UFC President Dana White has been critical of Triller and Ryan Kavanaugh, the company’s co-founder. Kavanaugh says White has animosity toward him because he’s spurred discussion around UFC fighter pay and the fairness of their contracts.
His arguments were confirmed last night at the UFC 270 post-fight press conference when UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou spoke about his own dispute.
"Dana underpays his fighters, it’s just a known thing,” Kavanaugh said to me last Wednesday via Zoom. “And, in my opinion, the contracts are indentured servitude.”
"He locks these fighters up. So not only can they just do the UFC, but they can't do anything even if it's not competitive." Ngannou echoed these sentiments last night.
For context, Ngannou told ESPN earlier this month he won’t fight for the UFC again after UFC 270 under his current contract. Here’s what Ngannou said after he was asked about his position with the UFC following his victory over Ciryl Gane last night:
"I don't feel like it's fair. I don't feel like I'm a free man," said Ngannou. "I don't feel I've been treated good," he continued. "We put a lot of work into this job. We take a lot on our bodies to make it happen; at least we can have a fair and square deal."
According to Kavanaugh, these inequities, felt by Ngannou and other UFC athletes, are by White's design. "That's part of the UFC's model; let's not make any fighter too important, let's always make the UFC important.
“At a business level I get it, but from a human level, it's awful.”
Kavanaugh used the George St-Pierre vs. Oscar De La Hoya crossover fight as an example, saying how both agreed to it, "but he [Dana White] blocked it just for the hell of blocking it."
St-Pierre was asked about how the exhibition match fell through by Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour back in August. "I'm retired from the sport of mixed martial arts but still under contract from the UFC."
Because of this, he needed White's blessing, but White didn't want Triller to make money off him while under contract, so he blocked it, according to St-Pierre.
Like St-Pierre, Ngannou has expressed interest in boxing too, with Tyson Fury asking his audience on Twitter if they’d like to see the two face off.
Ngannou spoke to TMZ last month about his transition to boxing, saying, "It's [going to] happen, either way. Even if when the UFC and I finalize a deal, the boxing part has to be into it because I can't see myself [retiring] without boxing."
He echoed those remarks last night at the UFC 270 press conference, saying he wants to box before he retires from combat sports, but if history is any indicator, the UFC could block the crossover move pending the contract dispute isn’t settled.
