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“That’s a scary thing when that goes down,” White said. “If they touch each other, now the police get involved.”
UFC welterweights Jorge Masvidal and Kamaru Usman got into a public shouting match while making separate promotional appearances for Super Bowl Radio Row, held in advance of Sunday’s big game in Miami.
While the timing of their “Sunshine State” scuffle was just a little too coincidental for jaded curmudgeons like myself, promotion president, Dana White, insists there was nothing to gain from their thuggish behavior.
“I don’t love it,” White told The Will Cain Show (transcribed by MMA Junkie). “People think because I’m a promoter I’m like, ‘Cha-ching. That’s great for us.’ But it’s not great for us. We’re here at the Super Bowl – Radio Row at the Super Bowl, the NFL – and these two are acting like neanderthals.”
Unfortunately for UFC (and its public image), Usman is no stranger to public brawls, getting into a slugging match with fans back in 2018 and then turning a Las Vegas buffet into a free-for-all alongside his manager-in-crime, Ali Abdelaziz.
“Those two are going to fight in Las Vegas in ‘International Fight Week’ for 25 minutes,” White said. “They can do whatever they want to each other. That fight’s happening. You don’t have to do it here at Radio Row at the Super Bowl.”
Usman will defend his welterweight title in the main event of this summer’s pay-per-view (PPV) extravaganza in July, which is expected to take place inside T-Mobile Arena in “Sin City.” Assuming we can make it between now and then without any further incidents.