Israel Adesanya didn’t think we saw another Francis Nganuu inside octagon.
The Predator pulled out of the UFC in January after nearly two years of failed negotiations. Last month, the former heavyweight champion revealed he had signed a groundbreaking deal with the Professional Fighters Association, scoring himself a big bag of money and the role of chairman of the league’s expansion into Africa.
Following the announcement, Dana White lashed out at both Ngannou and the PFL. “Based on what I know about the deal, which isn’t much, it doesn’t make sense to me,” White said at a post-fight press event. “You’d pay a man not to fight for a year, and it really was [14] Months. He’s fought three times in the past three years.” White also insisted on more than one occasion that Francis Ngannou would never see her inside the Octagon again after the promotion called him for months to no avail.
When asked if Nganuu’s return was a possibility, White said, “We’ve been negotiating with him for years.” “It’s over, that’s over. He’ll never be in the UFC again. … I’m never saying never, but I’ll give you absolutely nothing. We tried.”
“Stylebender” says we haven’t seen the last of Francis Nganuo inside the Octagon
Israel Adesanya don’t buy it.
appear in MMA watch With Ariel Helwani, “The Last Stylebender” insists that the saga between Ngannou and the UFC is far from over and believes “The Predator” will return to the octagon one day despite White’s insistence.
“I am proud of him because his story is so unique, even before he was in the UFC,” Adesanya said of Ngannou. “The story isn’t over yet, everyone needs to relax and just watch… everyone wants to be first… this isn’t the guy who just quit. Dana has said some things in the past [about women never fighting in the UFC]…Look where we are now! I think he’ll do what he’s doing and come back, and then they’ll pay him what he’s worth, what he’s earned, because they messed him up for so long(h/t MMA news).
There is rarely a case where Dana White said no to something and stuck to his gun with the exception of Paul Daley. He stayed true to his word on the matter, but Dali is no Ngan’u. If ‘The Predator’ goes and makes some huge waves in the PFL, chances are the UFC will bounce back when contract time comes around and offer Ngannou a massive payday for the fight everyone in the world wants to see.