Following last night’s UFC 186 event, Dana White spoke to Ariel Helwani about the night’s big talking points.
Check out our keynotes below and scroll down to watch the interview for yourselves.
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– White gave Demetrious Johnson praise, admiring how “unbelievably well rounded” and “technically sound” he is, but also gave Kyoji Horiguchi credit for making the flyweight champion work hard for his win all the way to the end.
– He thinks Johnson’s will eventually become a real star and draw for the UFC will come, pointing out that it took the likes of Chuck Liddell and particularly Anderson Silva a long time to win over fans too.
– White wasn’t overflowing with praise for Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson tonight after his decision win over Fabio Maldonado, commenting that Rampage had “been gone a long time and this is the big leagues,” while steering clear of agreeing that the former champion still has a chance to make a run in the 205lb division by giving a non-committal, “I don’t know, we’ll see,” answer.
Perhaps his lack of enthusiasm stems partially from the fact that it’s unclear whether ‘Rampage’ will remain in the UFC, or if his ongoing contract dispute with Bellator will throw a spanner in the works.
“I think he’s definitely got some legal troubles ahead of him,” White predicted.
– Finally, the UFC President called Michael Bisping “a fun fighter” and added, “if he had knockout power he’d be unstoppable.”
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