Dana White on UFC 270 heavyweight clash between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane - "It wasn't what I thought it was going to be"

Dana White admitted he was surprised by how the title unification bout between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane played out at UFC 270.

The UFC president said he expected both Ngannou and Gane to favor the stand-up game and was completely caught off-guard when the fight was ultimately decided by the defending champion's wrestling. During an interview with Laura Sanko for ESPN, White stated:

"Listen, the heavyweight fight wasn't a fight you're going to be talking about for years, you know. It wasn't what I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be a lot more stand-up, but it was a brilliant game plan by Francis to do what he did, the way that he did it."

Check out Dana White's reaction to Francis Ngannou vs. Ciryl Gane:

Nonetheless, White gave 'The Predator' credit for executing an effective game plan. Ngannou was able to retain his crown by outpointing 'Bon Gamin' on the judges' scorecards after five rounds.

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Dana White explains why he didn't present Francis Ngannou's title at UFC 270

A huge part of the narrative heading into UFC 270 was Francis Ngannou's contract dispute with Dana White and the UFC. For that reason, many believed that White was unhappy with 'The Predator' winning.

The speculation has been stoked by the fact that White was noticeably absent during Ngannou's title presentation as well as the post-fight presser. However, the UFC boss denied that his absence was any sign of disrespect towards Ngannou. 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, either, because I was dealing with some stuff. I sprinted from the back. I didn’t even have my jacket on. I only had my shirt on to go and put the belt on Bisping, but I couldn’t make it out there to put the belt on Francis."