Search icon

MMA

05th Oct 2017

Remarkably, Dana White still hasn’t learnt valuable lesson about obligatory staredown

Clean up on aisle five

Ben Kiely

Dana White must have had flashbacks of the Jack-In-The-Box that tormented him as a child at the UFC 216 media day.

For the first time in a long time, Dana White showed up to promote a UFC card. The UFC president had been a notable absentee at the recent Japan and Pittsburgh events, but he was back in Las Vegas to promote the two title fight offerings UFC 216 has in store this weekend.

In the main event, two of the best lightweights in the world will slug it out for the interim strap. Kevin Lee enters into his first crack at UFC gold off the back of five-straight wins, while Tony Ferguson’s nine-fight win-streak is a divisional record.

Aside from being two of the best fighters in the world, both men in the headline act are incredibly intense and interesting characters. This is something White should be well aware of by now, but still, El Cucuy’s signature animated ‘woo’ after the obligatory staredown still catches him off guard.

When Ferguson did it after giving Lee the thousand-yard-stare, it scared the holy bejaysus out of him.

White should be well used to this sort of carry on from the streaking lightweight. It hasn’t even bee a year since the last time the stunt nearly made him soil his breeches.

The first time Ferguson was scheduled to fight for the interim belt was in UFC 209’s co-main event against Khabib Nurmagomedov. The undefeated Dagestani pulled out of the fight the morning of the weigh-ins due to weight cutting issues, but both fighters still engaged in the media day staredown.

Third time is surely the charm, Dana.