Francis Ngannou will "never be in the UFC again," says Dana White

Dana White recently downplayed any speculations about Francis Ngannou returning to the UFC and said that the promotion would not communicate with 'The Predator' going forward.

Ngannou surprisingly left the UFC earlier this year. The Cameroonian cited disagreements over contract renegotiation terms as the reason behind his exit and was stripped of his heavyweight title. Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane will now compete for the vacant heavyweight championship at UFC 285, which could've easily featured Francis Ngannou opposite Jones instead.

Ahead of this weekend's pay-per-view event, Dana White spoke to the media after the UFC 285 ceremonial weigh-ins and opened up about the possibility of Ngannou returning to the promotion.

In an interview uploaded by BT Sport, White stated:

“No, no. We negotiated with him for years. It’s over, that’s over. He’ll never be in the UFC again... Yeah, I'll never say never, but I’ll give you a never on that one. We tried."

Watch the full interview below:

Francis Ngannou is currently a free agent and is pursuing a boxing match against a high-profile pugilist like Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder. While he has stated in the past that returning to MMA is possible, it appears that the UFC is no longer an option for Ngannou.

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UFC 285: Francis Ngannou predicts the outcome of Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane

Jon Jones will make his highly anticipated heavyweight debut against Ciryl Gane for the heavyweight title at UFC 285. 'Bones' was initially expected to make his return against Francis Ngannou before 'The Predator' shockingly left the promotion due to unfavorable contract renewal terms.

The 35-year-old American will now face the No.1-ranked heavyweight contender instead, and Ngannou believes the outcome of the title fight will depend on the version of Jones that shows up.

In an interview with 'The Schmo', Francis Ngannou shared his prediction for the headliner of the upcoming pay-per-view:

"It depends which Jon Jones is going to be there. If Jones shows up, this fight can be a TKO. I think he's gonna take [Gane] down, wrestle and some ground and pound. But it can go the distance if Jon Jones fights defensively. Because then both of them will be defensive fighters. Then it can go the distance."

Watch the full interview below:

UFC 285 will go down on March 4 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and will be headlined by Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane with the co-main event featuring Valentina Shevchenko vs. Alexa Grasso for the women's flyweight title.