LAS VEGAS – Dana White maintains he had nothing to do with Francis Ngannou’s name and mention being edited out of an episode of UFC 305 “Countdown.”
Israel Adesanyat expressed his displeasure when Ngannou’s name was removed from last week’s episode due to past responses about the “Three Kings” of Africa during a pre-sale press conference for UFC 305. The Cameroon-born Ngannou won the UFC heavyweight title in 2021 and defended it against Ciril Gane in 2022 before parting ways with the promotion over a contract dispute.
White was unhappy with Ngannou’s departure and accused him of avoiding a title fight with Jon Jones. Many speculated that White’s feelings towards Ngannou led him to request that Ngannou’s name be removed from UFC-affiliated promotions, but the UFC CEO was adamant that it was not his idea.
“I don’t know anything about this,” White told MMA Junkie and other reporters. “If it’s real and it actually happened and we produced it, then someone in the company made that decision. Look, you know me. If I said we did it, you’d say, ‘Yeah, he was shit,’ or ‘So that’s why we did it.’ I don’t know anything. Nobody has ever asked me about it and this is the first time we’re hearing about it.”
Adesanya said he can never erase Ngannou’s history from the UFC. White insists he has no animosity towards Ngannou and takes responsibility for his name being removed from the UFC Countdown.
“My production team is a bunch of rock stars, they’re just the best,” White told Kevin Iole during the post-match press conference at DWCS 68. “Sometimes I torture them with the crazy things I say, and that’s tough. When you asked me about it (post-match at DWCS 68), I didn’t know anything about it. But someone was editing it, and I made a conscious decision thinking that that was the right thing to do, that’s what we wanted, that’s what I wanted.”
“I take full responsibility for everything involved in the production, so at the end of the day, the fact that this happened is 100% my responsibility. It’s my responsibility and I accept that. Blame me. I sometimes say crazy shit like this and put them in a very tough position and it’s hard for them. Whoever was editing it, they thought it was the right decision and did what they thought I wanted. It’s not what I wanted and if I had known that, I wouldn’t have allowed it. But it’s my responsibility. Totally my responsibility. I’ve already called Israel Adesanya and apologized.”
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