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Francis Ngannou never understood why UFC President Dana White would try to discredit him as he left the organisation, especially since the former heavyweight champion believes he has only improved upon his former employer after just signing a lucrative boxing ring fight with Tyson Fury this fall.
“For some reason, I always prove Dana White wrong — even when he’s on my side,” Ngannou told SiriusXM. “I always prove him wrong, every single time. This is just our story.”
Ngannou was well aware of White's plans to bring Fury to the UFC to battle Jon Jones in an MMA match, which puzzled the recently signed PFL opponent for a number of reasons.
“They were ready to do Jon Jones and Tyson Fury in MMA — why couldn’t they do Ngannou and Fury in boxing? I don’t know,” Ngannou said. “I think [he] did that to try to take the fight away from me, and Dana did sent out a contract [for the Jones fight]. He sent out the contract, which I think was very embarrassing because that contract was rejected, and he signed mine for the GIMIK Fight Promotions.”
While many UFC employees and members of the MMA community continued to argue that Ngannou made the wrong decision by quitting the organisation and passing up the opportunity to face off against Jon Jones, Ngannou couldn't help but sneer at the critics and doubters.
“It’s not a secret that so many people wanted me to fail,” Ngannou said. “They don’t want me to succeed, it’s not a secret, it’s quite obvious, and you all know about it.”