5 UFC main events that Dana White absolutely hated
UFC president Dana White can often be a hard man to please. In the cutthroat world of the UFC, once you reach the top, it’s not enough to win your fights – you’ve got to win in style to really impress. Over the years, we’ve seen a number of big-time UFC main events that, for some reason or another, White simply hated.
This isn’t always the case – there have been occasions when White has actually defended a main event and its participants against the scorn of the media. However, when White’s ire is aimed at one of his own main event fights, it’s always shocking – and pretty entertaining – to see.
With this in mind, here are five UFC main events that Dana White absolutely hated.
#5 Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero (UFC 248)
Israel Adesanya’s UFC middleweight title defense against Yoel Romero at UFC 248 was expected to be an explosive, exciting encounter pitting two of the best 185lbers in the world against one another. Sadly, the fight failed to live up to expectations.
Adesanya and Romero largely put on a staring contest, with only glancing blows landing throughout. ‘The Last Stylebender’ would win a unanimous decision mostly based his leg kicks, and nobody in attendance at the T-Mobile Arena was happy.
Unsurprisingly, that included UFC president Dana White, who seemed disgusted with the fight’s lack of action.
In the direct aftermath of the event, White went on a frank tirade, largely laying the blame for the lacklustre fight at Romero’s doorstep.
White suggested that Romero should’ve come out “like a bat out of hell” and attacked Adesanya, and instead he was simply “acting like he was trying to fight”.
Fascinatingly, the UFC President also admitted that the promotion’s matchmakers weren’t keen on making the clash in the first place given Romero was on a two-fight losing streak – but the “goofy fan” in him meant that he pushed it through.
In hindsight, White admitted, they probably should’ve waited to book Adesanya against Paulo Costa, who was the top contender and injured at the time.
In the end, the UFC president was simply angry with the fight overall, although he also stated that “you can literally put in one hand sh*tty fights that we’ve done”. Unsurprisingly, after this disappointing fight, Romero departed the UFC for Bellator MMA.