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Francis Ngannou Reveals UFC Would “Even Check Your Underwear” Amidst Sponsorship Issues

Published 04/26/2022, 12:04 PM EDT

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In a recent interview, UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou, expressed his rift with Dana White’s combat promotion company. Known as UFC’s Mike Tyson for his gorilla-powered punches, he had exponential growth with the organization initially, but things fell upon him in the long run.

The UFC heavyweight champion appeared on the ‘ True Geordie podcast’ and elaborated on his conflict with the combat organization.

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Geordie, well versed about the ongoing dispute with the fighter, and the promotion pointed out, asking, “For example, you’re sponsored by gym shark you can’t wear, I mean officially you can’t wear on the TV.”

Ngannou replied. “No, you can’t. They would check even your underwear, from the backstage. To see not in ours(other brands), everything they will check.”

Grasping the gravity of the matter Geordie added, “You’re one of the lucky few who has managed to secure a sportswear deal that you could wear outside the octagon, like you said with your crypto issue most fight as the minute the company hears we can’t be seen on the UFC. Well, there is no other point. We go direct to the UFC, we give them the money and it makes the UFC have the power.”

The influence the fight promotion UFC had over its fighters was clear in the conversation.

Ngannou being in the limelight for the current friction shared his experience by saying, “And the UFC call you, ok we have a great deal for you this is what we have and maybe it’s five percent of that what they take from the sponsor on your behalf, oh we can’t get him for this amount of money they call you, they give you five percent of that, you want or you don’t want?”

How Much of The UFC Does Dana White Own?

“It’s a great deal you have no option, it’s not like you have loads of deals on the table, you have loads of choice.”

‘The Predator’ earlier opened up his desire to fight heavyweight boxing stalwart, Tyson Fury in a boxing match while UFC president Dana White stated, ‘It’s a really bad idea.

Ngannou raised questions against Dana White about why UFC fighters were paid less compared to their counterparts in boxing, while Jake Paul made over $20 million fighting Floyd Mayweather.

Dana White’s beef with Francis Ngannou

The rise of ‘The predator’ was unstoppable. He demolished heavyweight legends, Andrei Arlovski and Alistair Overeem, quickly in the division.

White was happy with Ngannou’s performance in the UFC. As he earned loads of sponsors effortlessly. However, Ngannou’s back-to-back losses to Stipe Miocic and Derrick Lewis didn’t go well for White.

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Dana White precisely said, ‘ego ran away with him big-time’, when he lost to Lewis at UFC 226, landing just 11 strikes over the course of 15 minutes.

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However, the Mike Tyson of UFC, after learning from his losses, had a throttling winning streak and won the title belt at UFC 270.

While ‘The Gypsy King’ after knocking out Dillian Whyte with a spectacular uppercut in the sixth round of the WBC championship fight, which took place in front of 94,000 people at Wembley Stadium.

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Post the fight, Tyson had called out “The predator” into the ring and made an official statement regarding their probable fight in 2023.

But to Dana White’s vendetta, Tyson Fury has officially declared he will fight Ngannou in a boxing match. The match would surely attract everyone’s attention as it’s a clash between two heavyweight titans of two different combat sports, one of its kind.

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WATCH THIS STORYTyson Fury, Kamaru Usman, Dana White, And Others React To Mike Tyson Battering A Drunk Fan On A Flight

Will The UFC heavyweight champ get his expected pay and his ongoing beef settled with Dana White? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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Written by:

Vinay Vinod

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Vinay Vinod is a UFC writer for EssentiallySports. As a state-level amateur kickboxer and a national-level karate athlete, he prides himself on his ability to read fighters and make an in-depth analysis into the fight styles of athletes across traditional martial arts and combat sports. Considering Vinay's martial arts background, he is an ardent supporter of Israel Adesanya, Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson, and Lyoto Machida.
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Edited by:

Vibhanshu Kumar