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Dana White clearly wasn’t happy with Francis Ngannou’s decision to leave the UFC. It was apparent in the way he bashed the former Heavyweight champion on his way out.
It was rather unprofessional and now the UFC President is getting called out for how he handled the entire situation.
Francis Ngannou’s head coach Erick Nicksick wasn’t a fan of Dana White’s choice of words. Especially when White claimed that Ngannou “is scared.” During an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Nicksick sounds off on the UFC President.
Francis’ Head Coach @Eric_XCMMA responds brilliantly to the ridiculous claim that Francis is “scared” to fight Jones or anybody else. This whole conversation is a must-listen. @arielhelwani #theMMAhour pic.twitter.com/d3eyo5syp8
— AFeldmanMMA (@afeldMMA) January 16, 2023
Former UFC champion Eddie Alvarez even had a problem with Dana White’s comments as well. He took to Twitter to express his opinion on the matter.
Ufc simply lost the bid for Francis , instead of admitting that , they go with the narrative the the Scariest mother fucker alive is Afraid to fight in the UFC hahhahahahhahahahhahahahhaa These jokes write themselves #PHSUnreal
— Eddie Alvarez (@Ealvarezfight) January 16, 2023
There was definitely a better way to handle the situation. A professional approach could have left the door open for Francis Ngannou to potentially return to the UFC down the road. Instead, Dana White’s ego got the best of him. Ariel Helwani provides a solid example of how White could have approached it.
WHY NOT SAY IT AS IT IS?!@arielhelwani reacting to Dana White’s announcement on the release of Francis Ngannou pic.twitter.com/Gx0GnOdoQm
— No Context Ariel Helwani (@NoContextAriel) January 16, 2023
So, with that said, we’ll see what’s in store for Ngannou. He could be joining Bellator or the PFL. Boxing is even on the table as well. As for Dana White, hopefully, he uses this as a learning experience. However, something tells us he won’t.