Former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez shared his feelings on Dana White’s comments about Francis Ngannou parting ways with the company.
On Saturday, news broke that Ngannou was officially a free agent, and the UFC stripped him of his heavyweight title. White revealed at the UFC Vegas 67 post-fight press conference that the pair could not agree on contract terms, which resulted in Ngannou’s departure. Straight off the bat, the boss believes Ngannou “doesn’t want to take the risk” and wants to fight “lesser opposition.”
Instead of praising Ngannou and his accomplishments, the UFC President took a different approach when addressing the situation. An approach we’ve seen White take countless times over the years with other fighters who looked for the exit door.
Alvarez, who once sat at the top of the UFC lightweight division, laughed at White’s comments on Twitter, tweeting:
Former UFC Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez Weighs in on Francis Ngannou’s Departure
“Ufc simply lost the bid for Francis , instead of admitting that , they go with the narrative the the Scariest mother fucker alive is Afraid to fight in the UFC hahhahahahhahahahhahahahhaa These jokes write themselves #PHSUnreal“. Alvarez posted.
Alvarez didn’t stop there. The 39-year-old replied to MMA Junkie’s Instagram post regarding the situation, stating the fighters really don’t care who’s put in front of them.
“Nobody in the UFC is “afraid” of anyone. The men who fight there are there to fight the best… The UFC is afraid to pay fighters, this is the only reason people leave. Fighters don’t give a f*** who the next opponent is, they do care about what the pay will be. Keep it real and just say, ‘We lost the bid, someone is paying more,’ and end it there.
“It’s counterintuitive to pay fighters large purses because they become less cooperative and more [independent]. The business works perfect when everyone is broke and begging to fight at the drop of a hat. Cooperation is key. Large purses disrupt their own business.”
Alvarez is considered one of the lightweight greats of our generation and has put on a handful of memorable brawls across multiple promotions. The Philadelphia native joined the UFC in 2014 after attaining the Bellator lightweight title in a rematch with Michael Chandler. In three years, Alvarez captured the UFC lightweight title before departing shortly afterwards. He underwent a stint with Asian promotion ONE Championship. However, has now left one and teased a return to the UFC to complete a trilogy bout with Chandler.
What do you make of the comments by Eddie Alvarez? Do you agree?
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
