UFC 299: Post-Fight Press Conference
Summary
TLDRThe transcript captures a post-fight interview with UFC fighters discussing their performances, the electrifying atmosphere in Miami, and future match-ups. Fighters reflect on their victories, the challenges they faced, and the potential for high-stakes bouts in the division. The conversation also touches on the impact of fan support, the business side of the sport, and the fighters' personal aspirations, including the possibility of a third match between two fighters with a 1-1 record.
Takeaways
- 🎉 The event in Miami broke records with a 14.14 million gate, making it the fourth highest-grossing UFC event of all time.
- 🥊 Dustin Poirier's performance was highlighted as a key factor in the event's success, with a $50,000 bonus for his fight.
- 🌟 Shawn Mendes is considered one of the biggest stars in the bantamweight division, with this fight being the biggest ever in the division.
- 📣 The UFC is open to discussing moving divisions and future fights, including potential matchups with other top fighters.
- 🏆 Dustin Poirier's legendary status and recent performance put him in the conversation for a title shot.
- 🤼♂️ Michael Benavidez's UFC debut was noted, with his counter-striking style and flashy moves.
- 📺 Netflix's entry into live sports is seen as a significant development, with the UFC considering talks for future TV deals.
- 🥊 Conor McGregor's desire to fight in June and his interest in facing Nate Diaz was mentioned, though no confirmation was given.
- 🌐 The UFC's international reach was emphasized, with a focus on growing the sport globally.
- 🎽 Fighters' personal style and entrances, such as Michael Venom Page's cape and Sean O'Malley's dance routine, are becoming more accepted in the UFC.
- 🏆 The UFC's commitment to putting on the best possible fights was underscored, with an emphasis on building big stars and legendary fights.
Q & A
What was the significance of the event in Miami in terms of attendance and revenue?
-The event in Miami was a sellout with 19,600 people attending, making it the highest grossing event ever at the arena and the fourth highest grossing UFC event of all time.
Who won the fight of the night bonus?
-Dustin Poirier won the fight of the night bonus, while Cheito Vera was awarded the performance of the night.
What was the reaction to Dustin Poirier's performance?
-Dustin Poirier's performance was highly praised, with the commentator stating that he put on a clinic and that he is one of the most durable fighters ever seen.
How does Shawn's star power compare to Conor McGregor's?
-Shawn is considered one of the biggest stars in the company's history, with the commentator suggesting that he is on his way to being the biggest star ever in the bantamweight division.
What was the reaction to Michael Ben and Page's UFC debut?
-Michael Ben and Page's debut was met with positive reviews, with the commentator noting his counter-striking style and the need for a well-matched next fight.
What was Dana White's opinion on Mike Tyson's return to boxing?
-Dana White expressed concern about the age difference in Tyson's potential fights but acknowledged his respect for Tyson both personally and as an athlete.
What was the significance of the event's atmosphere and fan support?
-The atmosphere was described as electric, with fans from various countries creating an incredible energy that contributed to the excitement of the event.
What was the strategy behind Dustin Poirier's victory over Cheito Vera?
-Poirier's strategy involved not wasting energy trying to finish the fight early, as he knew Cheito was hard to put away, and instead focused on conserving energy for when it was most needed.
What are the potential future fights for Sean O'Malley after his victory?
-null
What was the significance of the gate for the event?
-The gate was significant as it was one of the largest non-McGregor gates for UFC, indicating the popularity and draw of the event.
Outlines
🥊 UFC Miami Event Recap and Fighter Performances
The script discusses the record-breaking attendance and success of a UFC event in Miami, highlighting the impressive gate of 14.14 million and its standing as the fourth highest-grossing UFC event ever. The conversation focuses on the performances of Dustin Poirier, Ben Askren, and other fighters, as well as the potential for future matchups and the impact of star power on the sport.
📺 Mike Tyson's Return to Boxing and Streaming Services in Sports
The discussion touches on Mike Tyson's announced return to boxing, the speaker's personal feelings about it, and the potential age difference in his upcoming fight. The conversation also shifts to the role of streaming services like Netflix in live sports, with a focus on the company's recent entry into live sports broadcasting.
