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Francis Ngannou Claims Dana White Went ‘Anti-Francis’ After First UFC Loss Against Stipe Miocic

Published 02/19/2022, 5:25 AM EST

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Francis Ngannou has been on both ends of the spectrum with his relationship with Dana White. Initially, the UFC President tried to push the young and scary heavyweight from France with African roots.

However, after he rose to the top, things soured and the heavyweight champion stands poised on the brink of departing the UFC. ‘The Predator’ talked about his relationship with the UFC President on his YouTube channel.

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He said, “At first, Dana was all Francis. Then after the Stipe fight, Dana became, I think, anti-Francis. And I think when I lost the second time against Derek Lewis, which was one of the reason the first fight, the outcome of the first fight was even the reason why I lost the second fight.”

“The transition to be the, the house guy to be the guy that is accepted to be and from that to be the other guy which is like, I don’t know, enemy or something. I didn’t know how to manage that.”

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“The reason why I get into this sport, it wasn’t the sport that I was going to do. Even in the beginning. But the reason why I get here because it was fun. So, whether I do it for fun or I don’t do it anymore.”

“If I started one to do it to please people, to please somebody or to please people, then that’s not a good reason and maybe that was why thing was going wrong for me then… Apparently, it work, it worked out.”

Currently, ‘The Predator‘, with no fights left on his deal, is looking for a new contract with the UFC. Money is not the only factor on the 35-year-old’s mind, as he wants a boxing clause in his deal. Should he get it, it would be an unprecedented occurrence in the UFC.

Francis Ngannou bounced back from his defeats and became a scary heavyweight puncher

The Cameroon-born fighter lost his first UFC fight in a championship bout against Stipe Miocic at UFC 220. The loss affected him psychologically, and he couldn’t pull the trigger in his next fight against ‘The Black Beast‘.

However, he returned with a different outlook in his next fight against Curtis Blaydes. The UFC Fight Night Beijing headliner saw ‘The Predator’ rediscover his old self when he shut the doubters and knocked out his opponent in just 45 seconds; Ngannou was very emotional after the win.

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After that, Ngannou found himself against a returning force in Cain Velasquez; he sparked the former heavyweight champion in just 26 seconds. Another former heavyweight champion, Junior dos Santos, fell down to ‘The Predator’ in just over a minute (71 seconds).

With the three back-to-back knockout wins, Ngannou earned himself a title bout. However, because of the unfinished business between Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic, he accepted a bout against Jairzinho Rozenstruik and knocked him out in just 20 seconds.

Winning the championship and Feud over contract

At UFC 260, ‘The Predator’ found himself in a rematch against Miocic. However, this time around, he looked calm and didn’t make the same mistakes. He hurt the champion in the first round, yet he didn’t rush. Eventually, he got the finish in the first minute of the second round.

Recently, he unified the UFC heavyweight championship and made his first title defense at UFC 270. Even after all these spectacular performances, the heavyweight champion of the world is not getting proper respect from the UFC president.

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Although he has received extension deals, ‘The Predator’ has declined them in order to achieve his goal: a contract that gives him freedom.

Though the UFC president hinted that things will be sorted soon, the UFC heavyweight champion looks reluctant on a contract without boxing opportunities in it.

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WATCH THIS STORY – Five Times Francis Ngannou Annihilated His Opponents Inside the Octagon

Did Dana White go ‘Anti-Francis’ after his loss? Will the UFC and ‘The Predator’ make an agreement this year? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Written by:

Deepak Kumar

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Deepak Kumar is a UFC author at EssentiallySports. His love for MMA comes from the chaos and violence the fight game brings to the table. A BJJ aspirant, Deepak began following the sport as a casual fan when Ronda Rousey was finishing her opponents in seconds.
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