Dana White has made the stunning claim that former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou physically accosted him during a heated confrontation at UFC headquarters.
White and Ngannou’s relationship has grown frosty over recent years, with ‘The Predator’ slamming the UFC’s business practices.
White has always claimed that Ngannou’s soft-spoken public image is very different to the man he is behind the scenes.
UFC Fight Night: Tsarukyan vs. Hooker | SUN 23 NOV | Watch Live with ESPN on Kayo Sports
In fact, the UFC boss says that things once turned from verbal to physical between the pair after the fighter didn’t receive a post-fight bonus.
“So when you’re an athlete that’s signed by the UFC, you get full access to the Performance Institute, you can eat there for free, everything’s free and do all this stuff,” White told the Flagrant podcast.
“This guy was f**king living there. He had just fought and he comes up to my office, he’s in the hallway hanging out and I said ‘come on in, what’s going on?’
“He was pissed off he didn’t get a $50,000 in his last fight, that he didn’t get the bonus of the night.
“I said Francis you didn’t get it for this, that [reason] and he’s in my office and he’s arguing with me. I’m like this guy got this, this guy got that and this is why.
“The conversation’s over, and I’m starting to leave, and he grabs me by my shirt and pushes me back in my office and I said ‘dude, get your f*cking hands off me.”
“I could see in this guy’s face and in his eyes and the way he’s acting who this guy really f**king is.”
White then claimed that Ngannou had also gotten physical with UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell.
“My guy Hunter [Campbell], they were talking about something, it might have even been that same thing [a bonus],” White said.
“And when Hunter started to walk away, Francis grabbed him by the f*cking back of his collar and f**king pulled him back and said ‘we’re not done talking yet.’
“This guy’s not a good f**king guy. He’s a bad guy.”
UFC 323: Dvalishvili vs Yan | SUN 7 DEC 2PM AEDT | Bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili will look to make history and become the first fighter to defend a championship for a fourth time in a year when he takes on former champ Petr Yan in Las Vegas. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
White says the headaches began back in 2018 when Ngannou effectively demanded special treatment ahead of his bout with Stipe Miocic.
“So he’s going in to fight Stipe Miocic in Boston, and he knows he’s going to f**king kill Stipe,” White said.
“So after the press conference, we’re walking down this hallway and he comes over to me and he grabs me and he says ‘let me tell you what’s going to happen’ – his English is f*cking great, no language barrier whatsoever – ‘when this fight’s over, you’re going to book me a private plane to Paris.’
“I laughed and said ‘oh yeah.’ He said ‘I’m not joking, you’re going to book me a private plane to Paris.’ I said OK.
“We go our own ways. Stipe Miocic beats the f**king s**t out of him. Beats the s**t out of him. That ended that whole conversation. I should have f**king cut him that day.”
The UFC and Ngannou eventually parted ways after negotiation broke down over the heavyweight’s new deal as the undisputed champion.
Ngannou split with the UFC before signing with the PFL in a deal that allowed him to compete in boxing against the likes of Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.
“Francis Ngannou is a bad guy,” White said. “He’s not a good guy. He plays the whole ‘I don’t understand the language’ and tries to come off that he’s a f**king nice guy. People go ‘oh it’s the language barrier probably.’
“There’s no f**king language barrier with this guy. He’s a bad guy.
“Now he’s over and he’s done a deal with PFL and Saudi Arabia and now he’s asking to fight, ‘me and Jon Jones need to fight.’ I’m sure they wish they never f**king signed him.
“I don’t have to hear one word from any of those guys over there to know because I know. I’ve dealt with him and I know who he really is.”
Since White’s explosive claims, Ant Evans, a former UFC employee, said he “believes it 100%”.
He says Ngannou made staff at the UFC office feel “very uncomfortable”.
“Francis was a terror at the UFC office when I worked there,” Evans posted on X.
Hooker SLAMS Arman before showdown | 00:55
“He’d show up over and over, walk around the offices, standing over people’s desks and making staff very uncomfortable.
“Now, some of it was he is a huge man from a different culture speaking English as a (third?) language. And there is such a thing as being pro-active. And there’s also bullying. He struck me as a bully.”