🏆 UFC Event Logistics and Fighter Prospects
This section delves into the challenges of organizing a UFC event, including bout order and fighter matchups. It also discusses the possibility of Miami becoming a regular host for UFC events, the debut of a large fighter, and the potential for the UFC to visit Ecuador in the future.
🌟 Fighter Interviews and Career Reflections
The script includes interviews with fighters reflecting on their victories, the energy of the crowd, and their future in the sport. Fighters discuss their performances, the possibility of title shots, and their thoughts on being part of UFC history. The conversation also covers the significance of fan support and the impact of social media on their careers.
🤼♂️ Post-Fight Analysis and Future Matchups
The fighters share their thoughts on their recent matches, including the challenges they faced and their plans for the future. The discussion includes potential trilogy fights, the possibility of moving up in weight class, and the fighters' perspectives on their careers and the sport of MMA.
🏅 Title Defenses and Personal Milestones
The fighters talk about their first title defense, the significance of their win, and the physical and emotional aspects of their fights. They also discuss their relationships with other fighters, their plans for the next fight, and the importance of fan engagement and support.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡UFC
💡Gate
💡Fight of the Night
💡Star Power
💡Division
💡Title Shot
💡Hall of Fame
💡Crossover Fights
💡Live Sports
💡Fight Card
Highlights
The event in Miami broke records with a gate of 14.14 million, making it the highest-grossing event at the arena and the fourth highest-grossing UFC event of all time.
Dustin Poirier's performance was praised, and he was awarded 'Fight of the Night' along with Benoist.
The gate for the event was one of the highest not involving Conor McGregor, highlighting Shawn's star power.
Dana White discussed the potential of moving divisions for fighters, indicating it's not currently on the agenda.
Dustin Poirier's legendary status and his performance were highlighted, with discussions about a possible title shot.
Michael Ben and Page's UFC debut was noted, with his counter-striking style and flashy performance.
Dana White's thoughts on Mike Tyson's return to boxing were shared, expressing concern about the age difference in potential fights.
The impact of streaming services like Netflix entering live sports was discussed, with Dana White acknowledging their growing influence.
Conor McGregor's desire to fight in June and his interest in facing Nate Diaz were mentioned.
Curtis Blades and Jack Dela's comeback wins were acknowledged, with their performances being praised.
Joanne Wood's retirement from the UFC was discussed, with Dana White expressing admiration for her career and character.
The potential for the UFC to hold events in Saudi Arabia was brought up, with Dana White discussing the differences in event production.
Yana Kunitskaya's induction into the UFC Hall of Fame was mentioned, with Dana White sharing his respect and friendship with her.
The possibility of five-round co-main events becoming more common was discussed, with Dana White noting the challenges and considerations.
The atmosphere of the event in Miami was praised, with Dana White noting the diverse crowd and flags from various countries.
The potential for the UFC to return to Miami more frequently was hinted at, with Dana White expressing enthusiasm for the city as a destination for events.
The performance of Roel Trujillo, a Spanish fighter making his debut, was noted, with his knockout being highlighted.
The possibility of the UFC visiting Ecuador due to Cheito's popularity was mentioned, with Dana White acknowledging the potential.
Dana White's thoughts on Cheito's future in the UFC were shared, with the possibility of a third fight against Shamil being considered.
The importance of fighting young and hungry opponents for legends like Dustin Poirier was discussed, with Dana White emphasizing the significance of such fights.
