Movsar Evloev should almost certainly be the number one contender for the UFC featherweight championship after his win at UFC London – but why was Dana White seemingly not willing to commit to that?
As we know, Movsar Evloev defeated Lerone Murphy at UFC London in the main event of the evening. While many felt like Murphy did enough to win the fight, or that a draw at the absolute minimum was the fair outcome, Dana White’s reaction in the aftermath seemed to suggest that there’s still an opening for Jean Silva.
Beyond the fact that there seems to be a distinct lack of respect for the body of work done by Evloev and Murphy in the last couple of years, it just feels like Dana White is fed up with criticism, he’s fed up with his any kind of backlash, and he may even be getting a little bit fed up of his position in the company.
In the post-fight press conference, these were Dana White’s remarks.
The Dana White problem
“Possibly, yeah,” White told reporters of an Evloev title shot at the UFC Fight Night 270 post-fight press conference. “I’m not even thinking about that. The fight just ended. But yeah, obviously he’s in a great position.”
Dana was also asked about Jean Silva possibly getting the call.
“We’ll have to see,” White said. “When we announce it, you’ll know it’s true.”
On the possibility of the result being questionable, or perhaps even controversial, Dana had the following to say.
“I think one of the judges had it probably a draw,” White said. “I don’t think there’s any controversy.”
Quotes via MMA Junkie
Dana has a lot of things to answer for these days from strange booking decisions to the politics of the UFC White House to the strength of the card to the age old question of fighter pay. Now, with Eddie Hearn being in a working relationship with Tom Aspinall and Netflix putting on a pretty huge MMA card in a couple of months, the complaints are getting louder – and rightfully so.
White needs to answer fire with fire, because right now, the motivation and passion for the sport just seems to be dwindling both in the fanbase and in the boss himself.