BUZZ Fedor Emelianenko rips Dana White, says no Ngannou talks, only a boxing 'dream'

Fedor Emelianenko used one long interview to settle two stories at once: his version of why he never fought in the UFC, and a rumor that he was heading toward a fight with Francis Ngannou. On the first he was blunt. On the second he shut the door on talks while leaving a small window open on a dream.

Speaking to the Russian YouTube channel Ushatayka, the 50-year-old said the Ngannou story grew from a question put to him while he was speaking to young people: who would you like to fight, under any rules? His answer was that Ngannou would be the real dream, but only in boxing, because he has too many injuries for MMA. "That's just me thinking out loud," he said, adding that he never said negotiations existed. Some outlets ran the remark as a callout. It was not one.

The sharper material was aimed at Dana White. Emelianenko said White came to him saying he wanted him to fight for the UFC, yet a fight earlier, when he was a free agent, the promotion had not signed him. In his telling it happened every time: no interest when he was free, offers once he was under contract. Signing a second deal would have meant legal proceedings and, he said, a ban from fighting in America while they ran. He pointed to 2009, before he went with Strikeforce, and said the UFC "just wanted to shut me down."

He then took on White's shifting public line. White said on The Pivot Podcast in July that the UFC offered him a lot of money and wanted a fight with Brock Lesnar, but that he and Lorenzo Fertitta were relieved when the deal fell through. Emelianenko listed the changes: first White wanted him, then did not, then regretted it, then was glad. "He simply doesn't stand by his words," he said. Asked about White being called a legend, he said, "If someone thinks he's a legend, let them."

These are Emelianenko's own readings of events, and the UFC has not answered them in the coverage so far. Emelianenko has not fought since his first-round loss to Ryan Bader at Bellator 290 in 2023. A reply from White is the next thing to watch; a Ngannou fight is not in play.