Daniel Cormier rubbishes rumors of the UFC being ‘upset’ with Francis Ngannou after his exit following conflict

Daniel Cormier, the former two-division UFC champion, recently had words to say about Francis Ngannou and the UFC. This is in the aftermath of Ngannou’s high-profile boxing bout with Tyson Fury where the Cameroonian exceeded expectations.

Cormier and Ngannou have been in the UFC at the same time but have never faced each other. They share a common opponent in Stipe Miocic. Interestingly, Cormier lost the title to Stipe Miocic, and Ngannou later defeated Stipe Miocic to become the first Cameroonian champion in the UFC.

Daniel Cormier denies rumors of UFC hating on Francis Ngannou

Following Francis Ngannou’s surprising performance against the lineal heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, Cormier has stepped up to challenge assertions that the UFC is salty about Ngannou’s boxing accomplishments. In his ESPN segment with former NFL player Ryan Clarke, DC highlighted the significant presence of MMA icons and contenders during Ngannou’s match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Cormier believes that Ngannou’s success in boxing would bring more attention to UFC fighters. He pointed out that former UFC champions like Israel Adesanya, Kamaru Usman, Chuck Liddell, and Junior dos Santos were in Saudi Arabia, showing support from the UFC community. While many MMA fighters claimed Ngannou was robbed in the bout, Cormier leaned slightly towards Fury. However, he expressed his satisfaction in seeing Ngannou go head-to-head with arguably the greatest heavyweight boxing champion in history.

It needs to be noted that Francis Ngannou delivered a boxing masterclass against Tyson Fury and even achieved the remarkable feat of flooring the unbeaten Fury in round three, with a judge scoring the bout in his favor. In the end, the Fury won the fight via a single point against Ngannou.

Francis Ngannou and Dana White conflict explained

Post his UFC exit, Ngannou signed a deal with PFL, a decision that drew criticism from the UFC CEO, Dana White. Ngannou’s PFL deal allowed him to pursue his boxing aspirations independently without the involvement of the promotion. Previously, the bout between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather Jr. had the involvement of the UFC.

When Francis Ngannou defeated Ciryl Gane to retain the title amid contractual disputes with the promotion, Dana White was absent, and Ngannou left the UFC shortly after. White framed it as the UFC removing Ngannou from their roster and criticized the PFL for signing him, claiming it wasn’t profitable.

Dana also expressed skepticism about Bellator merging with PFL. White went as far as erasing all traces of Ngannou from the UFC. He even pointed out that Tafon Nchukwi was the only Cameroonian fighter in the UFC, taking a jab at Ngannou, who is also Cameroonian.

Recently, Kamaru Usman at UFC 294 sported Francis Ngannou apparel which was blurred out by the UFC in the embedded episode. Usman, alongside Israel Adesanya, walked out with Francis Ngannou during the entrance for “The Battle of the Baddest,” with Mike Tyson, Dewey Cooper, and Eric Nicksick following behind. After the event, Ngannou made subtle jabs at Dana White and accused some fighters of being puppets under White and the UFC’s control.

Do you think Dana White and Francis Ngannoy would become cordial again after their infamous feud? comment below!