Since leaving the UFC in 2022, Francis Ngannou has fought twice in the boxing ring likely making more money in those two fights than he did throughout the entirety of his UFC tenure.
Francis Ngannou decided to take a gamble on himself back in 2022 when he decided to leave the UFC as the undisputed heavyweight champion, in hopes of making more money elsewhere.
The 38-year-old signed with the PFL shortly after, with the multi-fight deal also allowing him to fight in boxing, which he has done so twice since.
Dana White claims Ngannou would’ve made more money sticking with the UFC
Despite ‘The Predator’ reportedly making over $10m for each of his two boxing outings, UFC CEO Dana White has claimed that it is ‘not necessarily true’ that Ngannou has made more money than he would’ve if he stayed with the promotion.
“That’s not necessarily true (that he’s made more than he would’ve if he stayed in the UFC). That’s the bullsh*t publically that the people believe, but that’s not the truth, total bullsh*t,” White told Kevin Iole in an interview.
“That’s that whole myth that makes everybody go, ‘Oh f*cking go to boxing’ and all this bullsh*t, boxing doesn’t work. Boxing doesn’t f*cking work. You need a Saudi trillionaire to make f*cking fights, and even Saudi trillionaires get tired of the f*cking bullsh*t, it’s all a f*cking myth,” the UFC continued.
Even though the UFC boss is entirely critical regarding the current boxing model, he recently revealed that he is ‘in’ and will begin promoting boxing following a recently successful event with Callum Walsh in Ireland.
However, White has stated that he wonders if he’s ‘crazy’ by entering the boxing world as he doesn’t believe it is successful.
“I literally say to myself every day, am I f*cking crazy, why do I want to even think about doing this? I must be f*cking nuts, it is the most f*cked up business,” he admitted.
Dana White says it’s a ‘fact’ Ngannou was offered more by the UFC than elsewhere
The former UFC heavyweight champion is finally scheduled to make his return to MMA this month as he takes on PFL heavyweight champion, Renan Ferreira on October 19.
Speaking after Dana White’s Contender Series this past Tuesday, White continued the talks regarding Ngannou and revealed that he offered ‘The Predator’ more money to stay with the UFC than he was offered elsewhere.
“I know all the sh*t that you people don’t know and I don’t care what everybody says but that’s a fact, he was offered more money (to stay in the UFC) because I know the real numbers, I know the real numbers,” White stated.