Dana White was in for a tough press conference on Saturday night but he sat and answered every question and he stayed around for some more.
He wasn’t shirking responsibility or hiding his disappointment. He explained everything as best he could and he gave an honest assessment of the situation.
He wasn’t teasing rematches or bragging about Pay Per Views, he knew that UFC 229 was another bruise for MMA and he wanted to isolate Khabib and his team and remove it from what people think all these events have become.
As far as he’s concerned, what unfolded was disgusting but White, probably shrewdly, compared it to Evander Holyfield v Mike Tyson and all the violence that broke out that night – presumably in an attempt to show UFC isn’t out on its own in these headlines.
White confirmed a number of things in his press conference:
- The Athletic Commission governor had to run out of the building
- Khabib will not get his purse for the fight
- Conor McGregor will be paid
- Khabib could have his VISA revoked
- Three of his team were arrested but McGregor would not press charges
It was obviously a downbeat presser and, to be honest, White and the UFC have to take a part of the blame for fuelling some of the chaos.
They were the ones who used the bus attack footage as part of the promo and kept it very much as the central theme of the fight.
They allowed all the insults and jibes and all the over-the-top personal trades because that’s what sells fights but it was obvious from his press conference afterwards that Khabib took serious exception to comments on religion, his family and his country.
In fact, he took it so badly that he was actually, genuinely annoyed that he’d be asked about jumping over the cage after the fight. He compared it to everything McGregor did and can’t believe that he’s now being seen as the aggressor.
McGregor is usually gracious in defeat and the fact that he tapped out was acceptance enough that he had been bettered. But it seems that he’s also been magnanimous to what unfolded afterwards.
Despite being attacked from behind and hit several times whilst recovering from a 20-minute war, McGregor wasn’t too annoyed about that.
Dana White said afterwards that the Dubliner was just upset about the actual fight – the one he lost.
“I don’t give a shit about any of that stuff,” is what White said McGregor told him.
“We [Khabib and Conor] don’t like each other, whatever.”
And his coach, John Kavanagh, wasn’t bogged down in it either.
Another historical night. Amazing atmosphere, technical fight with excitement all the way thru. All that makes MMA a great sport. Shame about the ending. On to the next one.
— Coach JK (@John_Kavanagh) October 7, 2018
