"The original UFC" - Dana White credits the Gracie family for pioneering modern MMA and adding 'a whole new element' to fighting

Dana White has showered praise on the Gracie family for their role in the evolution of MMA.

Helio Gracie, one of the patriarchs of the family, is widely considered the 'Godfather of Brazilian jiu-jitsu'. For many years, the Gracies dominated Vale Tudo contests in Brazil. Members issued the 'Gracie Challenge', which would see practitioners of different martial arts fight members of the family.

Rorion Gracie migrated to the United States in the 1970s. He later teamed up with Art Davies to create the original UFC.

During an appearance on THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas, Dana White paid tribute to the Gracies for their role in creating the UFC. He also credited them for introducing the world to ground fighting and jiu-jitsu.

"The original UFC, the Gracies kicked that thing off. You know, with their style of jiu-jitsu and their style of fighting. It caught the world's imagination. And the other thing was it added a whole new element to fighting. We'd never seen people go to the ground and fight on the ground. And they could beat any opponent, bigger, stronger, faster, no matter what the deal was. No matter what the style was, they'd figure out a way to beat them."

Check out the full episode of THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas, featuring Dana White, below:

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Dana White claims he had a positive conversation with Francis Ngannou

During the same interview, Dana White claimed he'd had a "good talk" with Francis Ngannou.

The UFC president has been far from pleased with Ngannou's management during contract negotiations, but progress appears to have been made, according to Dana White.

"Francis and I bumped into each other the other night at dinner and we had a good talk and he's not out of contract, if he wins that fight. I think he's got one more fight with us after that... So these are all grown men and women and everybody has to make their own decision in life and go down their own paths. But I think that Francis and I had a good conversation. I think Francis has been misguided too by some people that aren't very bright, you know, that doesn't help either when you got some people behind you that have no fu****g clue what they're talking about."

Francis Ngannou is represented by Marquel Martin of the Creative Artists Agency. CAA has a rivalry with Endeavor, UFC's parent company, as they are the largest talent management agencies on the planet. There has been speculation that this relationship is bearing itself out during Ngannou's contract negotiations.

'The Predator' will defend the heavyweight championship against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 next month. His future beyond the pay-per-view remains uncertain.