going on doing a little uh International
flavor tonight with the contract winners
I guess uh was the main event probably
the the easiest call of the night I mean
big undefeated heavyweight that gets uh
gets finished in the first round yeah I
mean uh Igor de Silva in my opinion was
oh Igor’s the best one yeah yeah I mean
when you look at
first of all like I said out there you
know
20 years old is way too young
guy’s been fighting for five years at 20
years all these first fight was when he
was 15. he’s 8-0 100 finish rate four
Knockouts four Subs went in there and
looked incredible and uh
yeah you know this this kid is also a
champion in Jungle fights so he’s had
five round experience too where do you
find a kid 20 years old that has all of
that
nowhere uh so he was my first choice for
the night and obviously yeah a big
heavyweight like that who’s now 11-0
undefeated obviously has big Power one
punch knockout power and at his age he’s
a guy you can you can throw that’s what
I liked about a couple of you know I got
a guy that’s too young and I got a
couple of guys that uh can be thrown
right into big fights right now I was
gonna ask you about that because you
mentioned Igor de Silva and Kanan 32
years old 20 years old is you know for
guys that are like the guys that are out
there that want to be here right is
there an ideal path is it like you know
young you know 20 years old you can kind
of maybe get a shot or is it hey would
you say get more seasoning get more
fights is there is everybody’s unique
everybody’s got a different story and a
different background and you know this
kid’s been fighting for five years he’s
20 years old some of these kids that we
find that are you know 24 25 haven’t
been fighting for five years so uh I I
think that every guy has unique
experience and and you know Kanan is
another one uh he’s got 16 fights with
13 finishes
so that’s a lot of experience and what
does that tell you with 13 finishes he
doesn’t [ __ ] around that guy goes in to
finish fights so he’s right up my alley
when guys come in young like that I mean
we just had Raul roses Jr competing you
know a teenager do you tell the
matchmakers anything like hey these
young guys let’s tell them nothing they
do these guys know what they’re doing
this is probably
other than like
the UFC and and you know guys that are
ranked and guys that have made it the
matchmaking on this show is incredible
incredible so I don’t question anything
I don’t know anything when I walk in I
have no rooting interest at all I just
walk in and whatever happens on Tuesday
night happens and I make a decision
based off what I see there and then once
I you know I’m watching them fight and
then as I start to dive into who they
are and
where they come from and what they’ve
done
it’s fun so walk us through the logic on
the draw right unique situation you got
a call so you don’t have a winner and
we’re sitting here thinking do you go
zero contracts do you go two contracts
you all know what a 10-8 round is now
right yes that was a 10-8 round right
would everybody agree that was a 10-8
round 100 complete domination looks like
it could be stopped uh you know the the
significant strikes were 50 something to
nine
that’s a 10-8 round let’s just let’s
start there
um yes the first ever draw the minute
that girl Stephanie stepped into the
octagon it’s this weird [ __ ] thing
that happens to me I was like
huh interesting let’s see how she fights
she’s super young she’s 23 years old
she’s five and one
this other girl’s 32 she’s 4-0 this is
like both ends as a spectrum for me and
then as the fight started to play out
um
yeah I like Stephanie it’s gonna be I’m
interested to see her first fight in the
UFC she goes home and works on some
things what I really loved is when you
look at Toledo she’s a six-time
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world champion black
belt and she had a lot of ground control
her big thing is the rear naked choke
she had her back a few times she
couldn’t finish her so
it’s interesting it’s going to be
interesting to see what Stephanie can do
um I want to ask you would say
International flavor night you know we
had Dana White’s considered series
Brazil before is there any talk ever of
doing like National themed shows like
that again or do you feel like just the
one season each year is enough what’s
the question you know how you did like
uh consider series Brazil before like
tonight we had a lot of Brazilians that
was tonight tonight yeah Thunder series
Brazil I was wondering I mean do you
ever talk about doing like International
theme Seasons like that again we have
talked about it yeah we actually
recently within the last week we talked
about it
um I don’t know you know I was worried
about coming out of kovid that you know
we’d have a hard time with town it’s
actually been the opposite I mean
there’s there’s Talent popping up
everywhere so
I don’t know could be a couple outside
tonight you mentioned the 10-8 rounds I
think we all know what you’re
