Dana White almost cut Francis Ngannou from the UFC after the Cameroonian suffered consecutive defeats in 2018.
The UFC President claims the former UFC heavyweight champion would’ve been removed from his roster if it wasn’t for someone begging to keep him.
Ngannou’s working relationship with White came to a bitter end after he left the UFC in 20232022 Chris Unger
Ngannou made his UFC debut in December 2015 and went on a six-fight win streaking that included four-first round finishes and a knockout win over Alistair Overeem.
‘The Predator’ then lost his first ever title bout to veteran Stipe Miocic via unanimous decision in January 2018, before suffering another defeat to Derrick Lewis six months later in the same manner.
After winning the heavyweight belt for the first time in a rematch with Miocic three years later and retaining it against Ciryl Gane, Ngannou left the UFC.
The 38-year-old cited contract issues as one of the main reasons for leaving White’s promotion, but the UFC boss claims he would’ve made more money for staying.
“I’m going to tell you what I think about Francis,” White said after a Power Slap event on Thursday.
“Francis is all about the money. Francis left because he knew that if he fought Jon Jones and didn’t win, it would hurt his chances of making the money that he wanted to make.
“But realistically, his deal was bigger here. His deal was bigger here if he stayed in the UFC. I think I’ve told this story a million times.
“They can deny it all they want. Why the f*** would I lie? What do I care? It doesn’t matter to me one way or the other.
“And I was going to cut Francis when he lost two in a row. I was going to cut him.”
Ngannou vs Jones would be one of the biggest fights in MMA history, should the pair ever meet in the octagon.
Miocic bested ‘The Predator’ Ngannou when they met in January 2018Getty Images – Getty
The latter defends his heavyweight belt against Miocic for the main event of UFC 309 on November 16 in Madison Square Garden, New York.
“Somebody around here begged me not to do it. So it wouldn’t have mattered to me one way or the other. There’s a much deeper story to this whole thing,” White added.
“And he would have made more money if he stayed in the UFC. So he didn’t want to fight Jon Jones. That’s a fact.
“Obviously, everybody loves Tom Aspinall and wants to see Jones and Aspinall or Stipe and Aspinall. And I feel like when Stipe and Jon were young, Jon was 23, youngest champion ever in UFC history. And somebody gave him an opportunity.
“I think that Stipe and Jon, whoever wins, should give Aspinall the same opportunity they had.
“I think that both Jon and Stipe will say they’re going to retire because they’re going to start negotiating. And whatever the negotiation is, we will get the deal done.”
Manchester’s Tom Aspinall is the official backup fighter for Jones vs Miocic in November.
Aspinall vs Jones would be one of the biggest UFC fights everGETTY
Aspinall was crowned the UFC’s interim heavyweight champion when he knocked out Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 last year.
He then went on to defend the status against Curtis Blaydes, who is the only man to beat Aspinall in the UFC.
Aspinall, however, said this week that his most likely next fight will be against Ciryl Gane or Alexander Volkov, who face off at UFC 310 in December.
The Brit believes both Jones and Miocic will retire after their heavyweight clash.