Transcripts
so
uh I never thought I'd be saying this uh
we're here in Miami the gate was 14.14
Million it is was sellout
19,6 people the highest grossing event
ever at the arena we broke our own
record and it is the fourth highest
grossing UFC event of all time Miami is
on fire this place is unbelievable uh
what they've done in the state in this
city in the last uh 10 years is
phenomenal but anyway fight of the night
uh Dustin and benois performance of the
night om Ali and uh we gave everybody
who had a finish
$50,000 uh except for Dustin because he
won Fighter the night that's so we still
got talk to me all right d know got you
for a short time so I just want to ask
you first about shaal and his
performance uh you know he wanted to
finish his first title defense but he
didn't get that but he looked absolutely
fantastic so what did you think overall
of his performan he put on a clinic and
I don't know if anybody can finish
Cheeto Vera I mean that guy's got a chin
like nothing I've ever seen ate those
two knees um big shots all night I mean
everybody knows the power that om Ali
has uh he ate all those shots uh even
shots to the body that he took kicks and
and punches to the body Cheto Vera is
one of the most durable Fighters I've
ever seen and you talked about the
incredible gate tonight I think they
said on the Broast was one of the
highest Gates that didn't involve Conor
McGregor so I guess where does where
does Shawn stand in terms of star power
for the company and biggest bantamweight
fight of all time if you ba based off
energy excitement uh gate and
pay-per-view it's it's by far the
biggest fight ever in the bantamweight
division where do you see is SE I mean
our comparisons to Conor I know that's a
little bit tough he's one of a kind but
I mean is he one of the biggest stars
we've ever seen in he's on his way yeah
he's on his way he's the biggest star
ever in b history we can say that right
now definitely what do you make of uh
this these call outs of ilot Toria I
mean is that something that you're even
considering right now or is it too soon
to be talking about moving divisions oh
it's not Tuesday
yet on Tuesday maybe we can talk about
moving divisions yeah I don't know about
moving divisions
uh yeah yeah you know how I feel about
that I mean even topor was talking about
not fighting anybody in the division
after just winning the title yeah that's
crazy talk want to ask about Dustin
porier as well uh obviously future Hall
of Famer Legend fight of the night I
mean what did you think of his
performance and and him at this point in
his career these are the kind of fights
you know when you talk
about
um let think I how to say
this the fights that the fight that he
took tonight with the I mean everybody
when the when the talk first started and
every was like o this is a bad fight for
porier blah blah blah blah blah and then
porier came out and said you know what I
didn't sign all the this is that
makes you a Legend these are
legendary fights when you when you go in
and you face a guy who is a Savage and
and and uh you know looks like you can't
win this fight or people think you can't
win this fight and then you go in and do
it in spectacular fashion the way that
he did tonight A lot of these
Fighters um get very uh you
know you've heard it many times in the
past they want me to lose or they're
trying to make me lose um I heard some
nutty the other day from somebody
that I won't even mention but uh we
don't determine whether you lose or
whether you win you do what we try to do
is put on the best matchmake fight that
we can possibly do and that's why big
stars are built in the UFC and legendary
fights happen every weekend nice last
thing for me given his legendary status
and his performance when it is Tuesday
is he in the conversation for a title
shot in his next porier yeah I mean
porier again like I just said I just
went through that whole you know his
stock again goes through the roof at his
age all the things he's accomplished all
the things he's done look at what he did
tonight and I don't know if you guys are
too busy typing or whatever the it
is you guys do during fights but if you
stood up during that fight and saw the
arena it was insane it was insane PE
people were going nuts yeah
poier went to a whole another level
tonight with this fight Dana what did
you make of Michael Ben and Page's UFC
debut I mean he shot down Kevin Holland
Kevin Holland incredibly frustrated what
did you make of him I yeah listen he's
got that style that's very um you know
he he's he's a counter- striker and and
you know flashy
and we got to matchmake his next fight
the right way did you feel that Kevin
sort of I don't want to say gave up but
in the third round was clearly just like
I don't know what to do with this guy I
don't know if he gave up um you know I I
had
uh Michael winning the first round I had
Kevin winning the second round and then
you got to go in whoever wins the third
round that's
probably probably the first time that
Kevin's ever fought anybody cockier than