referencing there well we didn’t see you
on Saturday so I guess what were your
thoughts on the title fight and and how
it played out
so I was on vacation when this thing
happened and I’m sitting in my house
going
10 when I found out that one of the
judges scored 10-8 I’m like this guy
should be [ __ ] investigated for this
this is the craziest [ __ ] I’ve ever seen
in my life and as I started to talk to
people you know I guess there was a you
know there’s a seminar tomorrow with the
athletic Commission on 10 8. so
hopefully they can get this cleared up
especially in title there’s so much at
stake in a title fight more than just
money
um you know show and win and
pay-per-view and championships and and
Legacies and it’s just you have to have
the best of the best in title fights so
um they’ve assured me that this guy
isn’t a bad guy he just [ __ ] up and
made a mistake and it’s it’s unfortunate
and there’s no way in hell
that was a 10-8 round
Now you kind of wonder what you do next
right I mean it sounds like Valentina is
going to need surgery on her hands so I
don’t know if that impacts it but do you
feel like they need to fight a third
time not the rematch
you have to do the rematch we will
rematch them it’s it’s the right thing
to do it’s the it’s the fight that needs
to happen and uh
yeah so let me tell you guys this let me
tell you this text I got today
ah [ __ ] did it go
all right
hey Dana
your idea to go all in on Mexican
Independence Day paid off Noche UFC was
the most watched Fight Night of all time
on ESPN plus
1.1 million unique views
1.1 million people that had never been
to ESPN plus tuned in for that fight so
think about that it generated 167
million total minutes
yeah
and it was it did 3x the average
viewership minutes watched on the
Spanish feed
wow killed it wow it was an incredible
success you I mean uh do you think
you’ll make that an annual event I think
we weren’t really sure going into it I
mean it was super I will get that date
every year from now on yes very nice uh
and you did say that so you’ll match
them next chefchenko grass so we’ll have
to fight next you think yes great last
thing for me I just want to get a
follow-up have you had a chance to speak
to Israel adasanya yet we’re still kind
of waiting I have not I know he’s in LA
right now working on some stuff but no I
haven’t talked to him are you waiting to
hear from him before you decide what to
do at middleweight I don’t know listen
he’s
one of the things we were talking about
this this week too that we always love
about Israel
Israel was willing to fight anybody
anywhere anytime love to turn around
quickly and and fight again and when he
wants to fight
he’ll let us know
Dana going back to that 10-8
um obviously we can’t really make an
assumption but what do you think the
judge was thinking during that do you
think it was like Oh I thought like
Alexa won the fight but I’ve scored it
too far to Valentina so I can’t have to
make it up did he not see the choke
properly like what do you think could
have caused him to make that a 10A
unfortunately you’ll probably never have
the opportunity to have him sitting
somewhere like this and ask him that
question because only he knows the
answer to that question
Valentina gets dropped in like the
second or third round I remember that’s
not a 10-8 but the fifth round is a 10-8
especially when Valentina was winning
the first three minutes of the fifth
round it literally makes no sense
is that something you would like to see
I know you can’t make it happen but
would you like the judges to be able to
speak to the media after a controversial
decision or even the commission
themselves just come out and speak do
you think that’s something that could
benefit them or is it going to make them
a target of like crazy hate and [ __ ]
yeah unfortunately that is part of the
and and I get it why the athletic
commission wouldn’t want to put their
guys out in front of
you know the media and and and and deal
with the fans and all the [ __ ]
um but
uh
you just don’t throw 10 8 around 10 8 or
third round tonight was a 10-8 when
there is an absolute ass whooping and
the fight could be stopped at any moment
and and one fighter absolutely dominates
from Bell to Bell
you can score to 10-8 this whole
what was it a domination control and all
this other [ __ ] that’s just the
biggest crock of [ __ ] of all time for a
10-8 a 10-8 is an absolute ass whooping
period if the judges aren’t going to
speak to the media or the fans do you
think they should at least be able to
speak to the fighters themselves like
Valentina should be able to go to that
judge and be like explain to me how you
gave that 10 8 to Alexa do you think
you’d like to see that no no no you’re
not gonna see that
um and and you have to understand too
and I’m not defending anything
these people are human they make
mistakes but
that’s this one’s total [ __ ] for
that to be a 10-8 round
there is no excuse for that there is no
excuse for that 10 8.
