Dana White – Page 81 – Syndication Server

Dana White regrets booking Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero: ‘Probably shouldn’t have done that fight’

Hindsight is 20/20.

LAS VEGAS – Dana White wasn far from pleased with the UFC 248 main event and didn’t hold back in making that known.

The UFC president was disappointed with how [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag]’s title defense against [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] played out Saturday at T-Mobile Arena. Adesanya vs. Romero turned out to be an uneventful five-round decision favoring the UFC middleweight champion. White expressed regret for making the fight.

“When I’m sitting here today talking about this, the matchmakers didn’t love that fight and didn’t want to make that fight,” White told reporters at the post-fight news conference. “They didn’t want to make Romero vs. Adesanya, but the goofy fan in me said, ‘Are you sh*tting me? Come on, this will be a fun fight to do. And the fact that (Adesanya) wants to fight a guy that nobody else wants to fight.’ Now hindsight is 20/20, probably shouldn’t have done that fight and should’ve waited for (Paulo) Costa, but oh well, we did it.”

[lawrence-related id=497935,497548]

White can’t wait for Adesanya’s second title defense against Brazil’s Paulo Costa and said that’s the fight to make next for the Nigerian-born champion. Costa, who has a win over Romero, is regarded as the rightful No. 1 contender but couldn’t fight Adesanya due to injury.

“Costa vs. Adesanya will be a ridiculous fight,” White said. “I guarantee it, I absolutely guarantee it. He got what he wanted, he got him (Romero) on his resume, he beat him, and onto Costa.”

[opinary poll=”whos-to-blame-for-the-ufc-248-main-event-va8H6T” customer=”mmajunkie”]

UFC 249: Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson press conference in Las Vegas

Dana White On Coronavirus Potentially Affecting UFC 249

Dana White made an emotional pitch to Tom Brady to join the Las Vegas Raiders

Dana White made a strong pitch for Tom Brady to join the Las Vegas Raiders.

I’m not sure if you’ve heard about this or not, but Tom Brady – the six-time Super Bowl champ and greatest QB to ever play the game – is a free agent and nobody knows where he’s going to be playing football in 2020.

At least not yet, as free agency doesn’t start for two more weeks.

Ok, you probably have heard about this, as Brady rumors are only picking up steam as we get closer to when decisions will have to be made.

Well, UFC boss Dana White, who’s from Boston and loves the Patriots, made his pitch to Brady on Tuesday, as he jumped on Brady’s Instagram live Q&A and begged for the QB to come to Las Vegas and play for the Raiders.

White started by saying he would love to see Brady return to New England but if that can’t happen, Las Vegas would be a good spot for No. 12:

UFC President Dana White, who’s a Patriots fan (bus also lives and works in Las Vegas) tries hard to convince Tom Brady to join the Las Vegas Raiders. pic.twitter.com/vjgzobkuei

— Farzin Vousoughian (@Farzin21) March 4, 2020

That was a good non-answer from Brady.

But an answer will likely be coming soon.

Hopefully.

[vertical-gallery id=899415]

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

UFC 247: Dana White post-fight interview

Dana White spoke with the media following UFC 247 in Houston.

Dana White says Jon Jones has turned corner in personal life, becoming top draw

Dana White explains why he believes Jon Jones has put his problems in the past once and for all, and why this is turning him into a drawing card.

It’s safe to say [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] is happy with Jon Jones’ most recent form.

The UFC president likes the results Jones (25-1 MMA, 19-1 UFC) has produced in the octagon, and he’s starting to like how Jones has conducted himself outside the cage, too. White says the UFC light heavyweight champion is a top draw for the company, putting him up there with Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz and other major stars.

“Of course he is (a drawing card), we just broke the record at the Toyota Center for this fight, so yeah, Jones is as star,” White told MMA Junkie in a recent interview.

“We did $3.2 million (at the gate), still a couple of hundred tickets to move and we’re opening up some productions kills right now, so it will be well over $3.2 million. And yeah, we’ll have the record.”

Jones is scheduled to headline UFC 247 on Saturday night, defending his light heavyweight title against unbeaten Dominick Reyes.

[lawrence-related id=486119,486117]

It’s obvious when McGregor or Diaz are on a fight card there is some type of buzz that comes with it. White believes Jones has a similar effect, but just draws his own unique audience.

