Dana White was less than happy after last night’s decision-heavy UFC Fight Night 186 card, to the extent that he didn’t even show up for the post-fight press conference in Las Vegas.
Not only that, but in a complete break from tradition there was only one ‘Performance OF The Night’ award handed out instead of the usual two, which suggested that it was not just one fight in particular that had met with his disapproval.
Nonetheless, heavyweight headliner Ciryl Gane was the fighter who did get singled out by white post-fight.
“Everybody’s talking about Ciryl being this big contender, but look at what Francis Ngannou did to Jairzinho,” White wrote to Yahoo! Sports Kevin Iole in the aftermath of the event. “This was his coming out party and his chance to show the world who he is. He won, but let’s leave it at that. He won.”
It perhaps a bit unfair to only focus his criticism on Gane. After all, he was simply taking advantage of Rozenstruik’s complete lack of willingness to engage with him, allowing the Frenchman to cruise to victory from the outside using his speed and reach advantage to outstrike him, without ever going all out for a finish.
However, White was not the only person to be critical of the fight, with soon-to-be heavyweight contender Jon Jones also appearing to be less than impressed with the main event.
“These boys better get used to pushing the pace, all this standing around ain’t gonna fly when daddy comes home,” Jones wrote on Twitter.
Backstage after the bout, Gane took the criticism on the chin, but was still content to have got another win under his belt, taking his undefeated record to 8-0.
“I can understand that,” Ciryl Gane told reporters at the post-fight presser. “(Dana White) is the boss, and he wants to make money, so you want the guy marketable. The people want the show. They want the big KO. So yes, I don’t finish the fight. I tried, but I don’t do it. I can understand that (criticism), but I’m OK.
