Dana White’s tumultuous relationship with Francis Ngannou just received another chapter. And apparently White was visibly upset about it. As with most UFC PPV events – White was there to oversee the event.
As is customary, The UFC’s President handed Deiveson Figueiredo his belt when the time came – after the comain event.
However once it was Ngannou’s turn to receive the belt – White had ducked out. He was replaced by UFC’s matchmaker Mick Maynard.
And the Dana White backlash didn’t end there – as with any event there’s a post fight press conference. And at this one White was nowhere to be found. There’s only a handful of times White has missed out being at the post fight press conference.
Featured at the Post fight press conference were main and co-main event participants.
It’s no secret Dana has had a contentious relationship with Ngannou thanks to him being managed by former UFC employee and current CAA agent Marqel Martin. It’s highly unusual UFC will allow a fighter to fight before extending his contract.
White downplayed the turmoil in his relationship with Ngannou prior to the event telling TMZ:
‘I’ve been in contract drama for 20 years with people. It’s part of the business. I honestly don’t know where we’ll end up after Saturday.
‘We’ll see how the fight goes, we’ll see what happens and I’m sure we’ll figure it out one way or another.’
‘Francis and I have had our moments over the last several years. I bumped into him at dinner a few weeks ago and we had a good conversation. ‘
‘It was funny because we needed to talk. We needed to see each other and the universe made it happen.’
‘We’ll see how these things play out. I don’t blame Francis as much as I blame the not so very smart people that surround him.”
However once it was determined that Ngannou is a champion once again White ditched!