Lewis that same year.

“He took a beating before the first Stipe fight and then Stipe beat the crap out of him, great night,” White said. “He actually owes me money because we had to see that fight with him and 'The Black Beast.' He should actually pay me back for that fight.

“Believe me, I don’t think about Francis that much. The only person praying for his death is probably the PFL because they signed a crappy contract with a guy who doesn't put up numbers in ticket sales or pay-per-view.” .

The deteriorating relationship between White and Ngannou likely won't help make the long-awaited fight between Jones and Ngannou possible. While this is possible, the fight would need to be promoted together by the UFC and PFL.

“The only one standing in the way of this fight is Dana White,” Ngannou said. “I want the Jon Jones fight. I'm ready for battle. Jones is ready for the fight. But this is a new narrative. I was up for a Jon Jones fight three years ago and I’m up for it now.”