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Francis Ngannou defeated Ciryl Gane via unanimous decision in the main event at UFC 270 to be crowned the undisputed heavyweight king. It was matchmaker Mick Maynard, instead of UFC president Dana White, who then put the strap on Ngannou.
Ariel Helwani has since slammed White for not putting the belt around 'The Predator'. According to Helwani, White snubbed Ngannou due to the ongoing pay dispute between them. Helwani said on The MMA Hour:
"Forget about not showing up to the press conference. Because we have seen that in the past, he [Dana White] doesn't show up to all of them. Can't even put the belt around his waist? Really? And we've seen this before by the way, remember Tyron Woodley in Dallas? Same situation played out. This one's different though, because of the contract situation. Didn't put the belt around his waist. Didn't show up to the press conference. You want to give the benefit of doubt? Maybe something happened. But I mean, what are the chances? Sitting there the whole time, leaves before. Not in sight. Mick Maynard has to do it."
Watch Ariel Helwani slam Dana White below:
Dana White explains not putting the belt on Francis Ngannou
During a recent Q&A session on ESPN+, Dana White explained why he couldn't put the strap around Francis Ngannou. White claimed to have walked out of the arena right after the co-main event at UFC 270.
According to White, he was on good terms with Ngannou throughout fight week and it would be foolish to assume that he meant any disrespect towards the champion. White told Laura Sanko:
“I actually walked out of the arena right after the co-main event because there was stuff going on that I was dealing with. For anybody to think I was showing any type of disrespect toward Francis, I saw Francis all week, you idiots. I shook his hand. I said hi to him. I was out there for the staredowns, the whole thing. So for anybody to think that there was some type of disrespect toward Francis, I wasn’t out there for Michael Bisping vs. [Luke] Rockhold’s fight [in 2016], either, because I was dealing with some stuff."
Watch Dana White's appearance on ESPN+ below:
