Dana White's Contender Series
Dana White White Talks Epic Night Of DWCS, McGregor vs Chandler, And Pimblett vs Ferguson
UFC CEO Dana White Fielded Questions From The Media Following Week 8 Of Dana White’s Contender Series
In seven seasons of Dana White’s Contender Series there has never been a night like there was in season seven week eight.
There were two outstanding first round finishes along with two absolute bell-to-bell battles. UFC CEO Dana White was in awe of the performances by the athletes involved in those bouts, even the two fighters who lost decisions, and he decided to offer contracts to Vinicius Oliveira, Ernesta Kareckaite, Carli Judice, Danny Silva, Angel Pacheco, and Danny Barlow.
White opened up the press conference by saying that week eight was “awesome and – almost perfect.”
He applauded Oliveira, who came into his bout a big favorite and looked every bit of one for as long as the bout lasted. Oliveira got a walkoff knockout in the first round and White’s smile couldn’t have been bigger when speaking about the bantamweight prospect.
CHECK OUT THE RESULTS FROM DWCS WEEK 8
“He came in and did what you’re supposed to do, especially when you’re a two to one favorite,” White told the media. “He delivered what everybody expected of him. If that isn’t on Sportscenter Top 10 then there was some crazy s*** going on tonight.”
The UFC boss then turned his attention to the flyweight showdown between Kareckaite and Judice. Both women stood toe-to-toe for 15 minutes, displaying technique, output, while delivering punishment. Kareckaite and Judice shattered the women’s significant strikes record in DWCS and White couldn’t have been more excited about the bout.
“It was almost like an agreement,” White said when recalling the never back down attitude of both Kareckaite and Judice.
White added that he was impressed that Judice took the fight on ten days’ notice and even though he doesn’t typically give out contract to fighters who lose their bouts, there was no way that they could let someone “that badass” leave without a contract.
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Silva and Angel had the difficult task of following up the incredible fight between Kareckaite and Judice, but somehow, they managed to shine just as bright.
The two featherweights destroyed the overall significant strikes record for DWCS and did it by never letting off the gas. Silva dropped Angel early but that woke up the talented striker and turned their bout into a slugfest the rest of the way. Silva hurt Angel to the body and appeared to seriously injure Angel’s ear, but there was no quit in Angel and he didn’t stop giving it his all until the fight reached the final horn. In the end, the unanimous decision went to Silva, but White didn’t see a loser in the bout.
“I go in the back after the fight to tell the kid [Angel] it was an awesome fight and that he was going to get his win money and his ear is hanging off and he’s crying. He could give a f*** about the win money,” White said. “Angel says to me that ‘I want to be in the UFC so bad, I said, ‘Dude you’re right up my alley.’”
“He wanted to win this fight so bad, how bad do you think he’ll want to win his first UFC fight?”
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Three of the four athletes from those two bouts had to go directly to the hospital, making it a strange moment where White wasn’t able to actually announce to the fighters that they made it to the UFC. To White, that’s a testament to those athletes and how much heart and toughness they brought into the Octagon.
“You either have that dog in you or you don’t, and both the girls and the guys have truckloads of it,” White said. “Tonight, signing both of the people who lost is what this show is all about.”
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The final fight of the night was between Memphis standouts Danny Barlow and Raheam Forest. Both fighters looked crisp and started fast, but it was Barlow who landed his trademark left hand that put an early end to the fight.
Barlow celebrated with a backflip as his knockout win was announced at the UFC APEX and, just like that, White was impressed.
“I think he’s kind of wild but I didn’t get to see enough of him out there,” White said after Barlow’s 79-second KO win. “He’s super athletic and super explosive. If he’s dialed in, he could be one of those guys.”
Conor McGregor vs Michael Chandler
“I got nothing on either one of those guys right now,” White said. “I’ve been saying for a while that next year is when Conor is going to fight but if Chandler gets antsy, we’ll figure something out.”
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“Belal Muhammad has a fight and we’ll announce it soon,” White said with a smile.
On The Light Heavyweight Title Picture
The winner of Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira will most likely fight former champion Jamahal Hill, according to White.
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“Alot of people think that Paddy is unproven and this is a fight where Tony isn’t in deep water like he’s been in his last fights,” White said. “It’s a fun interesting fight with two fun and interesting characters.”
White also added that he’s felt like Ferguson has looked good in his fights until the end, where his opponent capitalized on a mistake or made something special happen. When asked if he thought that this fight with Pimblett could be the end of Ferguson’s time in the UFC, White said we’ll just have to see what happens.
“I would let Tony make that decision, but if he lost to Paddy, he would probably look at calling it,” White said. “He’s had a great career. He’s done a lot of things and had a lot of great things. It would probably be a wrap from him. Probably.”
