When Francis Ngannou manhandled Cyril Gane many speculated that Dana White had defecated himself over the possibility that Ngannou might become a free agent. While some claimed this was overblown, it’s undeniably true that the UFC will have a first champion free agent in years come December.
Many even speculated that White was the one behind the derogatory message his agent received before the fight.
But now Khabib Nurmagomedov is offering some insight into just why Ngannou got his belt handed to him by Mick Maynard and not Dana White after the infamous main event of UFC 270. Retired UFC fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov recently spoke to Sky Sports about this. As a Eagle FC’s promoter, he had his own input on the situation.
He told Sky Sports:
“I don’t know. Someone told me he went to the rest room or something like this. I don’t know, honestly. I don’t want to go in between these two guys, I think they’re going to take care of this themselves. In my position, even if I have in my promotion someone I don’t like and I’m supposed to put a belt on him, this is business. I’m going to go, put the belt on him and leave. This is my opinion.”
Dana White may have been silent on social media ever since he pulled a disappearing act in the middle of UFC 270 but he’s certainly not silent now.
UFC president appears to have gotten over his temporary shyness and is now addressing criticism.
During his Q&A on ESPN+ White said:
“For anybody thinking I was showing any type of disrespect towards Francis: I saw Francis all week, you idiots. I shook his hand, I said hi to him, I was out there for the staredowns, the whole thing. So for anybody to think that there was some type of disrespect shown towards Francis—I wasn’t out there for [Michael Bisping vs Luke Rockhold 2 at UFC 199], either, because I was dealing with some stuff. And I sprinted from the back. I didn’t even have my jacket on. I still only had my shirt on to go out there and put the belt on Bisping, but I couldn’t make it out there to put the belt on Francis.”
“There’s only been one time that I’ve walked out on a fight and made it very clear, showed up to the press conference and said, ‘This is exactly why I left.’ It was in Abu Dhabi. So there’s the answer.”