The UFC president has responded for the first time to Tony Ferguson’s claim that Michael Chandler is the beneficiary of ‘Dana White privilege.
Former Bellator champion, Chandler, challenged for UFC gold in just his second fight with the promotion. He suffered a second-round TKO loss when squaring off against Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title at UFC 262.
Ferguson was also in action on the card. He was looking to snap his two-fight losing streak against Beneil Dariush. Prior to his recent downturn in form, ‘El Cucuy’ was riding 12 straight wins but never got a shot at the undisputed lightweight title. Unfortunately for the former interim champion the run continued as he was dominated by Dariush for three rounds.
At the UFC 262 pre-fight press conference Ferguson fired shots at Chandler who he hilariously accused of having “Dana White privilege”.
“You f*cking dodged me too, Chandler,” Ferguson said. “You’re a b*tch. You said no, man. You got this sh*t handed to you. You got Dana White privilege.”
In the moment White laughed hysterically. The UFC boss kept the same energy when talking about Ferguson’s claim during an appearance on “The Jake Asman Show”.
“I don’t know,” White said. “That’s the first I’ve heard of it, and it’s hilarious.”
White insists he never plays favoruites despite what some “paranoid” fighter may think.
“You always have these fighters who feel, ‘Oh, the company is against me, they want me to lose, they don’t like me.’ They’re all paranoid like that,” White added. “And I think these guys see Michael Chandler as the guy – you know, even if you look at Oliveira, guy’s been in the UFC for 11 years, and he’s finally getting his title shot. Chandler is getting it this quick. Everything in life is about timing, and timing has definitely worked out for Michael Chandler.”
“I don’t think it’s a real thing, but I think that fighters think that it’s a real thing,” White concluded. “I think that they think that I have my favorites, and I’m assuming they think that Michael Chandler is one of my new favorites.” (Transcribed by MMA Junkie)
Do you believe Dana White privilege is real?