Tag: Dana White

Dana White Outraged Over UFC Rankings Panel, Plans System Overhaul

Dana White once again unleashed his fury at the UFC rankings panel in the aftermath of UFC 307. The UFC rankings system has faced intense criticism repeatedly over the past few months, and it appears that the latest outburst from the UFC CEO followed the weekly update released in the days after UFC light heavyweight […]

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Dana White once again unleashed his fury at the UFC rankings panel in the aftermath of UFC 307.

The UFC rankings system has faced intense criticism repeatedly over the past few months, and it appears that the latest outburst from the UFC CEO followed the weekly update released in the days after UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira’s successful title defense against Khalil Rountree Jr.

While “The War Horse” was unable to dethrone the Brazilian titleholder, he certainly made an impression with his performance in the early rounds, pushing “Poatan” to his limits. However, Rountree Jr. was unable to make any progress in the updated 205-pound rankings and remained at #8.

Infuriated by the recent developments, White took to his Instagram Stories to lash out at the members of the UFC rankings panel. He assured his followers that he would hold a meeting this week to address the issues and revamp the system.

“The morons strike again,” White said. “Khalil Rountree fights that badass fight against Pereira, and the morons rank him #8, keeping him at #8. Literally, this week, I have a meeting to try to fix the rankings and get all these no-nothing motherf**kers out of it. So hopefully, this week I get this fixed.”

White’s frustrations with the rankings panel are nothing new; he has voiced his dissatisfaction over reigning UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones not being ranked as the top pound-for-pound fighter in recent months.

Just last month, in an interview with Kevin Iole, he discussed the controversy surrounding Renato Moicano, who believed he deserved a higher ranking in the lightweight division after his dominant victory over Benoît Saint Denis at UFC Fight Night Paris.

The UFC head honcho revealed that he is contemplating the integration of artificial intelligence into the UFC’s ranking system to replace the current panel, composed of media representatives from various MMA publications.

Continue Reading Dana White Outraged Over UFC Rankings Panel, Plans System Overhaul at MMA News.

Is Dana White Plotting to ‘Steal the Spotlight’ from Francis Ngannou and the PFL This Weekend?

Is Dana White Plotting to 'Steal the Spotlight' from Francis Ngannou and the PFL This Weekend?With the Professional Fighter League’s biggest event of the year just a few days away, the promotion’s founder thinks…

Is Dana White Plotting to 'Steal the Spotlight' from Francis Ngannou and the PFL This Weekend?

With the Professional Fighter League’s biggest event of the year just a few days away, the promotion’s founder thinks Dana White is plotting something to try and steal some of the event’s spotlight.

Airing live on pay-per-view, the ‘Battle of the Giants’ card will feature the long-awaited Smart Cage debut of former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. The Predator’ will take on 2023 heavyweight tournament winner Renan Ferreira who earned the opportunity via a 21-second knockout of Bellator titleholder Ryan Bader in February.

PFL

With the UFC set to deliver another lackluster card inside The APEX, all eyes will be on the patented Smart Cage as Ngannou vs. Ferreira and a clash between Cris Cyborg and Larissa Pacheco headline a solid night of fights.

However, the promotion’s co-founder, Donn Davis, expects the UFC CEO to deliver a blockbuster announcement of some sort to try and steal their thunder.

“PFL Super Fight Week!” Davis wrote on X. “Francis Ngannou makes his highly anticipated return with PFL MMA! So what will Dana White announce to try to steal spotlight from THE biggest fight of 2024??”

It certainly wouldn’t be the first time White had tried to undercut another promotion’s efforts, but the UFC’s marquee matchup this week being between a couple of low-ranked middleweights, we can’t imagine there’s much White can do to take eyes away from Ngannou’s big night.

Which event will you be watching this weekend?

Check out the full PFL ‘Brace for impact’ PPV card below:

PFL
PFL

Saturday’s PFL fight card takes place at The Mayadeen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The main card will air on ESPN+ PPV at 4:00 p.m. ET following prelims on ESPN+ at 1:30 p.m. ET.

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PFL Founder Anticipates UFC Attempt To Stifle Ngannou’s Return: ‘What Will Dana White Announce?’

Francis Ngannou makes his PFL debut this weekend, and the promotion is expecting his ex-employers to do what they can to steal the spotlight. For the first time since January 2022, Ngannou will enter the cage for an MMA contest on Saturday, October 19. In his last appearance close to three years ago, “The Predator” […]

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Francis Ngannou makes his PFL debut this weekend, and the promotion is expecting his ex-employers to do what they can to steal the spotlight.

