"I was in a bad mood" - Dana White addresses being allegedly upset after Belal Muhammad's title win, reveals detail about latter's social media draw
UFC CEO Dana White recently spoke out about supposedly being furious over Belal Muhammad's title win. White also discussed Muhammad's social media presence.
The promotion's most recent pay-per-view event featured a welterweight title showdown between Leon Edwards and Muhammad. The two squared off at UFC 304 in Manchester, England, and many were surprised by the outcome of the main event.
Edwards was the favorite for his title bout against Muhammad and many predicted that the British fighter would maintain the dominance he showed in their first encounter at UFC Vegas 21. However, three years later, the title challenger controlled most of the fight. Muhammad won unanimously after demonstrating superior competitiveness on the feet and dominating most of the grappling sequences.
In a recent interview with Kevin Iole, White denied claims that he wasn't pleased with Muhammad's victory, saying:
''Let me say this to be fair, I was tired. I was in a bad mood. I was, you know, at that press conference, and you know it depends on when you catch me... Everybody thinks that I don't like Belal, stuff posted that like Dana is going to commit suicide right now because Leon, that's the furthest thing from the truth.''
White also praised the Palestinian-American for delivering the numbers. He threw out the stats, saying that Muhammad's belt wrap video received 22 million views, 14 million more than the reigning heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.
“To put it into perspective, the belt wrap for Tom Aspinall did 8.2 million views. Belal’s belt wrap did 22 million views! ...so for people to think that people don't care about Belal Muhammad, this right here proves that's not true.''
Check out Dana White's comments below (11:43):
Muhammad took to X in response to White's remarks, writing:
''Main event Muhammad''
Dana White credits Belal Muhammad's victory to Khabib Nurmagomedov
Before UFC 304, Belal Muhammad had been training with Khabib Nurmagomedov's team in preparation for his title fight against Leon Edwards. All of that came in handy as Muhammad defeated Edwards and became the new welterweight champion.
During the post-fight press conference, UFC CEO Dana White credited Nurmagomedov for Muhammad's spectacular victory at UFC 304, highlighting the latter's close relationship with the Dagestani camp.
'It was not a barnburner... I know Belal’s been training with Khabib, so his performance was what you would expect.''
Check out Dana White's comments below: