As always, UFC president Dana White took the media’s questions following UFC 236. Below are some of the takeaways from the post-fight press conference following one of the most spectacular events of the year.
- The UFC decided to go with two “Fight of the Night” awards and not award any “Performance of the Night” bonuses. As you’d expect, Dustin Poirier vs. Max Holloway and Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum were both named FOTN.
- White says he wants Holloway to move back to featherweight after his loss to Poirier. While Holloway is probably the biggest and rangiest featherweight in the UFC, Poirier dwarfed him inside the Octagon.
- Poirier is set to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov in September to unify the lightweight titles.
- The UFC hopes to have Adesanya fight Robert Whittaker in a title unification bout in Australia later this year.
- The UFC plans to continue its expansion globally, and is looking for the property to build a Performance Institute in Mexico.
- White says the promotion was in discussion with the PPV providers to re-up their deal, but ESPN made a better offer and that’s why the UFC decided to go with them. He also mentioned that the ESPN+ app will have the option for fans to order the next PPV card on it.
- A reporter said Max Griffin alleged that Zelim Imadaev attacked him during fight week. White says his guys were on top of it, but also said this is the kind of thing that happens in MMA.
- White said the UFC security has done a good job mitigating fights in the past, despite mentioning the Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov situation last year, as well as the McGregor bus incident.
- According to White, he believes UFC 236 was the night that Adesanya became a star, and said his next fight with Whittaker should be massive.
- White said that Adesanya reminds him of McGregor in the way he’s quickly become a global superstar for the promotion. He also said that Adesanya has never turned down a fight that the UFC has offered him.
- White said he scored the Poirier vs. Holloway fight for Poirier.
- The UFC has not had anyone from its medical staff evaluate Tony Ferguson. He once again mentioned that Ferguson turned down the fight with Holloway, saying Poirier will get the fight against Nurmagomedov unless Poirier gets injured himself.
- White said he was impressed with the performances of Nikita Krylov and Khalil Rountree, who both picked up wins on the main card.
- A reporter asked White about a possible Adesanya vs. Jon Jones fight. White said Adesanya needs to focus on Whittaker, but if Adesanya wins that fight he said the UFC would be open to the Jones fight.
- White said the Daniel Cormier vs. Brock Lesnar rumors aren’t true. He said no contract has been signed yet, but did say that Lesnar wants to return to the Octagon at some point, and he said Cormier deserves that fight. White also said that he would like to see Cormier fight Jones for a third time and Stipe Miocic in a rematch before he retires.
