Dana White Dismisses ‘Idiots,’ Claims Absence After UFC 270 Headliner Not Disrespectful

Dana White on why he wasn't out there for the main event and didn't put the belt on Francis Ngannou.#UFC pic.twitter.com/8Z0BKBwILM

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Ultimate Fighting Championship head Dana White is adamant that there was nothing to read from his nonappearance at the end of UFC 270.

Historically, White has served as the person to wrap the belt around the champion’s waist after Bruce Buffer announced the victor in the UFC. While he did hand the flyweight belt to Deiveson Figueiredo at the conclusion of the UFC 270 co-main event, he was noticeable absent for the heavyweight headliner. Instead, matchmaker Mick Maynard presented “The Predator” with his unified title, instantly drawing questions from fans and media alike as to why White was not present. Many speculated that he did not show up as a snub to the champion currently embroiled in a contract dispute with the company, and this concern was strengthened when White did not attend the post-fight press conference.

At a fan Q&A hosted by Laura Sanko on Wednesday, White claimed this could not be further from the truth.

“I actually walked [out of] the arena right after the co-main event, because there was stuff going on backstage that I was dealing with,” White said. “For anybody that would think that I was showing any type of disrespect toward Francis – I saw Francis all week, you idiots, I shook his hand, I said hi to him, I was out there for the staredowns, the whole thing.

White continued, “So for anybody that thinks that there was some type of disrespect shown towards Francis, I wasn’t out there for Michael Bisping’s [Luke] Rockhold fight either [at UFC 199], because I was dealing with some stuff. And I sprinted from the back – I didn’t even have my jacket on, I…only had my shirt on to go out there and put the belt on Bisping, but I couldn’t make it out there to put the belt on Francis.”

The last heavyweight championship bout without White’s appearance came at UFC 198, when Stipe Miocic claimed the belt from Fabricio Werdum in Brazil in 2016. At that time, matchmaker Joe Silva wrapped the gold strap around the Cleveland native’s waist. A span of eight title fights in the highest men’s division transpired with White putting the belt on the champ, until UFC 270. Some surmised that the perceived lesser quality of the bout – the big men landed only 106 combined significant strikes in their 25 minutes of action, plus five takedowns between the two – might have convinced White to leave in protest.

White admitted that there was one time that he could recall where he left the building out of disgust for a title tilt, coming atop UFC 112 in 2010 in the United Arab Emirates, immediately after UAE-based Flash Entertainment purchased 10% of Zuffa.

“There’s only been one time that I’ve walked out on a fight, and made it very clear – showed up to the press conference and said, ‘this is exactly why I left.’ It was in Abu Dhabi with Anderson Silva…I think [the] Demian Maia fight.”

Unifying champ Ngannou prevailed at the end of UFC 270 to end his contract, although a provision remains stating that as the active champion, he cannot leave the promotion for one year. Ngannou and his team expect that he will be out of action for most of 2022 regardless of the contract stipulations due to pending surgery and subsequent recover of a major knee injury.

Even though White was not there to put the belt around him, Ngannou did not seem to mind. On Instagram on Wednesday, he posted about this very subject, writing simply, “It was an absolute honor receiving the belt from Mick Maynard. Couldn’t be a better person. Love this man.”

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