UFC Noche you want to have that on the
same date every year this year you
pushed Canelo off that date I know
sometimes you guys are Clash in the past
but it seemed like you got that and they
didn’t want to go against you you think
these numbers that you pulled this I I
will go that date every day I don’t care
if somebody here in town gets the date
at the arena I’ll go in an opposing
Arena and go head to head with them next
year I’m doing this for the rest of my
reign here
so they can go on the same night we can
go head to head
I’m going
this thing was a massive success for us
this was something that I’ve been
thinking about since the day we bought
this company so we’re finally in the
position I’m all all my chips are in on
Mexico we’re opening the pi which we’ve
spent you know millions and millions of
dollars on uh
I was in here talking to you guys it
might even have been you or somebody
else we were talking about why why
aren’t you doing I said you know what
you’re absolutely right why am I not
doing that we did it
it was huge and we’ll do it again every
year regardless of whether boxing goes
or doesn’t go I will go head-to-head
with them every year
hey Dana yep um I just have a quick
question about powerslap today there was
a new rule announced rule change
announced what went into that and what
was the decision behind doing that yeah
so the uh you know this thing is still
evolving and growing and uh
you know the commission was very uh
uh they’ve been great with us and and
and figuring this whole thing out and
making it as good as possible we just
had drug tests again like there was one
failure instead of you know it’s it’s no
different than the UFC in the early days
I mean we didn’t start spending millions
of dollars a year what you thought of
because we thought it was uh you know
just something we wanted to do it’s
something that we had to do to clean up
the sport and uh you know we’re going to
continue to tweak rules and production
and work with the commissions all over
the country you know as we lead into
next year
early next year we’ll be in five six new
States so then we’ll start traveling
around and and you know selling tickets
and doing things like that so
everything’s good man our video game I
don’t know if I told you guys this all
right but the video game did 350 million
downloads and
um kicking I mean just kicking ass so
it’s all good and the commission’s been
awesome they’ve been great to work with
I was wondering if you could also just
talk to me a little bit about Raul Rosas
Jr and his performance what did you
think of that um whose performance Raul
Rosas who
yeah yeah
I mean what what could you it was
incredible uh you know he came out and
you know absolutely dominated a real guy
tough guy
um and look good doing it he got the pop
so I don’t know what it was like for you
guys but on on my social
I’ll give you an example like like the
Face-Off between Valentina and uh Alexa
did 1.5 million views in less than 24
hours he did three
three million views in less than 24
hours he he doubled
what the main event did and destroyed
the rest of the card as far as views
um yeah they love that kid do you think
we could possibly see him maybe
headlining a fight night coming up soon
maybe we have a youngest well after what
happened on Saturday night we’re going
to Mexico so
yeah he’ll I don’t think he won’t be
headlining Mexico but he’ll be there so
we’re uh we’re already in the works on
on the Mexico Fight thank you you’re
welcome going back to the Noche UFC the
outdoor weigh-ins in that q a what did
you think about that did you like that
and is that something that’s part of it
going for well we’ve done it before
we’ve done that before
um many times in different cities but
yeah that’s always a winner when the
weather’s right yeah yeah and then last
thing just to clarify you talked about
how Grasso for sure we want to have that
rematch if the injury of chefchenko and
the surgery of the recovery is long are
you still going to hold out and make
that remake no we’re comfortable with
with where she’s at as far as her injury
is we’re comfortable with it that should
probably start striking again in uh
three months or a little less yeah
yep all good
Dana uh as as you mentioned you want to
go back to Mexico and it was announced
on the broadcast that the the plan is
for 2024. it could be like first quarter
or could it like yeah at the same time
as the PA opening no
no it’s gonna be separate events yeah
unfortunately I believe me I would love
to have it coincide with with the
opening of the pi but the timing’s not
going to work on that
and what are the odds for Alexa to be
we’re not right now do you still have a
champ now we realize that it could be
like a finite or another Noche UFC in
Mexico City is is what are the odds for
her to be like defending the belt in
Mexico this time very good
very good so it will depend on when
Valentina is is going to be is what it
will it will depend on the timing on
valentina’s injury to go back no I think
that Valentina can start striking in in
under three months or three months so
we’re good
we speak we spoke for the first time
about uh having this Mexican uh not
Independence because he was about Cinco
de Mayo in March so can you tell us
about the with the process of what
happened with your team when the first
time you told him I want to do this I
want to take this Mexican dates from
boxing we I think we can compete now we
have enough Talent can you tell us about
the process of what happened during this
year together I don’t want to take the
dates from boxing they can do whatever
they want to do you know what I mean
it’s not like oh I’m going to take this
date now you can’t have it you guys can
go the same time and do whatever you
want to do you know what I mean so um
but uh yeah I mean as soon as I
said yeah why are we not doing this we
should do this we went right back to the
office the next day and started working
on building the card and you know
um we built what was Saturday
there was a few like unique things for
you for Noche like the graphics and the
music during the cuts and everything and
even the Jersey have you seen the
jerseys are around 600 now I mean they
sold out like
early in the in the card and they’re
like people’s paying 600 700 yeah I
heard about that but I didn’t see him I
didn’t see that yeah on eBay around 700
today are they really oh [ __ ] all right
um
yeah so this was our first time out and
uh you know how we operate it’ll get
better every year we’ll make it bigger
and better every year that we do it
um we’re all in on this thing
obviously it was free this year do you
see that staying the same every year or
do you think eventually it’ll be so big
UFC no change do you think it’ll be stay
free or can you see it becoming a
pay-per-view
yeah yeah yeah yeah I mean just like
everything that we do it will evolve and
get better and grow and get bigger and
with the opening of the pi and and just
I every time I say this to you guys
am I Am I Wrong watch what we do in the
next three years down in Mexico
March what we do in the next three years
Dana
um can you explain explain a little bit
more on why you passed on Daniel Allen
um was it just like was it his record
was his no his age listen make it a
finish yeah nope none of that I I look
at people and for example you know
um Stephanie right young does that but i
i s in that fight tonight she was
aggressive she tried to finish the whole
time stuffing shots and I think she was
on the ground for six minutes and 27
seconds with a six-time Brazilian Jiu
Jitsu world champion whose thing is the
rear naked show stayed out of it the
whole time she was dominant on the feet
aggressive and I just saw something in
her
that I liked and I think she can she can
be somebody now Daniel Allen so he goes
in you know if you you didn’t wrestle
tonight he had to stand up he was in
there with a damn good wrestler
um there were a lot of fouls in the
fight
um he is 4-0 and he’s 31 years old and
he needs more time
um what I did like about him were all
the things that I said he’s undefeated
he’s 5-0 he’s a two to one dog
he proved the oddsmakers wrong tonight
and everybody who bet against him
tonight he proved them wrong
and uh he just needs some more time I
think with some time
I think we’ll see him again
did Daniel Cormier almost convince you
to sign him no no I was saying Cormier
and I were on a plane on the way home
from New York and uh
you know he was telling me the story
about how he watched UFC 100.
