Dana White Defends The Way UFC 229 Was Marketed
UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov hopped the Octagon wall after a successful title defense against Conor McGregor to start a brawl that quickly spilled into the crowd and into the Octagon.
There are people out there who have stated that the way the UFC decided to promote and push the fight was one of the main factors that lead to the huge brawl. UFC President Dana White believes what the critics are saying is ridiculous and the fight played out exactly the way it was promoted.
“Dumbest quote I have ever heard in my life. You are an idiot whoever wrote that. This is a fight. The way that we promoted this fight, was exactly the way that this thing played out,” White said on ESPN First Take. “That’s all part of the storyline.”
McGregor took many personal jabs against Nurmagomedov in the build up to the fight, plus footage from the infamous UFC 223 bus attack was used in the previews leading up to the encounter.
White also states that there have been plenty of fighter scuffles backstage at UFC events, but the UFC 229 brawl was a rare fight after the fight.
“Believe me, we’ve had, almost 20 years I’ve been doing this,” White said. “We’ve had plenty of fights, where there’s tons of bad blood, and all kinds of things like this happen, and, you know, we don’t have fights after the fights. We’ve had scuffles with guys in the back, I mean, this is the fight business, and a lot of people don’t like each other.”
Nurmagomedov has already had his fight purse withheld by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), while more punishments could be coming the champion and McGregor’s way.