For the first time since January 2022, Ngannou will enter the cage for an MMA contest on Saturday, October 19. In his last appearance close to three years ago, “The Predator” got the better of Ciryl Gane to remain UFC heavyweight champion.

On this occasion, the Cameroonian will debut in new surroundings as the headline act for the Professional Fighters League’s second pay-per-view event of 2024.

After completing his long-desired transition to boxing to do battle with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, the former UFC champ will adjust his sights back to MMA to face 2022 PFL title winner Renan Ferreira in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

And as his first MMA fight week since departing the UFC gets underway, the PFL higher-ups are seemingly expecting some outside efforts to drag the spotlight away from Ngannou…

Davis Predicts White Announcement In Light Of Ngannou’s PFL Fight Week

PFL founder, chairman, and co-owner Donn Davis has caused a stir in recent times owing to repeated shots at his organization’s former fighter, two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison.

To kick off the PFL’s ‘Battle of the Giants’ fight week, Davis once again had his sights on a UFC figure, this time the boss.

In a social media post, Davis suggested the UFC CEO will no doubt be preparing a major announcement in the hope of stifling Ngannou’s return — a habit of the UFC’s that has become a running joke in the MMA community.

“PFL Super Fight Week! Francis Ngannou makes his highly anticipated return with @PFLMMA!” Davis wrote on X. “So what will @danawhite announce to try to steal spotlight from THE biggest fight of 2024?? #PFLSuperFights“

It would stand to reason that no announcement could affect the anticipation for Ngannou’s return, which comes after he took Fury to the limit and suffered a brutal KO to Joshua in the squared circle.

Ngannou vs. Ferreira headlines Saturday’s card, with the likes of women’s MMA legend Cris Cyborg, reigning Bellator middleweight kingpin Johnny Eblen, and former Bellator champion AJ McKee making up the undercard.

Continue Reading PFL Founder Anticipates UFC Attempt To Stifle Ngannou’s Return: ‘What Will Dana White Announce?’ at MMA News.

UFC CEO Dana White Open to Dustin Poirier’s Four-Man BMF Tournament

UFC CEO Dana White Open to Dustin Poirier’s Four-Man BMF TournamentDana White is down with a four-man BMF tournament. During an appearance on SiriusXM’s MMA Today podcast, three-time lightweight…

UFC CEO Dana White Open to Dustin Poirier’s Four-Man BMF Tournament

Dana White is down with a four-man BMF tournament.

During an appearance on SiriusXM’s MMA Today podcast, three-time lightweight title challenger Dustin Poirier suggested a four-man tourney to determine who the baddest motherf*cker in mixed martial arts truly is.

“Now that excites me. Because that kind of stuff is for the dogs. That’s like old Pride days or Grand Prix,” Poirier said. “That’s a real BMF. If you can fight a tournament in one night, multiple opponents, that’s the definition of BMF. That would be it. If they put that together and it was a one-night tournament, that would be it” (h/t BJPenn.com).

Dana White

Reacting to the idea following Tuesday’s episode of Dana White’s Contender Series, the UFC CEO gave it his stamp of approval.

“Sounds fun. Never thought about it, but yeah, I love it.”

Thus far, there have been three BMF titleholders since the belt was first introduced in 2019. Jorge Masvidal became the inaugural BMF champion via a third-round doctor’s stoppage TKO against Nate Diaz at UFC 266. ‘Gamebred’ never defended the belt and essentially vacated it after walking away from the UFC following a four-fight losing streak last year.

Dana White

Justin Gaethje claimed the title in July 2023 with a second-round head kick KO against Dustin Poirier, but his time with the title was cut short by Max Holloway, who made a highlight out of ‘The Highlight’ via a buzzer-beating knockout at UFC 300 in April.

Holloway is currently scheduled to challenge Ilia Topuria for the featherweight world title on October 26 at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi.

Max Holloway KO Justin Gaethje UFC 300

Nate Diaz tells dana white to get those ‘2 nerds’ out of proposed BMF title Tournament

Getting wind of Poirier’s idea, Nate Diaz approved of the idea, but not all the participants.

“@DanaWhite Dan [Hooker] and Max [Holloway] are eligible for my belt.” Nate Diaz wrote on his Instagram story, responding to Poirier’s recent comments. “But get those other [two] nerds out of there they don’t fit the description.”

Dana White

Diaz calling the BMF title “my belt” is an interesting choice of words considering he never once held it. And suggesting that Poirier and Gaethje — two of the most beloved strikers in the game — “don’t fit the description” of a BMF is also pretty wild.

If you could pick any four fighters to compete in a one-night BMF title tournament, who would be in your bracket?