and he was like this is awesome he’d
seen it before but for some reason UFC
100 hit him different and he wanted to
go to 101. so he went to 101
he loved the show and he said I’m going
to do this and he fought like four days
later or something like that and that
was it I mean it was I think he was 31
or 32. and became one of the greatest of
all time so
listening to that story made me think
I’m looking at these guys that are in
their early 30s
and I don’t think that they they have
enough time to become
world champions or whatever
I’m wrong
so like even listening to that story
like did it kind of almost push you to
sign him no not even close I uh I think
this kid needs more time I think that I
would be doing him a huge disservice
bringing him in at the level he’s at now
into the UFC
he could fight in these smaller shows
and get more experience with guys that
are his level
and I believe we will see this guy some
of them again someday this is one of
those things where like I’m not
interested in this guy whatever
if this kid can keep it right after not
getting picked tonight get some more
experience I believe we’ll see him again
um with you saying that you know
crossovers chefchenko is probably next
is it safe to say uh Aaron blanchfield
versus probably going to be next for the
number one Contender it would make sense
right
um and then finally there’s been some
Rumblings China in December
um is it uh are you trying to do Wei Li
Zhang versus Yao xionon for the
throwaway title uh yeah that’s not true
that wouldn’t be China no
thank you yep
you know you know we’re we’re getting
thin on [ __ ] questions at the
contender series when you guys are
asking me about China fights this better
be good what do you got
all right I’m putting the focus back on
Contender um igoro Silva obviously won a
contract today and he’s only 20 years
old last year you signed Raul Russ’s
Junior who’s going to turn 19 next month
as someone who’s been around this game
for a long time what do you make of all
these young athletes making it to the
big stage at such a young age and what
do you make of this like in terms of the
evolution of the sport or we’re seeing
all these young guys make it to the UFC
at that age I think think that every
once in a while you will find these
these kids that are special that you
know at a younger age they can come in
here and they can adapt to it I mean
look at Vitor Belfort Vitor Belfort was
like 18 years old with his first fight
in the UFC and the guy became a legend
and stuck around forever and fought all
the best in the world
um some have it and some don’t I think
that Igor has it we’re going to find out
whether I’m right or wrong so
and uh you said you felt something
special when you saw Stephanie make the
walk tonight you mentioned like the It
Factor what are some other Fighters
you’ve seen that where you felt that
same feeling sugar Shawn O’Malley Conor
McGregor the first time I ever met him
Ronda Rousey the first time I ever met
her
um the list goes on Chuck Liddell when I
met Chuck Liddell the UFC didn’t want
Chuck Liddell they released them and
they didn’t want them in the UFC I mean
when I managed him I was fighting with
those guys for like over a year to try
to get them to sign Chuck Liddell they
didn’t want him oh wow and uh I wanted
to put the folks back on Noche UFC for a
second there was a prelim fight between
LA certa and chayres where referee Chris
tyony stopped the fight when he thought
Lucero went out I’m not sure if you saw
that after review they made the decision
and indeed he was not out and they
called it a no decision what’d you make
of all that yeah listen it’s unfortunate
it sucks when that stuff happens but
when you think about what instant replay
was meant to do why it was you know uh
why it was put in place
it did what it was supposed to do
and uh and I just kind of bashed on that
China stuff but there’s also Rumblings
about Ireland in December is that is
that true
you had to [ __ ] this whole thing up
didn’t you
or in [ __ ] Ireland
I have no idea if we’re going to Ireland
yet
you blew it kid you blew it does anybody
else have any other stupid questions for
me tonight
thank you have a good night
