Conor McGregor put Dana White in a tough situation after he pulled his name out from the UFC 303 main event. In the dire situation, White with the help of Hunter Campbell made some last-minute replacements and convinced Alex Pereira to step in. When asked about the whole process, White made some interesting revelations.
During a recent exclusive interview with Sports Business Journal, Dana White was asked whether it was hard to replace Conor McGregor with Alex Pereira at UFC 303. While answering the question, White revealed that big names don’t matter as they frequently replace fighters due to several reasons.
No, listen, you’re always replacing one fight or one fighter with another. They’re all the same. I don’t ever look at it that way. It’s about, “How can we make the best possible matchup we can make for International Fight Week
Dana White via Sports Business Journal
UFC 303 was supposed to be McGregor’s return to the octagon after three years of hiatus. However, the fighter suffered a toe injury and decided not to participate in the fight further. It was a tough decision for the former champion. But according to the ‘Notorious’ he didn’t want to give his opponents any kind of advantage.
On the other hand, Dana White’s ‘knight and shining armor’ Alex Pereira stepped in and put his light heavyweight title on the line against Jiri Prochazka. On top of it, ‘Poatan’ made it look easy and defeated the ‘Samurai’ via TKO in the second round. With only nine fights in UFC, Pereira is already considered one of the best to ever do it in the history of the promotion. Something Dana White had never expected.
Dana White didn’t believe in Alex Pereira to become a UFC superstar
Alex Pereira has already fought five title fights and has defeated five former champions in his brief career in UFC. The Brazilian is slowly becoming everyone’s favorite fighter and has saved the fight cards several times. Pereira has established himself as one of the most dangerous strikers. He has the touch of death when it comes to his signature left hook.
Dana White didn’t believe in Alex Pereira (via X)However, when Pereira made his UFC debut, Dana White had some doubts about the former Glory Kickboxing champion. While talking about it, White revealed that he never thought Pereira would be this successful in the UFC given his background. However, the UFC CEO has accepted that he was wrong.
It’s incredible, right? No, I don’t think like that, especially when you have a guy that’s coming in from kickboxing. You know? Has this long kickboxing career and is older coming into the UFC. I think the exact opposite. This guy’s not going to do very well here. He’s going to get taken down, smashed, submitted, you know, all that kind of stuff. But, man, was I wrong.
Dana White via UFC 303 post-fight press conference
Alex Pereira is currently being linked to Jon Jones, the heavyweight champion. While Dana White is skeptical of the choice, it will not be shocking if Pereira proves him wrong again. Nevertheless, fans are eager to see the fighters’ next move.
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