Tag: Dana White

Dana White Gives Short Reaction To Host Of UFC Veterans Returning For Global Fight League Launch

The Global Fight League (GFL) recently announced a huge number of additions to its roster ahead of the promotion’s full launch in 2025. Many of the names are familiar to fight fans as a whole host of former UFC fighters, veterans and champions are available to be drafted before the GFL’s team-based season format gets […]

The Global Fight League (GFL) recently announced a huge number of additions to its roster ahead of the promotion’s full launch in 2025. Many of the names are familiar to fight fans as a whole host of former UFC fighters, veterans and champions are available to be drafted before the GFL’s team-based season format gets underway.

Despite this being a major announcement in the MMA landscape, the reaction from a lot of fans wasn’t overly positive because many of the top names that have come to terms with the GFL are fighters that are either in the final years of their careers or seen to be past their primes. Given his previous comments on other promotions that have looked to change the MMA landscape, it’s not surprising that UFC boss Dana White was sceptical to say the least.

Rather than criticizing the GFL, White welcomed them to come and try their hand at mixed martial arts during his post-fight press conference in Tampa this past weekend. With a smirk on his face, he is happy to see how other promotions will attempt to compete and do things differently.

“I actually don’t know anything about it. I saw this all the time, I welcome everybody. Listen, there’s no barrier to get into this sport. I hear a lot of people saying that we ‘don’t do this right’ or we ‘don’t do that right’. Come on in everybody, dive in.”

Though White said that he wasn’t familiar with the promotion’s recent announcement, after having a list of some of the top signings read out to him, he gave his response to hearing some of the names that GFL has acquired. There was a particular emphasis places on the inclusion of Wanderlei Silva who at 48-years old, hasn’t fought since he departed the UFC in 2013 and returned to fight twice in Bellator in 2017 and 2018.

“Fascinating. I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Video: Dana White Names Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall as Fight He Wants Most in 2025

UFC president Dana White made it clear that he’s hoping to schedule a highly-anticipated fight between heavyweight champion Jon Jones and interim heavyweight…

UFC president Dana White made it clear that he’s hoping to schedule a highly-anticipated fight between heavyweight champion Jon Jones and interim heavyweight…

Manel Kape Has Title Shot Pleas Rejected After Standout UFC Tampa Performance

UFC flyweight contender Manel Kape didn’t shy away from letting the brass know what he wants at Saturday’s event in Tampa. After having his title plans stalled by Muhammad Mokaev in Manchester this past July, Kape returned to action at the UFC’s final event of 2024, where he was tasked with defending his position on […]

UFC flyweight contender Manel Kape didn’t shy away from letting the brass know what he wants at Saturday’s event in Tampa.

After having his title plans stalled by Muhammad Mokaev in Manchester this past July, Kape returned to action at the UFC’s final event of 2024, where he was tasked with defending his position on the ladder against Bruno Silva.

“Starboy” bounced back in style, putting on a show with the kind of striking and confident showboating that attracted the MMA leader’s attention while he held gold under the Rizin banner.

And following two strong rounds, Kape closed the show with strikes in the final frame to cap off a near-flawless return to the win column.

In the aftermath, the Angola-born Portuguese fighter pleaded with Dana White cageside, making his case for the next shot at Alexandre Pantoja. That was a continuation of a conversation Kape also attempted to start in-between rounds.

Unfortunately for “Starboy,” he seemingly wasn’t persuasive enough.

During the post-fight press conference backstage at Amalie Arena, UFC CEO Dana White reflected on Kape’s perseverance when it came to pitching a rematch with champ Pantoja, whom he lost to in his promotional debut back in 2021.

White did not, however, have the answer the flyweight contender would have been hoping for.

“No, he’s not getting a title shot,” White said. “But we’ll definitely give him what he’s looking for.”

It’s unclear what White is referring to, given that Kape was looking for a shot at redemption opposite Pantoja with the flyweight gold on the line next year.

Regardless, it seems “Starboy” has some work to do if he’s to secure a first championship opportunity on MMA’s biggest stage and the chance to add UFC gold to his trophy cabinet in the sport.

VIDEO: UFC Tampa Post-Fight Press Conference After Joaquin Buckley, Cub Swanson’s Headline Wins

The year-ending UFC Tampa event recently concluded, and MMA News has you covered with the post-fight press conference at Amalie Arena. The venue played host to Octagon action on Dec. 14, as the mixed martial arts leader closed out its schedule for 2024 with a strong lineup that featured a former interim champion, ranked contenders, […]

The year-ending UFC Tampa event recently concluded, and MMA News has you covered with the post-fight press conference at Amalie Arena.

The venue played host to Octagon action on Dec. 14, as the mixed martial arts leader closed out its schedule for 2024 with a strong lineup that featured a former interim champion, ranked contenders, experienced veterans, and some promising prospects.

