UFC News: UFC President Dana White and Ronda Rousey's ex-boyfriend engage in a public spat
What's the story?
UFC President Dana White has a reputation of being a straight shooter that speaks his mind, regardless of who has the misfortune of being in the firing line.
The latest victim of that is former UFC Heavyweight Brendan Schaub, whose opinions on his Below the Belt podcast about kickboxers and fighters from other striking disciplines not realizing how tough it is to make the adjustment to MMA didn't go down well with the UFC supremo.
In case you didn't know...
A clip of Brendan Schaub detailing how kickboxers and boxers overlook the technical adjustments they have to make when crossing over into MMA was posted by UFC Middleweight Isreal Adesanya on his Instagram account.
The comments from Schaub may have been ill-timed as Adesanya, who boasts of a 79-4 record in kickboxing and a 6-1 record in boxing, dismantled Brad Tavares just this past weekend at the TUF 27 Finale with a masterclass in MMA striking.
The heart of the matter
Dana White, who's always had a testy relationship with Brendan Schaub, didn't take too kindly to his comments and teed off on him in the comments section of the post.
However, Schaub cleared up his stance by first addressing Adesanya and assuring him that he wasn't speaking about him but about Gokhan Saki, another kickboxing phenom who got knocked out cold at UFC 226 by Khalil Rountree, before turning his attention to Dana White.
The bad blood between Dana White and Brendan Schaub has been well documented in the past, with Schaub publicly criticising the UFC on a number of occasions. There is also added subtext to their relationship with Schaub having once dated WWE Superstar Ronda Rousey - who was a favorite of Dana White when she fought in the UFC.
What's next?
Israel Adesanya, for his part, may have misconstrued Schaub's comments as being directed towards him when they were, most likely, directed at Gokhan Saki. His next opponent inside the Octagon is yet to be determined.
As for the relationship between Brendan Schaub and Dana White, I think one can safely say that it's not likely to improve in the near future given how much both men seem to resent one another.