Dana White Clashes With Reporter Over Belal Muhammad – ‘You’re A Douchebag’
Dana White called out a reporter as they suggested that the UFC were unhappy with Belal Muhammad becoming champion.
Belal defeated Leon Edwards at UFC 304 to become the UFC Welterweight Champion. It was a dominant performance as Belal won a unanimous decision. It was the perfect response to their 2021 clash, which ended in a contest. This was after Edwards accidentally poked Belal in the eye as he could no longer continue.
White Reacts
After the performance, White criticized the card, saying it was not exciting enough. The CEO of the UFC then withdrew his policy of increasing fighter bonuses at press conferences. However, this created the narrative that White was not happy with Belal’s winning, something he denied.
“Let me say this: to be fair, I was tired. I was in a bad mood. I was, you know, at that press conference, and you know it depends on when you catch me… Everybody thinks that I don’t like Belal, stuff posted that like, ‘Dana is going to commit suicide right now because Leon [lost].’ That’s the furthest thing from the truth,” White said
The perception was that White was not pleased due to Belal being a Palestinian-American. One reporter alleged that the UFC prevented the fighter from bringing a Palestinian flag into the Octagon. White denied this was the case, claiming he had not been aware of this. Dana alleged that the reporter was trying to get him to say something which could have caused a headline. The CEO of the UFC kept his cool as he shut down the reporter.
“That guy was baiting me, like a lot of these media guys do. And I’m at the press conference. We just had a fight. First of all, I couldn’t even understand a word he was saying, number one. Number two, I didn’t even understand what he was saying,” White said
White On Trump
White has been criticized for his views. His support for Donald Trump has put him in the firing line from sponsors. White spoke at the Republican National Convention three times: in 2016, 2020, and this year. He endorsed Trump for the presidency while also praising Trump for his reaction to the assassination attempt.
White previously recalled a sponsor demanding that he remove a video from his social media which showed his support for Trump. White refused to do so as he stood his ground. [And] White also said at this year’s RNC that he was not a puppet. He backed Trump as a better candidate for the Presidency than Kamala Harris. That is why Dana stood by his comments at the UFC 304 presser by calling out the reporter.
“No, you’re a douchebag. You could’ve pulled anybody from the [UFC] PR team aside and said, ‘I have a question, ‘Why was this [flag pulled], whatever.’ And if the PR team said, ‘Well, we couldn’t.’…then you say, ‘Hey…..’ No, that guy is that…guy. Good try trying to… defend him,” White revealed
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