Dana White Says Main Event Referee 'Shouldn't Have Been In There'
Dana White Says Main Event Referee 'Shouldn't Have Been In There'
UFC President Dana White reacted to the main event of UFC 208 Holly Holm versus Germaine de Randamie and he was unhappy with the referee.
Dana White is known for being a man who wears his heart on his sleeve, and Saturday night was no different as he reacted backstage to UFC 208 just moments after the show closed at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The UFC president was speaking to Megan Olivi for UFC.com, and from the moment the interview begun, his dissatisfaction with the event was evident to see. After joking the "plane ride home" was going to be the highlight of the evening, White spoke about his frustration with the main event official who refereed the women's featherweight title fight between Germaine de Randamie and Holly Holm and said that this was a decision taken out of his hands.
"I feel like the referees from New York shouldn't be reffing a main event fight--they don't have enough experience," White said bluntly. "He shouldn't have been in there, but again, we don't make those decisions, the commission does. That was a bad decision by them, and if that guy takes a point then it's a draw. [It's] the only possible way this night could be more s*it.
"I mean everyone was blowing me up on the phone [asking] what's wrong with this ref? What's wrong with ref? What's wrong with this ref is he doesn't have big fight experience like that and none of these guys have that in this state yet. They should've had one of the experienced main event refs in there reffing that main event."
Asked whether he was left satisfied with how the de Randamie and Holm fight played out, White's answer was short, blunt and telling as he answered with an emotionless face staring into the distance. He did, however, have more to say on what would be next for both women.
"No," White responded when asked if he was satisfied with the main event. "Yeah, [Cristiane 'Cyborg' Justino] is next [for de Randamie]. She's got some hurdles to get over of course first, but like I said earlier in the week, things are looking good for her. I think Holly will go to 135 again. We got the next few [events] planned, [but] we just got a lot of work to do forgetting tonight."
One man White was slightly more pleased with was Ronaldo Jacare Souza. The Brazilian was the only fighter on Saturday evening to win via a finish and he was rewarded with a $50,000 bonus for troubles. While happy to dish out the money to Souza, he wasn't quite so forthcoming with where he expected the Brazilian to go from here.
"The thing is with Jacare, he came in tonight against a very dangerous fighter who was ranked like No. 13," White said. "Jacare was in a title position and he treated him like he was ranked No. 13 which was exactly what he needed to do.
"He did it in spectacular fashion, he looked amazing and props to him, he won $50,000 tonight. Jacare will fight anyone, you know. The problem is right now is that everybody has a fight or guys are injured and that's why he's not been able to get a fight. But yeah mad respect for him for going in there and doing what he did."
The UFC president was speaking to Megan Olivi for UFC.com, and from the moment the interview begun, his dissatisfaction with the event was evident to see. After joking the "plane ride home" was going to be the highlight of the evening, White spoke about his frustration with the main event official who refereed the women's featherweight title fight between Germaine de Randamie and Holly Holm and said that this was a decision taken out of his hands.
"I feel like the referees from New York shouldn't be reffing a main event fight--they don't have enough experience," White said bluntly. "He shouldn't have been in there, but again, we don't make those decisions, the commission does. That was a bad decision by them, and if that guy takes a point then it's a draw. [It's] the only possible way this night could be more s*it.
"I mean everyone was blowing me up on the phone [asking] what's wrong with this ref? What's wrong with ref? What's wrong with this ref is he doesn't have big fight experience like that and none of these guys have that in this state yet. They should've had one of the experienced main event refs in there reffing that main event."
Asked whether he was left satisfied with how the de Randamie and Holm fight played out, White's answer was short, blunt and telling as he answered with an emotionless face staring into the distance. He did, however, have more to say on what would be next for both women.
"No," White responded when asked if he was satisfied with the main event. "Yeah, [Cristiane 'Cyborg' Justino] is next [for de Randamie]. She's got some hurdles to get over of course first, but like I said earlier in the week, things are looking good for her. I think Holly will go to 135 again. We got the next few [events] planned, [but] we just got a lot of work to do forgetting tonight."
One man White was slightly more pleased with was Ronaldo Jacare Souza. The Brazilian was the only fighter on Saturday evening to win via a finish and he was rewarded with a $50,000 bonus for troubles. While happy to dish out the money to Souza, he wasn't quite so forthcoming with where he expected the Brazilian to go from here.
"The thing is with Jacare, he came in tonight against a very dangerous fighter who was ranked like No. 13," White said. "Jacare was in a title position and he treated him like he was ranked No. 13 which was exactly what he needed to do.
"He did it in spectacular fashion, he looked amazing and props to him, he won $50,000 tonight. Jacare will fight anyone, you know. The problem is right now is that everybody has a fight or guys are injured and that's why he's not been able to get a fight. But yeah mad respect for him for going in there and doing what he did."