The UFC president was speaking post UFC Vegas 73, which saw Mackenzie Dern defeat Angela Hill. Francis Ngannou and Power Slap Season Two were on the agenda for the gathering media.
”Based on what I know about the [Francis Ngannou’s PFL] deal, which is not much, it makes no sense to me. I mean, you’re going to pay a guy not to fight for a year. I mean, it’s already been like 18 months [since Ngannou’s last fight]. He’s fought three times in the last three years. It’s just not what we do here; it’s not what we do” said the UFC president at the post-fight presser.
White suggested that Ngannou signed with the Professional Fighters League (PFL) because he didn’t want to take any risks, citing Ngannou’s alleged reluctance to fight Jon Jones as an example. White said that he believes a fight with Jones and Ngannou for the heavyweight title would have a similar result to Jones’s one-sided dominant display against Cyril Gane at UFC 285.
‘PFL’s gonna pay this guy to train for a boxing match that may not even happen and that they might not even be involved in. How does that make any sense?”
White’s insistence that the former UFC champion doesn’t wish to take risks seems a little harsh, given that Ngannou has fought (and beat) who many consider the greatest UFC heavyweight of all time in, Stipe Miocic. Cyril Gane was also unbeaten and considered a breakout star in the UFC when Ngannou comfortably beat him at UFC 270 to hand the Frenchman his first-ever defeat in mixed martial arts.
Power Slap
After confirming that Aljamain Sterling will fight Sean O’Malley at UFC Boston, Dana reminded the media that Power Slap’s new season would begin this coming Wednesday, airing on Rumble. The new broadcasting deal has brought an increase in fighter pay, which was one of the (many) criticisms aimed toward the league during its opening season.
”The money that is in the sport [Power League] for these guys is life-changing money – said, Dana White. We’re lucky in that we’ve been as successful as we were in such a short amount of time. There’s real money in this thing now.”
On the topic of fighter pay for Power Slap, White later said – ”There’s already a bump up in [fighter] pay, that’s already changed. The first season, I told you guys [the media], me and the Fertitta’s funded the first season, and we’re good now [financially], we’re in a really good spot, and everything is going to change over the next couple of years for this thing”.
The UFC president was then asked to describe how season two of ‘Power Slap’ would differ from the first. The way that White told the answer to the question showed that there were still frustrations with how it wasn’t easy to gain entry to the United States three years after the global event, which closed much of the world down. White confirmed that the upcoming season would take place in Abu Dhabi as it would be easier to get fighters from all over the world to compete.
White said that the controversial sport has grown in numerous countries of late, including South Africa, Poland, Russia, and India. It would seem that he will be bringing in fighters from these territories for season two.
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