Dana White is all business leading into UFC 287 tomorrow night (Sat., April 8, 2023) live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Miami-Dade Arena in Miami, Fla., which is why the UFC president shut down questions about Jorge Masvidal’s hotel altercation with Kevin Holland at Thursday’s pre-fight press conference (watch HERE).
Earlier this week, Masvidal and Holland crossed paths in a hotel lobby and things quickly took a turn for the worse. Fight fans aren’t aware of any significant beef between “Gamebred” and “Trailblazer,” but the two fighters were clearly ready to throw down. Luckily, security was in place before the incident escalated and Masvidal or Holland did something that would have ruined this weekend’s card.
On Thursday, MMA reporters were eager to get a statement from both Masvidal and Holland during UFC 287’s pre-fight press conference.
“Absolutely nothing,” said Masvidal when asked what happened between himself and Holland. “There’s nothing to talk about there. Just some d—k riding, clout chasing bitch. Ain’t nothing to talk about.”
“That’s not what you were saying yesterday,” Holland replied. “Watch your f—king mouth.”
That’s when White stepped in to put a stop to the questioning. Before Masvidal and Holland got worked up on stage White dismissed any further questioning about their hotel altercation earlier this week, suggesting the press conference only be about UFC 287’s matchups.
“Guys, come on, these two aren’t even fighting,” White said. “Knock it off. Do you have a question about the fight who these guys are fighting or do you just want to start s—t in here? What’s your question?”
While it’s somewhat understandable that White would want to keep things calm during UFC’s return to Miami he may have missed out on a prime opportunity to create some extra buzz around this weekend’s event. Masvidal and Holland are two of the biggest names on the card so it would have made sense to at least discuss their surprise hotel altercation.
Fortunately, fight fans will get to see both men compete tomorrow night on ESPN+ PPV. All the talking and pre-fight incidents will take a backseat for real Octagon action.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 287 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 287: “Pereira vs. Adesanya 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 287 fight card and PPV lineup click here.