UFC CEO Dana White has called out a reporter. This is due to the reporter suggesting that the UFC were unhappy about Belal Muhammad becoming champion.
Belal Muhammad became the new UFC Welterweight Champion at UFC 304. This was when he was able to put on a dominant performance to clinch a unanimous decision. This fight between Belal and Edwards was a rematch from 2021 when their fight ended in a no contest. The fight was stopped when Leon Edwards accidentally poked Belal Muhammad in the eye and Belal was no longer able to continue.
Dana White Response
After the performance, Dana White would go on to criticize the card for not being exciting enough. Dana White has had a habit lately of increasing bonuses and the bonus got increased to $100,000 for this card. However, White announced he was withdrawing this policy of increasing bonuses at press conferences. Dana White doing this, created a narrative that Dana White was not happy with Belal Muhammad winning the title. However, Dana White has come out and denied this being the case.
“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 [lost].’ That’s the furthest thing from the truth,” Dana White revealed.
The perception was that Dana White was not happy due to Belal Muhammad being a Palestinian-American. One reporter alleged that the UFC had prevented Belal from going and bringing the Palestinian flag into the octagon. However, Dana White has denied that this was the case. Dana White has also claimed he had not been aware of this being the case. Dana has gone on to allege that the reporter was trying to get him to say something to be able to get a headline. The CEO of the UFC was able to keep his cool as he was able to go and shut the reporter down when he said;
“That guy was baiting me, like a lot of these media guys do. And I’m at the press conference. We just had a fight. First of all, I couldn’t even understand a word he was saying, number one. Number two, I didn’t even understand what he was saying,” White said
White on Donald Trump
Dana has been criticized before for his views. Dana White is a supporter of former president Donald Trump and this has put him in the firing line from sponsors. White has also spoken at the Republican National Convention three times in 2016, 2020 and 2024. He has endorsed Trump for the presidency this year while also praising Trump for his reaction to the assassination attempt.
Dana White has previously recalled a sponsor demanding that White remove a video from his social media which showed him supporting Donald Trump. Dana White refused to do so and stood his ground against the sponsor. White also stated at this year’s Republican conference that he was not a puppet. White was supporting Trump due to Trump being a better candidate for the presidency than Kamala Harris. That is why Dana White has stood by his comments made at the UFC 304 presser by calling out the reporter.
“No, you’re a douchebag. You could’ve pulled anybody from the [UFC] PR team aside and said, ‘I have a question, ‘Why was this [flag pulled], whatever.’ And if the PR team said, ‘Well, we couldn’t.’…then you say, ‘Hey…..’ No, that guy is that…guy. Good try trying to… defend him,” White revealed
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
