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UFC CEO Dana White slams co-promotion question at press conference
UFC CEO Dana White was serious when he said Francis Ngannou would ‘never’ fight in the UFC again. After the ‘Predator‘ completed his UFC contract and decided to leave the promotion in pursuit of other lucrative opportunities (which ultimately led to a boxing bout against Tyson Fury), White gave Ngannou the ‘don’t-let-the-door-hit-you-on-the-way-out’ treatment.
White is dedicated to revisionist history and for the most part, the MMA media is letting him get away with it. But the main point is that there were several years when Jon Jones was the one holding out for more money while Dana bashed him and praised Francis Ngannou.
“We tried to work with Jon, and we eventually have to move on because realistically, and in all honesty, Derrick Lewis is the guy who deserves the fight,” White said at the time. “Derrick Lewis is a heavyweight, he beat Francis Ngannou, he’s looked good in his last couple of fights, he’s ranked in the top three, I think, and he deserves the fight. That’s the fight that should happen. We’ll just roll and do what we do. When Jon’s ready, he’ll let us know.”
Unfortunately for Dana White, there’s still massive interest in Ngannou vs Jones and pundits like Luke Thomas keep reminding the world that nothing is stopping the UFC from co-promoting with PFL to put on Francis Ngannou vs Jon Jones.
“I’m not interested in that,” said White at his UFC 295 post-fight press conference (video provided by MMA Fighting). “We tried to make that fight. They didn’t want to do it. It’s done. He doesn’t fight here anymore. I’m not interested.”
“Should I [co-promote with PFL]?,” said White. “We’ve got one, two and three [highest gates in Madison Square Garden history], they can’t sell a f—king gate. It’s a stupid question, but go ahead. Talk to me. Why would I do that? I tried to make the fight here. They didn’t want to do it but I should co-promote with a Bellator or a PFL? Why should I do that? Talk to me. You win the dumb question of the night, congratulations sir.”
White has previously steered clear from co-promotion
Dana White notoriously loaned Chuck Liddell to Pride FC in 2003 and hasn’t co-promoted with anyone since.
This stubbornness is why Fedor Emelienenko never fought in the UFC despite potential mega-matches against Randy Couture and/or Brock Lesnar that could have produced fortunes at the box office and on pay-per-view.
Even Dana regretted that in the end.
“The only fight that I wanted to make that was never made was Brock Lesnar vs. Fedor Emelianenko,” White revealed back in 2020. The UFC certainly made their play, however, with a noted failure to negotiate a jump for the Russian MMA star from Strikeforce into the Octagon back in 2011.
Dan Hardy explained it recently.
“We tried to work with Jon, and we eventually have to move on because realistically, and in all honesty, Derrick Lewis is the guy who deserves the fight,” White said at the time. “Derrick Lewis is a heavyweight, he beat Francis Ngannou, he’s looked good in his last couple of fights, he’s ranked in the top three, I think, and he deserves the fight. That’s the fight that should happen. We’ll just roll and do what we do. When Jon’s ready, he’ll let us know.”
If not Francis Ngannou, then who for Jon Jones?
If the doors to UFC co-promotion are truly closed, it appears Stipe Miocic will be next for Jon Jones.
As Dana explained when Jones pulled out of UFC 295.
“Stipe’s not fighting for an interim title. You know what I mean?” Dana White told reporters after a recent Power Slap event. “Jones said, ‘I want to fight Stipe.’ I said, ‘You’re fighting Stipe.’ You have the greatest heavyweight of all time vs. the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. This is a legacy fight for both of those guys.
“I mean, to even call Stipe and ask Stipe to fight for an interim title is complete disrespect,” Dana White argued. “This is a fight for two legends; legacy, two of the greatest to ever do it. Fans want to see it, I want to see it, and they both want to do it.”
Of course, new interim UFC heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall is out there and would probably love to get a crack at Jon Jones.
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