him uh earlier this week Mike Tyson has
been announced a return to boxing I know
in the past you said you didn't want him
to fight again you tried to talk him out
of fighting again have you spoken to him
about this one he gets mad when I do
this but Mike 60 man I I don't know what
do you guys think about it who gives a
what I think it's not my fight
um I love Mike Tyson you know personally
as a friend and he's one of my favorite
athletes of all time um I don't know
let's let's see what he can go in there
and put together a training camp and
come in and you know I don't like to see
guys fighting
it be a 31y year age difference during
that fight just you know you know you
guys know what I think of that stuff
that said it is on Netflix which is a
new development right them getting into
live sports obviously you have a TV deal
coming up soon I think the Netflix
should have gotten the live sports years
ago I think I think
they're they're uh they're late to the
game but they are a force they're a
force man and and when you look at um
the amount of homes that they're in
worldwide um you guys heard me talk
about this show Reacher I posted about
it I love that show I hate TV I
don't watch any TV shows hardly ever
don't watch movies anymore but I love
the show Reacher right I can watch
Reacher whenever I want to I can watch
it when I get home I can watch it next
week I can right live sports like this
event tonight you had to watch
tonight as all these massive streaming
companies start to get bigger and bigger
they have to they have to be involved in
live sports safe to say you'll be
talking to them when your TV deal comes
up I'm sure we'll be talking to
everybody uh last one for me Conor
McGregor says he still wants to fight in
June and uh he also mentioned he wanted
to fight Nate Diaz in the sphere on
Mexican Independence Day do either of
those two interest
you I'm looking for Mexicans at the
sphere uh on Mexican Independence Day
Nate huh Nate Diaz oh okay um yeah no
I'm not doing that fight you right here
yeah uh what did I know you gave them
bonuses but what did you make the
performances of Curtis blades and uh
Jack Dela like two guys that seem to be
down on the score cards and picked up in
more comeback wins yeah I agree look
look great
um yeah yeah you you nailed it I don't
know what else to say other than what
you just said you yeah uh we had two uh
interesting entrances with Michael Venom
pagee came out with like the cape and
The Undertaker thing he said even the
UFC kind of helped him out a bit and
then Michelle Pera got approval to do
his dance routine when he walked out so
are we going to see more of this in the
UFC I know it's not something you've
normally done in the past no so not a
fan no uh Joanne wood uh retired at uh
after the first fight what do you make
of her career in the UFC I know she
never got her title shop but she seems
to be one of these beloved figures
awesome human yes she's an awesome human
incredible fighter and uh I couldn't be
more happy for I know that um you know I
don't know how many years ago it was but
pretty recent within the last five or
something you know she went through some
hard times and some ups and downs that
that people go through and she seems
like she's in a really good place she
seems like she's really happy in her
personal life and obviously happy enough
professionally to finally call her quit
so um it could not happen to a better
human being absolutely love her and wish
her nothing but the best last one for me
uh in Saudi Arabia they've been holding
a lot of these big boxing events you
know with the pirate Technics and all
the The Glitz and glamour not something
you also do really with UFC so are we
going to see a lot of that when you do
eventually hold your fight card there so
I I think the difference is that um and
I don't know this for a fact but I'm
just assuming the the the the boxing
events that they're holding there
they're their events and and uh they run
all the production and everything else
and and they put some money into those
things man they really do um but when we
go there we'll be running the production
did you uh see the match the boxing
match last night did you talked to Eddie
after it I did not um I I mean I saw it
on I saw it on social media yeah what
did you make of that finish in the
Francis fight what do you mean what did
I make what did I make of it what you
saw like it was it was it was people are
saying it's one of the more violent
Knockouts in boxing history yeah I mean
going into the fury fight if Fury
trained for the fight and didn't show up
and you know look like he ate Tyson Fury
it's probably the way that fight would
have ended too I mean listen the crosso
you know how I feel about crossovers
into boxing and that's that's how they
end just like that Dana right here to
your left um uh Yani on Chek getting
into the UFC Hall of Fame this summer I
saw you guys got the share moment after
the announcement I guess what did you
guys say to each other and I guess what
