Dana White has banned Francis Ngannou from returning to the UFC in a withering statement.
Ngannou was hoping to make a comeback against Jon Jones at the UFC’s planned White House event next June, which Donald Trump has eagerly promoted.
The Cameroonian-French fighter – who left UFC in January 2023 after falling out with White, the promotion’s chief – is on the hunt for work because his contract with the PFL soon expires.
But White, who recently accused Ngannou of a violent clash following a pay dispute in 2023, says there is no way back for the sledgehammer puncher.
‘Nothing has made me happier than throwing that guy to the PFL,’ he told TheMacLife podcast.
‘If we let fighters go, it’s for good reasons. I don’t want to do business with people I don’t like and don’t consider to be good people.’
Dana White has banned former champion Francis Ngannou from making his UFC return
Ngannou is keen to find work with his PFL contract soon expiring after just one fight
No return for Ngannou, then. The 39-year-old is itching to fight after only competing once – a knock-out win over Renan Ferreira last year.
His foray into boxing failed to convince. He gave Tyson Fury a run for his money in October 2023 – even knocking down The Gypsy King in a split decision defeat – but in March 2024 he was crushed by Anthony Joshua, knocked down three times inside two rounds.
All the same, he thinks that him fighting Jones would be a legendary event.
‘If we want to see the greatest fight of all time, this is what we have to do,’ he said.
‘The greatest fight in history can only happen between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou. That’s all I can say on the matter.’
The UFC White House event is being set up to celebrate the United States’ 250th birthday. Trump, who has attended several UFC events over the years, is clearly excited about it.
‘The great Dana White is building an arena, and they’re going to have eight or nine championship fights, the biggest fights they’ve ever had,’ the US President said of plans to stage fights of the lawn of the White House on June 14.
‘Every one is a championship fight, and every one is a legendary type of fight. He’s actually holding back fights right now for six months so he can do it for 250.’
White and Donald Trump are looking forward to an event at the White House on June 14
The UFC previously revealed renderings for the event which will take place on June 14th
At UFC 309 last year, held at Madison Square Garden, Trump was joined by Elon Musk, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and singer Kid Rock.
Since the concept first emerged, a number of the UFC’s biggest stars – like Conor McGregor and Jon Jones – have made impassioned pleas to be featured on the card.
White has insisted it will be the ‘biggest and baddest card of all time’ and there is a desired attendance exceeding 100,000.
Except it won’t have its former heavyweight champion, Ngannou. He chose to walk away from the company after reportedly turning down an offer that would have made him the highest-paid UFC heavyweight ever.
Neither White nor Ngannou explicitly revealed the reason for his exit but the UFC chief had, at times, alluded to friction between himself and ‘The Predator’.
In November, that all changed after White made an appearance on Andrew Schulz’s ‘FLAGRANT’ podcast and revealed that they had clashed on multiple occasions.
White said: ‘He had just fought and he comes up to my office. I said, ‘What’s going on?’ And he was p***ed off that he didn’t get a $50,000 bonus.
‘I’m starting to leave and he grabs me by my shirt. And, like, pushes me back in my office. And I said, ‘Dude, get your f***ing hands off me.’
Trump pictured alongside Elon Musk and Kid Rock at UFC 309 in New York last year
‘I could see in this guy’s face and in his eyes and in the way he’s acting who this guy really f***ing is.’
White also claimed that Ngannou similarly accosted UFC executive Hunter Campbell shortly afterwards.
‘My guy Hunter [Campbell], they were talking about something, it might have even been that same thing [about the bonus],’
‘When Hunter started to walk away, Francis grabbed him by the f***ing back of his collar, f***ing pulled him back and said, ‘We’re not done talking yet.’
‘This guy’s not a good f***ing guy. He’s a bad guy.’
After leaving the UFC, Ngannou signed a lucrative deal with rival MMA promotion, the Professional Fighters League (PFL), who allowed him to also crossover into boxing.