…He’s not afraid of anybody, he doesn’t just wanna take risks. – Dana White
UFC president Dana White clarifies himself about Francis Ngannou. In his media briefing, he said that Francis Ngannou’s move to the PFL does not make sense to him. He also thinks that Francis Ngannou deserves better and instead of focusing on what he considers as “gimmick fights”, he thinks the former UFC Heavyweight Champion should have been focusing on bigger fights. White when on to say that, Francis Ngannou is not afraid of Jon Jones, but rather, Ngannou wants to take zero risks and only wants to “play it safe”.
In my opinion, Dana White is a business man who understands that the UFC does not need any introductions like the PFL does. Of course, the UFC is one of the biggest and most influential fighting platforms, and therefore everyone wants to be there, unlike the PFL which is just still trying to stamp their foot in the industry. With that said, it’s understandable why Dana and the UFC can’t be paying someone who will not fight but still be getting paid.
Saying that Francis wants to take zero risks to me isn’t convincing, because Francis, giving up his championship alone and going for an unpopular league alone, is a risk. We all know that he’s been out without any fights for over 18 months and it will be insane to think that refusing to succumb to UFC’s contract demands, wasn’t or isn’t a career risk!
About Ngannou’s deal not making sense, I understand that his opinion was asked by the media, but Francis’ deal doesn’t have to make sense to him (Dana). The PFL definitely did their homework before signing Francis and it definitely made sense to them and their partners. I think it’s quite unbelievable for Dana White that someone like Ngannou could challenge his company and go Scott-free!
