"The kid fought his a** off" - Dana White reacts to Canelo Alvarez's upset loss to Dmitry Bivol
Despite the UFC pay-per-view offering colliding with a Canelo Alvarez-led boxing event, Dana White took his time to watch the Mexican take on Dmitry Bivol in a WBA light heavyweight title bout.
The UFC president shared his opinion on the fight after the conclusion of both events:
"I mean it was good fight. I mean, the kid fought his a** off and... Yeah, I mean I don’t know what to really say, it was a good fight."
According to the UFC president, the rematch could be "big."
Watch Dana White talk about Canelo Alvarez vs. Dmitry Bivol at 0:42 of the video:
The Alvarez fight went on at the same time as the UFC women’s strawweight and men's lightweight title fights. Carla Esparza captured the women’s UFC gold via a split-decision win over Rose Namajunas. In the main event, Charles Oliveira submitted Justin Gaethje in the first round with a rear-naked choke.
Boxing fans witnessed Alvarez go the full twelve rounds against Dmitry Bivol. The Russian earned a unanimous decision win, putting the Mexican boxer’s ambitions of unifying the light heayweight titles on hold.
It's no secret that some of the UFC's top athletes want to try their hand at boxing. Kamaru Usman and Francis Ngannou have been pursuing boxing bouts against Canelo Alvarez and Tyson Fury, respectively.
Canelo Alvarez is willing to rematch Dmitry Bivol
Despite his loss, Alvarez is willing to test himself against Bivol for a second time. In his most recent Instagram post, the Mexican superstar wrote:
"Boxing is like that, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, but always with your head held high. I stayed with the great fight that we offered to the people. We will fight again and we will win again."
The defeat may come as a surprise to some boxing fans, as Alvarez hadn’t lost since 2013. He was on a 15-match winning streak, having grabbed the WBA, WBO, WBC, the Ring, and IBO welterweight titles in the process.
However, his loss to Bivol put an end to his winning streak. A potential rematch with Bivol could be expected by fans as the Mexican boxer met so demanding opposition after a long time. Only time will tell if it will come to fruition.