Responding again today to questions of whether the main event of UFC 162 was fixed, UFC President Dana White ranted at conspiracy theorists and then targeted one of the most respected institutions in sports reporting. “Who’s going to throw a fight by getting viciously knocked out?” the UFC executive ranted during an appearance on ESPN2′s “Highly Questionable.” “You know how stupid you’d have to be to even think that?” “Speaking of morons, Sports Illustrated had this group of people together, and they actually – Sports Illustrated! – had this panel saying, ‘Yeah, so I heard over the weekend, this fight might have been fixed.’ First of all, these people looked like they covered tennis – not fighting – and you could tell none of them even watched the fight.” White was referring to a panel of reporters that mused on whether Anderson Silva took a dive against the newly minted UFC middleweight champ Chris Weidman during a segment on the web series SI Now, which covers hot topics in sports. “For somebody like Sports Illustrated – people are supposed to be credible journalists – to go out and say something that stupid when they never even watched the fight, it’s just a testament to how bad reporting is getting these days,” White continued. “It’s more about the shock factor than the fact factor.” It’s not the first time White has let expletives fly on the topic. Immediately after the pay-per-view event, which took place July 6 at MGM Grand Garden Arena, he said people who thought that Weidman’s knockout was predetermined were “f—ing idiots.” Yet for several days, the topic hung in the air, which likely prompted the SI panel to address the situation. None of the journalists, however, were MMA reporters for the storied news outlet. Reps for SI.com could not be reached for comment. As White pointed out on ESPN2, if the fight was fixed, it would have been far smarter to have Silva tap to Weidman’s submission attempts prior to his fight-ending KO, and under better odds.
BAD MMA Trending Cloud
UFC • Bellator • Conor Mcgregor • news • PFL • Jon Jones • Daniel Cormier • Dustin Poirier • Khabib Nurmagomedov • Dana White • Francis Ngannou • Jorge Masvidal • videos • Nate Diaz • WSOF • Anderson Silva • Max Holloway • Ronda Rousey • Amanda Nunes • Donald Cerrone • Michael Bisping • Michael Chandler • Tony Ferguson • Kamaru Usman • Alexander Volkanovski • Demetrious Johnson • Alex Pereira • Charles Oliveira • featured • Henry Cejudo • jake paul • Jose Aldo • One Championship • Derrick Lewis • sean o'malley • Aljamain Sterling • Stipe Miocic • islam makhachev • Tyron Woodley • Georges St Pierre
- MMA News (110913)
- Kai Asakura shuts down concerns around weight cut for UFC 310 title shot vs. Alexandre Pantoja
- UFC 311 news: Grant Dawson vs. Diego Ferreira added to January pay-per-view
- Michael Bisping uses Jake Paul as example to highlight issue with Jon Jones
- UFC 310: Michael Chiesa sees Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Ian Machado Garry going the distance
- Ian Machado Garry rooting for Joaquin Buckley to beat ‘b*tch’ Colby Covington at UFC on ESPN 63
- UFC flyweights Edgar Chairez, C.J. Vergara to collide in March
- Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson medical suspensions: Both fighters receive same mandatory minimum
- Daniel Cormier responds to Bo Nickal’s discontent with UFC 309 commentary: ‘There’s room for improvement’
- Khalil Rountree discusses moment he ‘went blind’ in Alex Pereira loss at UFC 307
- MMA Junkie LIVE debate: Does Jon Jones deserve No. 1 pound-for-pound ranking?