Former MMA champion Ben Askren has weighed in on the ongoing dispute between UFC CEO Dana White and former heavyweight titleholder Francis Ngannou. Askren, who had his own contentious history with White, shared his perspective on the situation during his show with Daniel Cormier.
Askren recounted his personal experiences with White, stating, “Dana spent years making false claims about me, saying I didn’t want to face the best or take on challenges. It was far from the truth.” He described the impact of these statements as “essentially slander” that negatively affected his reputation.
The former Bellator and ONE Championship welterweight champion pointed out a pattern in White’s behavior, noting, “Dana spent years lying, saying I didn’t want to fight the best, I didn’t want challenges, I was running away, and that couldn’t have been further from the truth,” Askren said on his YouTube show with Daniel Cormier. “So, it sucked to have this guy – it’s essentially slander, saying things about me that I knew weren’t true. Dana has this part of his personality when he can’t get what he wants, and in that case, he didn’t offer me a contract, so he kind of got what he wanted.
“But then I think because I was continuing to have success and people were continuing to follow me, he wanted me off in a dark corner where everyone ignored me or something. But he’s done the same thing with [Cris] Cyborg, I believe Randy Couture had a similar experience, obviously now Francis. If I thought really hard I could probably think of some other ones. But there’s this weird part of Dana’s personality where, if he doesn’t get exactly what he wants, he just starts crapping on people. And because he has a big microphone and because he’s generally very truthful and generally correct, people just believe him.
“So I had to deal with many years of Dana telling lies about me that were very harmful to me, that he had no reason or basis for doing.”
Askren expressed concern about the influence of White’s statements, given his prominent position in the MMA world. “Because he has a significant platform and is generally considered truthful and accurate, people tend to believe him,” Askren explained. He emphasized the long-lasting impact of what he describes as “lies” told about him by White, which he found “very damaging” and “without justification.”
Dana White on Fedor Emelianenko: Never viewed him as “one of the greatest of all time”
When asked about Emelianenko’s legacy, White made it clear he doesn’t consider Emelianenko one of the greatest because he never competed against UFC-level athletes.
“I don’t wanna s**t on the guy. You know, he’s retiring tonight and all that stuff. I mean, you guys know the old interviews with me. He got knocked out by middleweight Dan Henderson.”
“You know what I mean? I think some of the guys in the business [and] people liked him, so they praised him. He never got to test himself over here. But I never was one of the guys that thought he was one of the greatest of all time,” White explained.
