Francis Ngannou’s stock undoubtedly took a hit at UFC 226 due to remarkably lackluster performance during a loss to Derrick Lewis, and leading the criticism afterwards was UFC president Dana White himself, who claimed the former title contender’s ego had got the better of him.
Yesterday, Ngannou spoke out on ‘The MMA Hour’ show and expressed surprise at White’s harsh critique of his performance.
“If someone has an issue with you and doesn’t tell you, how would you (react) – if you haven’t seen him or talked with (him)?” Ngannou told Ariel Helwani. “If you have an issue, tell me.
“We are all human. I don’t necessarily agree I have an ego. I’m never one to stay down when I fell down. You have to have that ego when you’re a fighter. You have to stand there and believe you’re No. 1. That’s ego. But not the one to hurt the people around me.”
The one good thing about Ngannou’s last fight was the fact that due to the complete lack of action in it he emerged unscathed, and so he’s now looking ahead to his next fight, and it’s former heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos that appears to be in his sights.
“I have no injuries. This year I want to fight. Who I want to fight, exactly? I was supposed to fight Junior almost a year, 10 months ago. He just came back. Great win. So, maybe that one.”
