Dana White was on vacation over the weekend during Noche UFC so we didn’t get to hear the head man’s thoughts on the event. White was back in Vegas last night for The Contender Series and as usual, he hosted his press conference after the event where a lot of questions were asked about Saturday night.
Regarding the UFC and Mexican Independence Day, White confirmed that the promotion is going to make this an annual event. He talked about how the event was a massive success and was their highest streamed Fight Night on ESPN+. White talked about making the event bigger and bigger each year and seemingly indicated that next year’s event will likely be a PPV.
Historically, boxing has dominated Mexican Independence Day and typically hosted a big event in Las Vegas. Whether it was Floyd Mayweather or Canelo Alvarez, boxing has always controlled the day. However, the UFC is planning on annual events and White made it clear that he doesn’t mind going head-to-head with boxing.
UFC Planning Grasso – Shevchenko 3
Since White was on vacation over the weekend, the media wasn’t able to get his thoughts on the main event of Noche UFC. As expected, White was very critical of Mike Bell’s scorecard. White said it was one of the worst cards he’s ever seen and initially he wanted Bell investigated for giving Alexa Grasso a 10-8 in the final round.
Because of the draw, many were wondering whether or not the UFC would immediately run the fight back. White confirmed that Alexa Grasso will be defending her title against Valentina Shevchenko next. White said, “You have to do the rematch” when asked about what would be next for Grasso.
When asked about Shevchenko’s thumb injury, White said the promotion is comfortable with her recovery timeline and the rematch would likely take place sometime in early 2024. He didn’t rule out the fight taking place in Mexico, however, given the result on Saturday, I doubt Valentina Shevchenko would want that.
When asked about top contenders Manon Fiorot and Erin Blanchfield, White said that it made sense for those two to fight next to determine a true number one contender. You can catch White’s full post-fight press conference below.