Of note were victories for Joaquin Buckley, Cub Swanson, Manel Kape, Dustin Jacoby, Daniel Marcos, Michael Johnson and Sean Woodson.

And before attention turns to next year’s offerings from the mixed martial arts leader, there remains some business to attend to backstage at UFC Tampa.

Shortly after the main event’s ending, Dana White is expected to appear in front of the media to reveal the recipients of the Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night bonuses before answering questions. The victorious fighters from UFC Tampa will also take queries from the press in reaction to their performances.

With that said, see below for a live stream of the UFC Tampa post-fight press conference via the UFC’s official YouTube channel, commencing at 1 AM ET.

Cris Cyborg Sends Message To Dana White Amid Growing Discontent Among PFL Fighters

Since acquiring Bellator and the majority of the promotion’s roster towards the end of 2023, it has been a difficult year for the PFL in some ways. Throughout 2024, several big names and champions have publicly voiced their issues with not being offered fights for various reasons. As a result, we’ve seen big names like […]

Since acquiring Bellator and the majority of the promotion’s roster towards the end of 2023, it has been a difficult year for the PFL in some ways. Throughout 2024, several big names and champions have publicly voiced their issues with not being offered fights for various reasons.

As a result, we’ve seen big names like Gegard Mousasi leave the promotion whilst other top stars like Patricio Pitbull and Patchy Mix have recently started to air their issues over fights being cancelled and not rescheduled with little communication. Pitbull in particular stated that if he isn’t going to be offered any fights, he would like to be released so that he can go and fight elsewhere with an opportunity to finally compete in the UFC being a big attraction for him.

In his post-fight press conference for UFC 310 this past Saturday, Dana White gave his thoughts on the fighters that are becoming frustrated with how they have been treated in the PFL.

“Listen, the last couple of months, we’ve been talking a lot about the PFL. They’re cancelling a lot of shows, I know that a lot of guys that are supposed to fight aren’t fighting and… I mean, you guys know what the f*** is going on. When you see that start to happen, you’re running out of money, things aren’t looking good and you’re gonna have people that want to jump ship. These guys want to fight. You have a very limited time of opportunity when you’re a professional athlete and even less when you’re a fighter. So I’m sure you’re gonna see a lot of that and we’ll see how this plays out over the next several months going into 25.”

Arguably the most outspoken major name regarding being unsatisfied with their treatment in the PFL has been Cris Cyborg. After beating Cat Zingano at the second to last Bellator event before the promotion was sold, she had to wait just over a year to get her next fight booked.

Despite getting the fight that she wanted against Larissa Pacheco at Battle of the Giants where she won the inaugural PFL Super Fights title in the women’s featherweight division, this hasn’t completely mended the bridge between Cyborg and the PFL.

Following her win over Felicia Spencer back in 2019, White stated that the UFC would not be re-signing the former champion after Cyborg’s contract had expired following a less than stellar relationship between the two parties. However, in a social media post reacting to the UFC boss’ recent comments at the press conference, it appears that the Brazilian isn’t opposed to stepping back inside the Octagon, especially if it means settling a score once and for all.

VIDEO: Dana White Tells Alexander Volkov The Judges ‘F*cked’ Him In Cageside Interaction At UFC 310

UFC CEO Dana White offered words of support to Alexander Volkov after the heavyweight contender was controversially beaten by Ciryl Gane at this past weekend’s pay-per-view. Volkov returned at UFC 310 on Saturday night for his second outing of the year, having extended his winning run to four straight fights with an upset win over […]

UFC CEO Dana White offered words of support to Alexander Volkov after the heavyweight contender was controversially beaten by Ciryl Gane at this past weekend’s pay-per-view.

Volkov returned at UFC 310 on Saturday night for his second outing of the year, having extended his winning run to four straight fights with an upset win over Sergei Pavlovich in Saudi Arabia this past June. That result put the Russian up to #3 in the rankings and earned him a shot at avenging his 2021 main event loss to Gane.

In the eyes of many, “Drago” did enough to do just that inside Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena. But while judge Eric Colón agreed, Adalaide Byrd and Junichiro Kamijo shocked plenty by submitting scorecards in favor of the Frenchman.

Among those who disagreed with the result in an arena filled with boos after the result was the UFC CEO, who engaged in discourse with a clearly baffled and distraught Volkov as he exited the cage.

The moment was captured and posted by ESPN MMA on X.

White told the Russian he was “f*cked” by the judges and that the promotion would try to do right by him.

The result marked Gane’s second victory over the Russian, coming three years on from a more convincing five-round decision over the former Bellator champion. “Bon Gamin” has now won back-to-back fights since a crushing defeat to Jon Jones in March 2023.