Dana White spoke to the media on Friday to hype Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night 46 from the O2 Arena in Dublin, Ireland. Here are the highlights:
– He’s got a meeting with Gina Carano on Monday is “pretty confident” she will sign with the company. Her first fight will be against Ronda Rousey, if Rousey’s into it.
– Ronda Rousey is “the greatest athlete I’ve ever worked with.”
– Khabib Nurmagomedov blew his knee out “20 minutes” after he signed on to fight Donald Cerrone.
– Regarding the Cyborg vs. Carano fight back in 2009, Dana White says, Carano put on a good fight but “Cyborg was a little jacked up on Mountain Dew.”
– He’s on board with giving Chris Weidman the fight with Vitor Belfort he’s been pushing for.
– Regarding Nate Diaz, he said Diaz got upset about his contract after Gilbert Melendez signed a new, lucrative deal with the UFC. “The unfortunate part is that he’s not a needle mover. His brother is a needle mover, but he’s not … Nate can sit out as long as he wants to.”
– The Fertitas are pushing hard for a UFC event in Italy. They also want to do a show in India. “We really care about that and really want to get it done.”
– Stefan Struve is fine, as far as he knows. “I love the kid.”
– For the first time ever, UFC is going to record the decibel levels at the O2 Arena in Dublin for Fight Night 46.
– Garry Cook, who runs UFC’s European division, is a “rock star and one of the greatest hires we’ve ever had in the UFC.”
