Dana White would have felt ‘BETRAYED’ by UFC champ Francis Ngannou confronting Tyson Fury in ring, claims Chael Sonnen
UFC president Dana White would have "felt betrayed" by Francis Ngannou's actions after Tyson Fury's latest fight.
The promotion's heavyweight champion entered the ring after Fury's sixth-round KO of Dillian Whyte at Wembley last Saturday to talk up a crossover clash with the WBC king.
Ngannou, 34, is under contract with the MMA leader until December - a fact former title challenger Chael Sonnen believes would have irked White.
He said on his : “I would imagine that Dana probably felt betrayed. He probably had his feelings hurt.
"He would never tell you, he’d probably tell you he was p****d off or he didn’t care at all. But he probably was betrayed a little bit.
"Francis Ngannou was there [watching Fury]. Francis knew he was going, Francis is under contract with Dana.
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"Did Francis’ team let Dana know he was gonna be there? That he was gonna get in the ring for somebody else?
"That this was gonna be broadcast around the world? Because when Francis got in there, the announcers were already queued.
"Those announcers knew and they knew to sell it.”
Former UFC middleweight and light-heavyweight title challenger Sonnen doesn't foresee Ngannou becoming a free agent this year, insisting his deal won't expire in December.
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He said: “Those contracts do not just expire the way the media has led you to believe.
"The media has led you guys to believe that the end of this year, I think it’s December of this year, Francis is free to go. That’s not the contract I had.”
Ngannou has already snubbed a new £5million contract from the UFC as they have allegedly refused to grant him permission to box simultaneously.
And The Predator has no intention of penning a new deal unless a fight with Fury is included in it.
During an appearance on he added: "The Tyson Fury fight has to be part of the discussion.
"That’s not an option. It has to be part of the discussion because if that’s not part of the discussion, it will never be.
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"If I sign another contract now, basically the same model of the contract, I’m screwed.
"That’s not happening ever. So we have to figure out a way to implement this into a contract.”