Dana White defends Ronda Rousey for walking off stage at UFC 205 staredown

Last week, following the ceremonial UFC 205 weigh-ins, the UFC surprised New York fight fans with a surprise staredown between UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes and former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, who will be returning to the Octagon for the first time in over a year at UFC 207, where she hopes to reclaim the women’s bantamweight title.

While the staredown was certainly intense, it was the post-stare down exchange between UFC President Dana White and Ronda Rousey that caught the attention of many fans.

When the staredown ended, Rousey went to walk off stage. White grabbed her arm to keep her on-stage, while in the meantime UFC commentator Joe Rogan was interviewing Amanda Nunes. Rousey yanked her arm from White’s grip and walked off-stage, appearing to leave fans without an interview.

In a recent interview with Fox Sports however, White defended the move from Rousey:

“First of all, she was never supposed to speak and neither was Amanda,” White explained after UFC 205 concluded on Saturday night. “My production guys screwed that thing up. It made Ronda look bad again like she just stormed off.

“They’re not supposed to do an interview. They were supposed to go up there, square off, and they’re both supposed to walk away.”

“So they squared off and then I was getting them to face forward and I was waiting for somebody to bring Amanda’s belt. You know how we do that? To put the belt and then you guys can take the pictures of them moving forward. I grab her and turn around and (Joe) Rogan is interviewing (Amanda),”

“We’re not perfect all the time.”

The fight between Rousey and Nunes will headline UFC 207 on December 30th, which is being marketed as the UFC’s New Year’s Eve card. The fight will take place over a year after Rousey suffered the first defeat of her career at the hands of Holly Holm in the main event of UFC 194 back in November of 2015.

Do you think Rousey will be able to reclaim her women’s bantamweight championship? Give us your predictions for the fight in the comments section below PENN Nation!