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UFC president Dana White has weighed in on Francis Ngannou’s boxing match with Anthony Joshua, after the Cameroonian was brutally knocked out on Friday.
Ngannou left the UFC over a contract dispute in early 2023, and he made his boxing debut against Tyson Fury in October. The 37-year-old dropped Fury and lost a controversial decision, but he did not come close to replicating that performance on Friday (8 March).
Ngannou was dropped three times by Joshua in two rounds, with the final knockdown leaving the ex-UFC heavyweight champion out cold on the canvas in Saudi Arabia.
White, whose relationship with Ngannou soured upon the latter’s UFC exit, addressed the result at the UFC 299 post-fight press conference on Saturday.
“I did not [see it]. I mean, I saw it on social media,” said White in Miami.
“Going into the [Tyson] Fury fight… 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 gone, too.
“You know how I feel about the crossover fights in boxing. That’s how they end.”
After leaving the UFC in early 2023, Ngannou signed with the Professional Fighters League, a rival promotion. He is expected to resume his MMA career with the PFL before the end of 2024.