“What happens with these different fighters and these different guys, they bring out different groups of people,” White said. “A completely different group of people show up to see Jon Jones fight on TV or live. Same thing for Conor, same thing for Nate Diaz, and the list goes on and on, it’s always a different group of people.”

Apart from Jones growing into a top draw for the company, the same thing can be said in his personal life. Not so long ago Jones dominated the headlines with troubles in his personal life as well as in anti-doping. That doesn’t seem to be the case today.

White believes Jones has turned a corner in that aspect of his life.

“The truth is that – and you’ve seen it in every sport – too rich, too famous, too young, and when that happens to you, there are consequences to it,” White said. “There’s a good side and a bad side. Some people can deal the it, some can’t, but then you eventually get to a point that you hopefully get yourself under control and you start to take it seriously and get you shit together.

“Usually, by the time you do that, it’s too late and your (athletic) window has closed and it’s over. But that’s not the case for Jon Jones.”

UFC 247 takes place Saturday at Toyota Center in Houston. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+

[jwplayer szBaTbZN-RbnemIYZ]

Dana White weighs in on potential champ vs. champ fights for Valentina Shevchenko

Dana White weighs in on the possibility of eventually seeing Valentina Shevchenko in champ vs. champ fights.

HOUSTON – There could very well be some big fights in Valentina Shevchenko’s future, but they won’t go down any time soon, at least according to UFC president [autotag]Dana White[/autotag]

Thursday, White spoke to MMA Junkie’s John Morgan about various topics including Shevchenko’s future in the company. “Bullet” currently holds the flyweight title and she’s set to defend her strap Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 247.

“I mean, if you ask anybody right now about the women’s division, they’ll tell you about Amanda Nunes, Valentina Shevchenko and Weili Zhang. Literally the three champions in each division are as badass as they can be, so it’s fun.”

[lawrence-related id=486119,486117]

Shevchenko (18-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) is one of the most dominant champions in the UFC and she’s a big favorite heading into her third title defense against Katlyn Chookagian.

Chookagian is a skilled striker that poses interesting challenges to the champion. Yet, many believe Shevchenko should get a comfortable win Saturday night.

Many wonder what could be next for Shevchenko if victorious against Chookagian, as there is no clear next contender in line at 125 pounds. And with a new champion at 115 pounds in Weili and some bad blood and history with featherweight and bantamweight titleholder Amanda Nunes, the idea of a champion vs. champion fight has floated among fans and media.

White is open for those kind of super fights, but would like his champions to establish lengthy and dominant reigns before thinking fights with other champions.

“All of those can happen, but what I really like to see people do is stay in their weight classed continue to knock people off,” White said. “Continue to build their legacy and their name, and when the time is right, those big crossover fights can happen.

UFC 247 takes place Saturday at Toyota Center in Houston. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.

For more from White, watch the video above, and to hear from the champ, watch the video below.

[jwplayer wJwS82pR-RbnemIYZ]

Manny Pacquiao plans to return to ring in June or July

Manny Pacquiao representative Sean Gibbons told ESPN that the titleholder plans to fight in the summer, against three potential opponents.

Welterweight titleholder Manny Pacquiao will return to the ring later this summer, and it won’t involve Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Sean Gibbons, Pacquiao’s chief representative, told ESPN on Wednesday that the plan is for the Filipino star to fight in “June or July.” The current shortlist of opponents Pacquiao is considering includes titleholder Errol Spence Jr., Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia.

Spence might be a long shot given that the Texan is coming off a gruesome car crash last October. He stated in December that he expects to fight again in the summer. Porter’s last fight was title-unification loss to Spence last September. And Garcia outpointed Ivan Redkach in January. Garcia’s father and trainer told Boxing Junkie that they would move on from a Pacquiao fight if they aren’t given a concrete answer by the end of this month.

As for Mayweather, Gibbons shot down that possibility. “’Mayweather told us, ‘I’m retired, I’m not fighting,’” Gibbons sai

Mayweather has repeatedly hinted that he plans to return to the ring in 2020, most likely in some kind of crossover bout in collaboration with the UFC’s Dana White.

Gibbons added that Pacquiao expects to fight more than once in 2020, even with the potential late start.

Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) had a late-career banner year in 2019, in which he defeated Adrien Broner and Keith Thurman, both of whom are considered elite welterweights in their prime.

Tag: Dana White