Dana White spoke to the media about all the big talking points leading into this weekend’s UFC 161 event and you can read our keynotes below and scroll down to watch the video for yourselves.
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– White acknowledges that it’s unfortunate that injuries have impacted this weekend’s fight card, but says these things happen and he’s still happy to be able to bring live fights to Winnepeg for the first time.
– Dana didn’t think it’d be fair to have brought Chael Sonnen in as a late replacement again to fight ‘Shogun’ Rua on this card given that Sonnen’s coming off two losses and wants to continue fighting.
– He confirms Jon Jones fights Alexander Gustafsson in Toronto this September.
– JDS Vs Velasquez for October in Houston, but not at the Dallas Cowboy’s statium.
– Now that the UFC is on free TV in Mexico he hopes they can hold an event there soon – though this year is out of the question.
– Dana thinks Dan Henderson and Rashad Evans wrestling will cancel each other out and so this should end up being a stand-up battle. He thinks both fighters need a win ‘bad’ tomorrow night and it’d be tough for the loser to ever work his way back into title contention.
– Dana’s done talking about MMA being legalized in New York, he sounds fed up with the whole situation.
– White reveals that Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate’s bad blood has continued on the TUF show and it’s got to the stage where he’s not even sure if some of what’s going on will be aired on TV or not. “It’s pure f*cking mayhem everyday,” he says, claiming that even the two coaches camps don’t like each other.
Beyond that he says the male and female dynamic in the TUF house seems to be going ok, though he’s not privy to everything that’s going on so he’s not sure if there’s any romances blossoming!
– He isn’t sure yet if Roy Nelson is going to sign a new deal or not.
– White’s excited for the upcoming Jose Aldo Vs Anthony Pettis title fight.
– White believes Josh Barnett’s stand-up is better than Mir’s, but he’s most intrigued to see what would happen if the fight hits the mat given how skilled both men are there.
– All the fighters Dana has talked too seem to think that Chris Weidman will defeat Anderson Silva, while the media seems to think Silva will continue his winning steak.
– White thinks that his strong stance against TRT may be helping influencing other commissions to take a similar stance.
– White jokes that Roy Nelson is good everywhere apart from personal grooming and his weight. He thinks people like him because he’s always willing to fight and goes out to finish the fight. He adds that fans probably like him because he doesn’t.
If he wins a rematch with Fabricio Werdum is a possibility.
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