Two top MMA analysts aren’t buying what UFC CEO Dana White is selling when it comes to some of his post-fight remarks at UFC 304.
UFC 304 in Manchester last month featured two impressive title wins, capped off by Belal Muhammad’s upset victory over Leon Edwards in the main event. UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall retained his belt with a wild finish to Curtis Blaydes in the co-main event.
While the top of the card delivered plenty of storylines, UFC 304 featured seven consecutive decisions, a streak snapped by Paddy Pimblett’s submission of King Green on the main card. The UFC 304 fights began in the middle of the night in Manchester, leading to some low-output showings in the Octagon.
After UFC 304, White appeared to dismiss that the unideal fight times had an impact on the event quality. This was despite some fight fans in attendance falling asleep at the venue as the matchups played out.
Dana White Questioned For Scathing Post-UFC 304 Comments
During a recent episode of Weighing In, ‘Big’ John McCarthy picked apart White’s disgruntled post-UFC 304 comments.
“When you’re pointing one finger forward, there’s three coming back at you Josh and you got to look at those and you gotta say well, we did put these fighters in a position where they were fighting at 3 o’clock in the morning, 4 o’clock in the morning, 5 o’clock in the morning,” McCarthy said of White. “No one works out at those times, no one fights at those times. It is an unusual situation and even if you try to prepare for it, it’s odd. It’s just an odd time for you, your body doesn’t feel the same, you don’t feel like you’re on top of things.” (h/t MMANews)
McCarthy’s co-host, former UFC standout Josh Thomson, didn’t hold back in his criticism of White’s post-event remarks.
“You kind of offset both parties by doing this,” Thomson said of White. “What happens is when you go to another country and they’re there five days before, some of them get there seven days before, some of the staff, and sometimes that’s not good. But, what I’m saying though is that now you’ve asked them to stay awake during the night so they can be awake during the night…
“So, the ones that come from the states that work for the UFC, their body clock is trying to change to get adjusted to the UK time when in fact they can’t because their show is at 5 in the morning,” Thomson continued on White. “Then, the fighters that are there, they’re getting all screwed up because they’re having to fight when they’re normally sleeping. So you really kind of messed up both sides of this equation. You messed it up for the people that work for the promotion and some of the fighters that came over having to fight.”
White has shown zero intentions of modifying future UK event start times after UFC 304. Aspinall and others pleaded with White and the UFC matchmakers to change the event schedule ahead of UFC 304, to no avail.