Why Dana White announced Conor McGregor's comeback fight during Francis Ngannou Netflix walkout
Making history on Netflix, Saturday (16 May) was quite the night for fights.
Of course, the double comeback of Gina Carano and Ronda Rousey was hotly anticipated but the card also saw Francis Ngannou defeat Philipe Lins.
The Cameroonian-French boxer gifted his opponent his $100,000 performance bonus and suggested at the press conference he was deserving of the ‘performance of the night’ reward.
But during this talk, Ngannou was also asked about Conor McGregor’s return, considering the odd timing of the announcement.
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Dana White decided to go live on Instagram during the boxer’s walkout on Saturday night and announce that the Irishman will make his return to the UFC octagon on 11 July in Las Vegas. And his decision to do it in that moment has caused a stir.
The UFC president said the controversial McGregor will face Max Holloway in the main event at UFC 329, for his first fight since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier back in July 2021.
The 37-year-old has previously been slated to make a comeback but has faced cancellations due to injury and then an 18-month ban in October 2025 for ‘whereabouts failures. This was backdated to 2024 and expired in March.
White seems to have beef with Ngannou, potentially explaining why he decided to use his walkout to go live and make the announcement.
He previously claimed to Andrew Schulz that the boxer is a ‘bad guy’. White claimed Ngannou was once ‘arguing’ with him about not getting a bonus and ‘grabbed me by the shirt’.
“So there was a lot that went into your dissolved relationship?” he was asked. And White doubled-down: “Oh yeah, yeah. This guy’s not a good f**king guy. He’s a bad guy.”
He continued: “I’m sure they wish they never f**king signed him.”
Citing arguments and demands from him, White added: “I’ve dealt with him. I know who he really is.”
When he was asked if he knew the UFC president had announced McGregor’s comeback during his walkout and how he felt about it, Ngannou simply said: “What the f**k do I have to do with that?
“So I should stop my walkout and look what is going on? I don’t care bro. Let’s move on, life goes on. I’m doing my stuff here, I’m doing good. I have no problem, everybody can do whatever he wants.”
Jake Paul also reacted to McGregor’s comeback, reflecting that White could maybe see how much attention his MVP event was getting as he slammed the Irish fighter.
“Nice. Yeah, that’s cool. Drop it during our event. It doesn’t matter. That just shows how pressed they are,” he said.
“Little insecure boys trying to piggyback off of our event and try to put some news over top of us. It’s not going to work buddy.”
LADbible has contacted representatives for Ngannou for comment.
Topics: UFC, Conor McGregor, Dana White, MMA
Jess Battison