UFC president Dana White reckons Francis Ngannou would have suffered an early knockout against Tyson Fury, just as he did against Anthony Joshua, if the Gypsy King had bothered training for their fight.
Ngannou ventured into professional boxing in October when he took on Fury in Riyadh and shocked the world by taking the Brit the distance and only losing a controversial split decision over 10 rounds.
Many thought he won the fight against the unbeaten heavyweight champion, and he earned himself a bout with Joshua as a result.
Things did not go so well for the Predator in his second bout as a boxing pro, suffering a brutal second round knockout to AJ on Friday.
White, who has been pretty salty towards Ngannou since the 37-year-old rejected a new UFC contract and left the organisation despite being the heavyweight champion, said the Cameroonian only survived with Fury because the boxer didn’t take him seriously.
‘I saw it on social media,’ White told a post-UFC 299 press conference of Ngannou’s defeat on Friday night.
‘If Fury trained for the fight and didn’t show up and look like he ate Tyson Fury, that’s probably the way that fight would’ve ended too. You know how I feel about crossovers, that’s how they end, just like that.’
Ngannou may have been beaten twice in the ring, but he made an enormous amount of money in his foray into elite boxing, much more than he was earning in the UFC.
He says he made around £466,000 for his last UFC fight in January 2022, but his reported earnings for his clash with Joshua are over £15m.
White also reacted to Conor McGregor’s request to fight Nate Diaz for a third time this year, bluntly turning it down.
The Irishman set out his plans for the year, with Michael Chandler first, followed by the triology, saying: ‘Chandler June, Diaz September. I have let this be known.’
However, on a third Diaz scrap, White said: ‘I’m not doing that fight.’
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