Francis Ngannou has taken a stand against UFC President Dana White, expressing his disappointment and a sense of bitterness as he departs from the promotion. Despite dedicating years of his life to the UFC and enduring physical risks in support of its brand.
Ngannou found himself denied the freedom to pursue his long-held dream of venturing into the boxing realm. Frustrated by this limitation, ‘The Predator’ made a decisive move and joined the Professional Fighters League (PFL), a rival organization that offered him the chance to wholeheartedly pursue his aspirations in the boxing arena.
With this new chapter in his career, Ngannou hopes to make a resounding statement and showcase his talents on an entirely different stage.
Francis Ngannou strongly responds to UFC president Dana White
Francis recently revealed the reasoning behind the name “GIMIK Fight Promotions,” which he chose to represent his upcoming boxing bout with Tyson.
Speaking on The MMA Hour, Ngannou shared that UFC President Dana White inadvertently influenced his decision.
Francis mentioned that White’s derogatory comments regarding discussions about his boxing matches being mere “gimmick fights” played a significant role in inspiring the name he selected for his promotional venture.
“I don’t follow track on what Dana says,” Francis stated on The MMA Hour.” There is a lot of things Dana says, so you can follow track on him. They don’t line up, so I don’t worry about that.
I was just doing my thing, and at the end of the day, I pulled it out. It was all about ‘gimmick fight’, which was what he was trying to do, a gimmick fight.”
He continued, “Next time that he has a gimmick fight he should send it over to me, I’ll handle it! Yes, GIMIK Fight Promotions, it’s a real thing. It is a real thing, it’s not going to be, it’s a real thing already. It’s on, I’m going to put on events for sure. Gimmick fights.”
“Next time Dana has a gimmick fight, he should send it over to me, I’ll handle it. Gimik fight promotions.”
Francis Ngannou responds to Dana White labeling an Ngannou vs Joshua fight a gimmick, but then going all in on making Jones vs Fury in the UFC. @francis_ngannou /… pic.twitter.com/94lQXQI93p
— AFeldmanMMA (@afeldMMA) July 17, 2023
What Dana White said on Francis Ngannou vs Anthony Joshua
White, in a now infamous statement, emphatically stated that his promotion abstains from partaking in “gimmick fights.” This came just days before he initiated discussions with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter boss Elon Musk for a crossover bout.
His apparent hypocrisy garnered widespread ridicule, with many users on social media pointing out that Ngannou’s choice of “GIMIK Fight Promotions” seems to be a direct dig at his former employer.
https://youtu.be/xr0FNrD-bHM
The UFC president was addressing the potential matchup between Francis and former heavyweight champion Anthony, which Joshua had referred to as a “gimmick fight.”
White firmly believes that such fights are “one of the big problems with boxing right now” and notoriously asserted, “that’s not what I do here, that’s not what I do.”
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