Dana White Discusses UFC Africa Obstacles: Wind, Rain, and Bugs Could Affect the Fights

UFC South Africa and Dana WhiteDana White desperately wants to take the UFC to South Africa. Unfortunately, the amount of obstacles seems almost insurmountable….

UFC South Africa and Dana White

Dana White desperately wants to take the UFC to South Africa. Unfortunately, the amount of obstacles seems almost insurmountable.

Following Dricus Du Plessis’ win over Israel Adesanya in August, White made it clear that he wants to bring his show to the middleweight champion’s home country. Since then, rumors have been swirling that an event in either Johannesburg or Cape Town could be part of the promotion’s 2025 schedule.

Dana White talks UFC in South Africa

However, White revealed following Tuesday’s episode of DWCS that they’re having a difficult time locking down a venue.

“You know how bad I want this, I’ve been trying to get this thing done. The arena situation there is tough, it’s tough to pull off,” White said. “That’s been the challenge with Africa as a whole. We’re trying to figure it out. The place that we would have to do it at, is outdoors, and you know how I feel about that. So I’ve been trying to figure out with the weather…. wind is a big problem. We’ve done it a couple of times, but anything that can affect the outcome of the fight, makes me not even want to try…

“It’s anything from wind, rain, bugs, too much humidity. A lot of things can interfere with the fight” (h/t BJPenn.com).

Dricus Du Plessis is the uFC’s only African World Champion

Even before Du Plessis’ rise to the top of the 185-pound division, White had expressed interest in going to Africa with the promotion and then hosting a trio of African world champions — Israel Adesanya, Kamaru Usman, and Francis Ngannou.

Dana White talks UFC in South Africa

Currently, ‘DDP’ is the promotion’s lone titleholder hailing from Africa, but it sounds like he won’t be competing on his home turf anytime soon.

Dana White talks UFC in South Africa

UFC Revolution: Conor McGregor and Dana White Propose Radical Changes to End Boring Fights in the UFC

UFC Revolution: Conor McGregor and Dana White Propose Radical Changes to End Boring Fights in the UFCConor McGregor and Dana White think it’s time for a change. Aside from a few questionable split decisions, UFC…

UFC Revolution: Conor McGregor and Dana White Propose Radical Changes to End Boring Fights in the UFC

Conor McGregor and Dana White think it’s time for a change.

Aside from a few questionable split decisions, UFC 307 was a successful night of fights punctuated by Alex Pereira’s destructive fourth-round knockout of Khalil Rountree in the evening’s main event. However, there was one scrap that left a lot of pundits frustrated. That being the lackluster scrap between former featherweight king Jose Aldo and rising contender Mario Bautista.

Throughout the three-round affair, Bautista regularly clinched with Aldo, pressing him against the fence and refusing to do much more than that. The lack of offense prompted the referee to separate them, but each time he did so, Bautista would go right back to clinching against the cage.

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That ultimately won’t Bautista the fight which prompted a lot of heated reactions from fighters and fans alike. McGregor offered his take on the situation by suggesting a simple guideline for when referees should separate fighters.

Conor McGregor
Conor McGregor

“As referee, if the fighters go go the same place of stawl over and over, I would be putting the position on a clock,” McGregor wrote in a since-deleted post. “Each time they end up back there, the clock goes shorter… 30 second clock, 20 second clock, 10 second, 8 second, 6 second, etc, etc, etc.”

“Separate, separate, separate. No point prolonging these positions as if they haven’t taken place exactly the same way prior and nothing has taken place but stawling. My opinion. Ya’s want blood, call us.”

Dana White Agrees with Conor McGregor … Mostly

UFC CEO Dana White echoed a similar sentiment while addressing members of the press following the fight card in Salt Lake City.

“I always think that the referees should be more active on [fighters stalling],” White said during the post-fight press conference. “100%. Especially when somebody keeps doing it to stall… If you’re not trying to fight, how do you win the fight? If you’re looking at attempted takedowns, well what about stuffing the takedowns?”

“When you can tell that the guy definitely doesn’t want to stand and strike and just wants to stall against the fence, yes. The refs, that’s their job, they’re supposed to see it. When they see it continuingly happening and that the guy is not trying to win the fight, then you [should] keep breaking them up.”

Responding directly to McGregor’s suggestion of a sort of countdown clock, White doesn’t believe you’d necessarily need a timer for each instance of stalling.

“Yeah, I don’t think you even need a clock. I mean, it’s common sense. When the guy keeps doing it and is doing everything he can to not fight and to not win the fight, as a ref, you should break it up immediately.”