Following last night’s UFC 187 event a clearly happy Dana White spoke to both Ariel Helwani and Megan Olivi about the big talking points in the aftermatch of an entertaining night of fights.
Read our keynotes below and scroll down to watch the videos for yourselves.
– White anticipated the main event going the way that it did with Anthony Johnson coming out strong to begin with on the feet, but then Daniel Cormier using his wrestling to his advantage as the fight went on.
– He doesn’t want to commit to who Cormier will now defend his belt against first, admitting that he just can’t say for sure what’s going to happen with troubled former champ Jon Jones yet.
– Chris Weidman Vs Vitor Belfort also went pretty much the way White had expected. He thought Belfort looked good in the early stages of the fight and was loose with his striking, but Weidman has an unbelievable chin and was able to withstand it.
– The UFC now has a tough decision to make on who gets to fight Weidman next, with White revealing that Luke Rockhold was already campaigning hard to get the next shot saying that he’ll put on the kind of fight that fans want to see, while Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souzaa’s manager also called White to let him know that his fighter is ready to throw down too.
As for Belfort, White is certain that he will fight again.
– Naturally White was impressed with Donald Cerrone’s win and believes he will be the next lightweight title contender after amassing an eight fight winning streak.
However, White also made a point of emphasizing how much he respects Cerrone’s opponent John Makdessi, both for taking the fight on short notice and putting on the show he did, eating a lot of big shots and staying in the pocket engaging until his jaw broke.
– As with pretty much everybody else who saw it, Dana White was marvelling at Andrei Arlovski’s performance in a hell-raising scrap with Travis Browne, but says it was even more remarkable because just a few hours before the bout it was still uncertain whether ‘The Pitbull’ would be able to compete as he’d injured his calf the night before.
White says even though both doctors and the UFC brass themselves gave him opportunities to pull out of the bout, Arlovski was adamant that he was going to compete, and it paid off for him.
– White wouldn’t be drawn on whether Arlovski could now be given a title shot, but he didn’t rule it out.
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