Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou said during an interview on Sirius XM Fight Nation's MMA Today that UFC president Dana White still owes him money.

"Which money is he talking about? The money that he owes me?," Ngannou said in response to recent comments White made during a press conference leading up to UFC 308 (h/t ESPN's Andreas Hale).

"Remember, all of this ended with [them] saying, 'Oh, we'll backpay you from the money that we owe you for the Stipe [Miocic] and Ciryl Gane fight,' all of that. They never back paid me. Now I have made more money than I have ever made in the UFC - I would say twice the money that I could have ever made in my entire UFC career if I had continued in the UFC.

"Either way, if I had made less money, if I'm not making enough money that I could've made in the UFC, that's my problem. Why is he so pissed about me not making that much money? Like, c'mon man, live your life."

White had this to say about Ngannou, who left UFC in January 2023 and signed with PFL four months later.

"Francis left because he knew that if he fought Jon Jones and didn't win, it would hurt his chances of making the money that he wanted to make," White said.

"But realistically, his deal was bigger here. His deal was bigger here if he stayed in the UFC. They can deny it all they want, why the f--k would I lie? Why do I care? It doesn't matter to me one way or the other... he would have made more money if he stayed in the UFC.""

As Hale noted, Ngannou was allowed to pursue outside opportunities after signing with the PFL. He fought heavyweight boxing titans Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, reportedly making $20 million for both bouts, per Hale.

Ngannou said in an interview on the The Last Stand podcast last November (h/t Ryan Harkness of MMA Mania) that he made more from the Fury fight that he ever had in his entire UFC career.

"First off all, whatever would have been my next fight, from the moment that I left the UFC, was going to be way different from what I made," Ngannou said in part.

"Because in the past three years in the UFC, I was in a contract issue that I didn't want to sign a new contract that would have given me more money, but not enough, right? Also the conditions and the terms which would have prevented me from doing boxing, which was one of my ultimate dreams that I wanted to do.

"So, it would have been different, even from my next MMA fight, completely different," Ngannou continued. "It's at least more than everything that I have earned in my life, in my career. You have to understand that I wasn't getting much pay."

Obviously, fans would love to see a superfight between Ngannou and Jon Jones, the current UFC heavyweight champion. Jones, arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in UFC history, is 27-1 lifetime with one no-contest. His only real competition at this point would be Ngannou, a tremendous fighter who more than held his own against Fury and Joshua in the boxing ring.

Ngannou is 18-3 lifetime in MMA, but he's on a seven-match win streak. He left UFC as the promotion's champion and just won the PFL Super Fights Heavyweight Championship with a first-round knockout of Renan Ferreira.

He's clearly on the record as stating, though, that White is the one in the way of the Jones fight.

"The only guy standing in the way of that fight is Dana White," Ngannou said. "I want the Jon Jones fight. I'm down for the fight. Jones is down for the fight. But this is a new narrative. I was down for a Jon Jones fight three years ago and I am down for it now."

This isn't the first time that there's been an incredible amount of red tape and drama in between two superstar fighters facing each other, and it won't be the last. Whether Jones and Ngannou end up getting this time is up for debate, but for now, it doesn't appear that the two are close to fighting in the Octagon.