Dana White reacts to Anthony Joshua’s knockout win over former UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou
Dana White shared his thoughts on Anthony Joshua’s knockout win over Francis Ngannou during tonight’s UFC 299 post-fight press conference.
Ngannou (17-3 MMA, 0-2 Boxing) collided with the former WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight champion Joshua (28-3 Boxing) in Friday night’s headliner in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The bout marked Ngannou’s second professional boxing match, this after suffering a controversial split decision setback to Tyson Fury in his debut this past October. ‘The Predator’ had of course split from Dana White and the UFC in 2023, this after failing to come to terms on a new contract.
While many fans and MMA fighters were hopeful that Francis Ngannou would be able to duplicate his performance against ‘The Gypsy King’ on Friday versus Anthony Joshua, that did not prove to be the case. Instead, the British heavyweight was able to make quick work of the former UFC champion, dropping ‘The Predator’ on two occasions before putting him out cold with a right hand in Round 2 (see that here).
It was a devastating knockout for Ngannou, who dropped to 0-2 in Boxing with the defeat.
During tonight’s UFC 299 post-fight press conference, UFC CEO Dana White was asked if he tuned in for the ‘Joshua vs. Ngannou’ bout:
Dana White asked about Ngannou/Joshua fight:
Going into the Fury fight, if Fury trained for the fight and didn’t show up and, ya know, look like he ate Tyson Fury, it’s probably the way that fight would have ended too.#UFC pic.twitter.com/NYT1CDJsI1
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) March 10, 2024
“I did not,” White responded. “I mean I saw it on social media. What did I make of it (the finish)? Yea, I mean, going into the Fury fight… If Fury trained for the fight and didn’t show up looking like he ate Tyson Fury, that’s probably the way that fight would have ended too. I mean listen, the crossover, you know how I feel about crossovers in boxing and that’s how they end. Just like that.”
With Friday night’s victory, Anthony Joshua improved to 4-0 over his past four fights, as he had previously earned wins over Otto Wallin, Robert Helenius and Jermaine Franklin.
As for what is next for Francis Ngannou, it remains undetermined if his next fight will be in the ring or back in the cage.
Do you agree with Dana White that Tyson Fury didn’t show up for his fight with Francis Ngannou this past October?
