Dana White has a trademark rant in the chamber for anyone who believes he deliberately tried to scupper Francis Ngannou’s return last weekend.
The UFC boss went on Instagram Live – apparently coincidentally – right as Ngannou was making the walk for his first fight in two years on Netflix last year. And he made sure it was as big news as he could deliver; telling fans of Conor McGregor’s return to the sport after half a decade on the sidelines.
McGregor will take on Max Holloway in a rematch of their 2013 bout as the headliner of International Fight Week’s crown jewel UFC 329. And White insists that he was focused on his own event, not anything that Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian of Most Valuable Promotions were doing.
- Who is Dana White? All you need to know about the CEO and President of the UFC
Dana White launches classic rant over Conor McGregor conspiracy theories
While it seemed as clear as day what Dana White was doing with his announcement last weekend, he insists that he was not paying attention to what was going on in Los Angeles. He claims he was too focused on his own show; an Apex fight night between Arnold Allen and Melquizael Costa.
Speaking with Fred Talks Fighting at Saturday night’s Brand Risk Promotions event at the same Meta Apex, White had a specific message for anyone who suspected he was trying to counter-program Netflix’s first MMA show.
“Not a coincidence, I had a f—ing fight here that night,” White began. “Anyone who thinks I gave a s— what was going on anywhere else was out of their minds. We announced it as soon as we got it done and we were in the middle of our event.”
In case he wasn’t clear enough, he then added: “I could give a f— what those guys were doing, are you kidding me?”
Ronda Rousey branded White’s move ‘catty’, while Paul believed that it was flattering such effort was being made to get in the way of his debut show as an MMA promoter.