Dana White reveals Francis Ngannou is the last fighter he wanted to lose

Dana White really doesn’t like Francis Ngannou.

White and Ngannou have been embroiled in a bitter feud for years at this point, with things really taking off when Ngannou exited the UFC while holding the heavyweight title. But things weren’t all roses and sunshine before then either, as Ngannou and the UFC had been butting heads both behind the scenes and in public before then, so much so that when Ngannou came up on the final fight of his UFC contract, Dana White was actively rooting for Ciryl Gane

to take the heavyweight title from him.

“That’s a good question, too,” White said when Big Boy asked him who the last fighter he wanted to lose was. “Guy that I wanted to lose? It would have to be Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane.”

“Damn right I wanted Ngannou to lose,” White clarified moments later.

Ngannou did not lose. “The Predator” eked out a decision win over Gane at UFC 270, and White famously was not in the cage to wrap the heavyweight title around his waist, as is usually the custom. White dismissed his absence, saying he had something to take care of backstage at the time.

Following Ngannou’s win, he had surgery to repair his knee and then waited out the remainder of his UFC contract, ultimately parting ways with the company in 2023. Since then, White has continued to rip his former heavyweight champion, reigniting the feud this week by calling Ngannou “a bad guy,” and dismissing any chance of the two working together again, which prompted a response from Ngannou.

At this point, it seems that, for White, Ngannou has entered the Tito Ortiz level of personal dislike, who once attempted to box. It’s unlikely that White calls for that with Ngannou, but the man seems bent on carrying this feud on, even quickly talking about how he was proven right in his dislike of Ortiz.

“We did your podcast, and I said the guy is one of the dumbest people ever, and now it’s everywhere,” White said of Ortiz. “Like, ‘Tito Ortiz is dumb!’ There’s full Instagram accounts based on it! … People are actually making money off how stupid this guy is now.”