does she mean to you and in the company
we both said Thank you to each other you
know um know she's she's incredible I
love the first time I ever ever saw Yana
fight in the UFC I literally went back
and grabbed her and said come out and
watch the rest of the fight we literally
sat there all night and watched the rest
of the card together um and from that
night to tonight we become really close
friends and I have so much respect for
her
and you know she she not only since
she's when she was here but when she
retired I mean she still does so much
stuff with us and for us and she'll be
with us for the rest of her life
tonight's card um had a five round
co-main event I know you guys have done
this a few times more recently we
seeming to see it more for non-title
fights is is that something that going
forward like could it be every card that
this ends up happening eventually well
you know the problem is is that like
this card tonight and even more so UFC
300 when you look at most of the fights
on the card you're like damn I wish this
was five rounds but you know you can't
do it all the time but we'll be sitting
in the room we'll think of these fights
that is a co-main event and we're like
well let's just see if they both want
five rounds or sometimes the fighters
ask for five rounds you know they want
to go five rounds so it's sort of just
kind of kind of how we feel but I think
as fans when we have great fights like
as you look through we ran the first
promo tonight for UFC 300 so from the
first fight of the night all the way
till the main event I mean every fight
you you wouldn't mind see in five rounds
of how difficult was it to uh tonight
was the first time we saw like the bout
order as well so how difficult was that
to figure out where everybody goes like
I saw a lot of people talking about b
nickel being really high so how
challenging was that I'm not kidding you
we literally finalized it today or
yesterday last night we finalized it uh
right after the weigh-ins we started
moving a couple more things around and
then last night we said all right this
is it this is the card because we were
announcing it tonight so um if we didn't
announce it tonight we probably still be
playing with it next week it is what it
is
now here Dana over here just curious
what your thought was of just the whole
atmosphere tonight you the crowd
Channing USA channy Cheeto all different
flags from all countries it was just
what were your thoughts just being here
in that atmosphere it's incredible
brother I I mean it really kicked off
and started at the uh press conference
the press conference was insane awesome
then we roll right into the uh the the
uh WS the next day and then I I knew
tonight you know as long as somebody
these you know we got our holy
moments with some of these fights that
it was going to be Electric in that
place and it was awesome Miami is on
fire I mean I just I can't say it enough
this this City's on fire it's it's it's
such a great destination when you talk
about everything that makes a place a
destination and then is become such a
huge Sports town and now a fight town we
we came here I came here with Anderson
Silva I don't know how many years ago
and we held a a press event and
literally there was no press there and
we we've put on a couple fights the
gates weren't great but in the last 10
years this place has just
exploded and and then finally for me you
mentioned 14 million plus for the gate
yeah so is it fair to say that Miami
will get another one you'll come back
twice a year rather than once a year I
don't know I mean I'd come back next
weekend uh it's that good you know
what's crazy is
that let me let me just put it to this
way probably the biggest venue you can
do in the United
States is Madison Square Garden right
Miami is equal to Madison Square Garden
now with
numbers think wrap your head around that
and think about that 10 years ago would
have never imagined it your opinion on
roell the Spain no out it's a qan giant
two meter ha uh he was debuting tonight
here in
Miami sir I have no idea what you just
said to me Ro is a Spain who Spain yeah
yeah got a knockout tonight okay and
your opinion about the his performance
yeah Knockouts are great when you when
you when you go in and you perform at
this
level with everything that we were just
saying about this place here tonight the
energy the fans and and you pull off an
an incredible knockout it it literally
doesn't get any better than
that thank you sir they know here yeah
go ahead brother I know Chito lost but
you guys uh before the pandemic had gone
to Chile had gone to Argentina uh given
his popularity how much media there was
here for him and fans is there a chance
that the UFC visits Ecuador at one point
yeah I I mean take Cheeto out of the
equation we end up in Ecuador someday
anyway obviously
um when you have somebody who's po you
know that's popular from from that part
of the world it's like we're talking
about Africa and Spain right now
seriously we're we're heavily invested