Dana White Denies Adesanya Vs. Chimaev As Main Event For UFC Saudi Arabia In June
Dana White has dismissed claims that Israel Adesanya vs Khamzat Chimaev is the main event for UFC Saudi Arabia in June.
The main event was initially set for March 2, only for that to break down. There were suggestions that Saudi Arabia was not happy with the quality of the card after reports they put down a site fee for $20 million. Dana White hit back at those claims, saying the UFC never even proposed a card. But he acknowledged that certain fights were not ready in time, so the card did not go ahead.
White On The Card
“Yes, we moved the card. I know there has been a lot of talk about that the card wasn’t good enough. We never even proposed a card to them, we didn’t tell Saudi Arabia about one fight. So, that’s all bull**t. Bull***t. We never even proposed a card to them.
“What we wanted to do, every time the UFC puts on an event, we want to blow the doors off the place. We want people to be excited. It was our first fight ever in Saudi Arabia, and a couple of fights that we wanted to line up, they weren’t ready to go, so we pushed the card back because we are going to deliver. Never once, was one fight proposed to Saudi Arabia and they were like no this wasn’t good enough,” White said
Now that June is almost here, speculation has risen over the main event. The following Instagram photo shows Adesanya and Chimaev facing off, leading many to think this was the main event. White has shut those rumors down.
Volkanovski And Zuckerberg
Elsewhere, Alexander Volkanovski has been criticised for working with Mark Zuckerberg following his loss to Ilia Topuria at UFC 298. The former UFC Featherweight Champion was stopped in the second round, as the loss ended his four-year reign as a champion.
The defeat was compounded by criticism after Zuckerberg was in Volkanovski’s corner. The Facebook CEO took up MMA in 2022, which is well short of the experience needed to win at the highest level. But having him in his corner gave the perception that Volkanovski was overlooking Topuria. Kenny Florian had this to say.
“Volkanovski went in there with the mindset of saying, ‘Yeah, this guy is undefeated, but look what I have done, I’m gonna go out there and teach this kid a lesson. I don’t think that has everything to do with why he lost, I don’t think that’s the sole reason. However, it certainly plays a part. When you are going to battle, you have to take it extremely serious.
“Be ready for war. That’s the kind of mindset you need to have for a championship fight in the UFC… For me, I just didn’t like the look, when Volkanovski came out there, he just seemed a little bit too relaxed for my liking. Even the fact of, like, having Zuckerberg there. We’re kind of joking about it in the chat, but man. Why do you have something that could be some kind of a distraction for a world championship fight against a killer like Ilia Topuria? Why would you do that?” Florian stated
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