UFC News & FeaturesNotes and Quotes from Dana White's UFC 295 Post-Fight Press Conference
Dana White sat down with the media after Saturday’s UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The card that marked the 30th anniversary of the first Ultimate Fighting Championship event delivered a plethora of exciting finishes and two title fights.
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Here is a bullet-point recap of the UFC CEO's interaction with the media:
On whether Jiri
Prochazka was stopped prematurely against Alex
Pereira in their main event meeting: “If [Prochazka] says it's
not, it's definitely not.”
On Pereira's achievements in MMA and whether a light heavyweight bout with Adesanya would be on the cards for the Brazilian: “Incredible... it's incredibly impressive what he's done in a short time... Israel's a weight class below him now but we've seen that. Yeah, Jamahal Hill, when he's ready is the fight that makes sense.”
On Tom Aspinall's victory against Sergei Pavlovich: “Both those guys stepping up, taking it on short notice and both big heavy hitters. That could've gone either way and Aspinall got it.”
On whether Aspinall's victory warrants a title fight in the United Kingdom: “Well with a lot of these guys right now, you're looking at possible... Spain, UK, France, all good stuff, all new territories or new places we haven't been in a while or haven't been. It's all good stuff.”
Whether Stipe Miocic vs. Jon Jones is still the fight to make: “Those two both deserve that fight. That's the fight they want. What I love is that Jon Jones, as soon as he knew how bad it was, went right to LA, got the surgery and he's already in rehab.”
Whether Aspinall will defend the interim title in the meantime: “I don't know, we'll see how that plays out. Took this fight on short notice, obviously looked great. He's got plenty of money to chill out for a minute and we'll see.”
Whether Pereira's power is what separates him from the rest of the pack: “Yeah. And what's crazy too is that the first leg kick hurt him, he knew it, he kept kicking that leg, and that leg was going to be a problem as the fight went on... The kicking power, the punching power, it's nasty.”
Whether fighters should continue taking short notice fight opportunities like Aspinall at UFC 295 and Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 294: "Yeah, hundred percent. When you get to that level. Volkanovski was the No.1 pound-for-pound guy in the world... This is a crazy business and there's very small windows of opportunity. When big opportunities pop up you have to take them. In life period, but especially in this business."
Whether Jones and Miocic will retire after their potential bout: "I had lunch the other day with Stipe. Listen, this is one of those fights you have, the best heavyweight of all time vs. the greatest martial artist of all time. That's the fight they want, that's the fight that makes sense, it's the fight that should happen, I asked Stipe that question (regarding his retirement), and he says 'I don't even know. All I care about right now is Jon Jones. It's the only thing I'm focused on, I want this fight really bad.’”
On Aspinall being a new-generation heavyweight and his potential for greatness: “Yeah, so obviously what we've seen of him is great, but I hear even better things about him. I mean I hear in the gym this guy is an absolute beast, he kicks the s**t out of everybody...obviously what he's shown us so far has been unbelievable. I can't wait to see what's next.”
On Benoit St. Denis as an upcoming talent: “Yeah! I mean obviously tonight was a big night for him. Looked great, he's one of the hottest prospects in Europe right now, period. So, yeah! Excited.”
On Diego Lopes' popularity and potential for stardom: “He's fun, he's exciting. The answer is yes, you can do a lot with him.”
On final locations for Volkanvoski vs. Ilia Topuria and Sean O'Malley vs. Marlon Vera: “Not yet. We would have announced it.”
On Pereira's record of capturing two UFC belts within seven promotional appearances: “It's unbelievable. Like I was saying earlier, him and Israel both come in from a one style and then coming in here and accomplishing what they accomplished. That stuff was happening like twenty years ago. Now to come in and do it in this day and age and this era, is incredibly impressive.”
Whether he was aware of Aspinall's inability to train due to a strained back muscle ahead of UFC 295: “No. Not until right this second. It's impressive. See his guys didn't even tell me that in the Octagon.”
On former POTUS Donald Trump and other guests attending the 30th-anniversary event: “All those guys are fight fans. Tucker Carlson's first time. I always tell people, ‘Nobody walks into a UFC event live and then walks out and says 'Yeah. I don't want to ever see one of these again.’ He was just telling me when he was leaving, 'This is unbelievable, I loved it. I definitely want to see more.’”
On details regarding a potential event inside the Las Vegas Sphere: “Mexican Independence Day, we are booked for the Sphere and we are already working on the creative of the show...it's going to be a massive challenge... Remember that I said this to you tonight, I'm going to put on the greatest live combat sports show anybody's ever seen.”
Whether Conor McGregor is confirmed to take on Michael Chandler at UFC 300: “He is definitely chomping at the bit to fight again. There is no date.”
On what's next for Prochazka: “He just fought 25 minutes ago. I have no plans for him right now. He needs to go take some time off. His leg’s busted up. We'll figure out what's next.”
Whether a UK stadium show is on the cards now that the UFC has two English Champions: “Yeah, I mean I could. I love the O2. We'll see how he progresses and what happens. It's pretty awesome to have a heavyweight champion from the UK.”
On his interest in Deontay Wilder competing in mixed martial arts: “I like Deontay, we have a good relationship. It's interesting. You never see this shit happening, you never see this, boxers going ‘Oh, I want to come over there and fight in the UFC.’ So, we'll see what happens.”
On the absence of trash talk between the main event competitors: “Loved it. I was talking about Aspinall and Sergei. Their exchange when they were being read the rules, their exchange after the fight...it's actually kind of cool when that happens, and it makes the staredowns much easier on me.”
Whether UFC Fight Pass will stream boxing events: “Well, I mean right now I like Tom Loeffler, I like his show, I like his matchmaking. HBO's out, Showtime's out and I'm going to use UFC Fight pass to sort of be... I'm going to be the network.”
On Tom Aspinall's chances in a potential bout with Jon Jones: “Well, let's see how Jon heals. Let's see how he looks when he comes back from this injury, obviously, he's going to fight Stipe, let's see how that goes. Jon Jones is so good, you can doubt him, you can not like him. The guys never lost a fight, moved up to heavyweight and made it look really easy. I don't know the answer to that. Gotta see how everything plays out.”
On rumors regarding the Islam Makhachev vs. Charles Oliveira rematch being finalized: “Yeah, no. We don't have anything right now, maybe in the summer. That was never a fight, by the way, that was never a fight.”
On the possibility of UFC co-promoting events with organizations such as the Professional Fighters League and Bellator. “No, I'm not interested in that...We got one, two and three, they can't sell a f**king gate. Talk to me. It's a stupid question, but go ahead, talk to me. Why would I do that?... Why should I do that?"
On the chances of Adesanya vs. Pereira at light heavyweight: “Listen, anything is possible. Alex moved up a weight class, I don't see Izzy moving up a weight class... We'll see when Izzy comes back. What he wants to do, where his head is... Whatever he wanted to do, if he wanted to move up and fight Pereira again, we would probably do it... I wouldn't say that we would never do it.”
On the possibility of Pereira defending his light heavyweight strap in Brazil: “Hell yes, he will. I've been talking to you guys a lot about Brazil. We're in a big rebuilding phase down in Brazil right now and obviously, you know having another champion now is a big deal, popular guy. So, tonight was definitely a big night for Brazil.”
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