Dana White News

Adam D Martin - June 7, 2020

UFC president Dana White was not happy when he was asked about why so many fighters on the UFC roster are now asking the organization for more money. In the last few weeks, we have seen Henry Cejudo retire, Jon Jones ask for his release, Jorge Masvidal ask for more money, Sean O’Malley ask for a raise, and Conor McGregor announce his retirement. For most of these fighters, the No. 1 complaint as to why they are airing their grievances is fighter pay. Compared to most other major professional sports leagues, the UFC pays its athletes a far smaller fraction of the revenue.

Adam D Martin - June 7, 2020

UFC president Dana White reacted to Conor McGregor’s surprising announcement that he is retiring from mixed martial arts following UFC 250. McGregor sent out a Tweet immediately following last night’s pay-per-view card that indicated he is planning on retiring. It’s not the first time McGregor has sent out a Tweet saying he is retiring, and every time he has said in the past he’s hanging up his gloves he’s eventually returned to the Octagon.

Chris Taylor - June 6, 2020

The UFC’s BMF Champion Jorge Masvidal joined SportsCenter this evening to ask some questions of his current employer. Masvidal recently revealed that talks for a welterweight title fight with Kamaru Usman had broken down, this after the UFC allegedly wanted him to take a pay cut when compared to his most previous contest with Nate Diaz.

Cole Shelton - June 5, 2020

Dana White has responded to Jorge Masvidal’s claim that he wants his UFC release. On Friday, Masvidal sent several tweets to voice his frustrations about his pay and told the UFC to release him. He is just the latest fighter to complain about fighter pay. Jon Jones went on a Twitter rant about that. Henry Cejudo, meanwhile, retired but said if the promotion paid him more, he would return.

Tom Taylor - June 4, 2020

Dana White believes Conor McGregor is the first truly international superstar in UFC history, and that’s what sets him apart from other stars like Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, and Ronda Rousey. White compared McGregor’s celebrity to that of other big UFC stars on Eddie Hearn’s Talk the Talk podcast. He believes that, while stars like GSP, Rousey and Silva opened up new markets, McGregor brought the UFC to the whole world.

Tom Taylor - June 4, 2020

UFC President Dana White says we could be seeing fights on his much-discussed Fight Island as soon as June 27. White has been battling hard to keep promoting fights during the coronavirus pandemic. While he’s managed to promote a handful of events in Jacksonville, Florida, and at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas, those events have been populated by American fighters, and fighters based on US soil.

Natasha Hooper - June 4, 2020

UFC President Dana White recently opened up on his public dispute with UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Tensions between the light heavyweight champion and the UFC president have reached an all-time high. Jones announced he was vacating his title after matchup negotiations for a Francis Ngannou fight turned sour.

Harry Kettle - June 3, 2020

TV host John Oliver has responded to UFC president Dana White trademarking the ‘UFSea’ term that started the war of words between the two. A few weeks ago, Oliver criticized the Ultimate Fighting Championship and White for putting on events in the midst of the Coronavirus crisis. He also focused specifically on UFC’s Fight Island idea, proceeding to suggest UFSea as a more imaginative term for the plan.

Adam Martin - May 31, 2020

UFC president Dana White confirmed the promotion will “kick” some extra bonus money to Billy Quarantillo and Spike Carlyle for their fight at UFC Las Vegas. Quarantillo defeated Carlyle via unanimous decisions in one of the most back-and-forth fights on the card, a bout that had fans buzzing as it was action-packed for all 15 minutes. Both Quarantillo and Carlyle were close to finishing the fight at numerous point, with Quarantillo ultimately being able to grind out a victory on the judges’ scorecards.

Adam D Martin - May 31, 2020

UFC president Dana White said he was impressed by welterweight standout Gilbert Burns’ win over Tyson Woodley at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas. Burns picked up the biggest win of his career when he earned a unanimous decision win over Woodley in the main event of the evening. It was the sixth win in a row for Burns, who moved to a perfect 4-0 since moving up to welterweight in 2019, with previous victories over Demian Maia, Gunnar Nelson, and Alexey Kunchenko. After the event, his boss White praised his performance against Woodley.

Adam D Martin - May 31, 2020

UFC president Dana White claimed that the world’s leading mixed martial arts promotion will lose $100 million this year due to not having a live gate. The coronavirus pandemic has ravaged businesses all over the world, and the sports world is no different. The NBA, MLB, and NHL are all currently on hiatus, while the UFC only recently returned to action, albeit with no crowd in attendance. Although the UFC is still pulling in money from its TV deal with ESPN, not having a live gate is apparently costing the organization millions of dollars in lost revenue each event they put on.

Christopher Taylor - May 30, 2020

The feud between UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones and promotional president Dana White continued at this evenings post-fight press conference. Following failed negotiations with the UFC for a proposed super-fight with heavyweight knockout artist Francis Ngannou, ‘Bones’ blasted his employer for not offering up some more cheese.

Tom Taylor - May 29, 2020

Speaking to Dan LeBatard this morning, UFC President Dana White divulged that the promotion’s controversial outfitting deal with Reebok could soon come to an end. The UFC’s partnership with Reebok began in 2015, and was immediately the subject of much debate, as many fans, pundits and fighters felt to little money was ending up in the pockets of the fighters.

Adam Martin - May 29, 2020

UFC president Dana White explained why his organization recently trademarked late-night television host John Oliver’s “UFSEA” phrase. While speaking about the UFC Fight Island on a recent episode of his show, Oliver suggested several comical nicknames for it, including Brawlhamas and UFSEA. It seems like the UFSEA phrase is something White and the other UFC executives liked, and it was revealed earlier this week the UFC had filed trademarks to use the UFSEA phrase for its mixed martial arts events and also on clothing.

Tom Taylor - May 29, 2020

Dana White isn’t backing down on his claim that Jon Jones overreached in the negotiations for a potential fight with Francis Ngannou. A heavyweight scrap between Jones, the UFC light heavyweight champ, and Ngannou, the heavyweight division’s top contender, was dominating the headlines earlier this month. Regrettably, the negotiations for the bout fizzled out. According to White, that’s because Jones asked for an “absurd” amount of money.

Tom Taylor - May 29, 2020

Eddie Hearn is open to a potential heavyweight showdown between boxer Dillian Whyte and UFC star Francis Ngannou. In fact, he’s interested in working with Dana White to promote an entire MMA vs. boxing crossover fight card. Hearn was asked about a potential Ngannou vs. Whyte fight during a recent Instagram live Q&A with fans.

Natasha Hooper - May 29, 2020

Jon Jones has slammed the UFC for shutting down the possibility of a “super fight” against Francis Ngannou. Ngannou’s 20-second knockout of Jairzinho Rozenstruik at UFC 249 caught the attention of the light heavyweight champion. “Bones” has since expressed his interest in a blockbuster bout against the heavyweight “Predator”.

Natasha Hooper - May 29, 2020

MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz has labeled the MMA media as the “weakest people on earth”. The Dominance MMA boss—responsible for athletes such as Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justing Gaethje—has called out the entire MMA media industry. He claimed MMA journalists are “weak” in contrast to the tough sport of mixed martial arts.