Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) stormed Beacon Theatre in New York, N.Y., today (July 31, 2013) on the second stop of its 11-city, six-day "World Tour" to promote the star-studded final half of its impressive 2013 fight season.
UFC President Dana White hosted the press conference (recap/video replay here) alongside Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos, Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones, Alexander Gustafsson, Welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, Johny Hendricks, Women’s Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate.
In addition to fielding several questions from mixed martial arts (MMA) media in attendance, as well as fight fans, White conducted a post-event interview that dug into far less "global" issues. In the video above he discusses:
- What's next for top 170-pound contender Rory MacDonald after a less than impressive victory this past weekend at UFC on Fox 8 (he thinks Robbie Lawler, which is no real surprise).
- UFC on Fox 8 ratings, which were down about 40 percent from the previous show and beat out by a U.S. international soccer match (he's still "pumped" with the rating).
- Vitor Belfort, who he admitted is officially on nerves for turning down a fight with Tim Kennedy and trying to book a match on his own against Chael Sonnen at UFC 168 (Lorenzo Fertitta is dealing with him).
- He alludes to some drama with the "Hollywood" attorney of Ronda Rousey, who apparently pulled some funny business on the eve of her appearance on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 18 (her reaction to seeing Miesha Tate in the video trailer had more to do with "Rowdy" thinking she had been replaced).
- White has a "whole team" of lawyers looking into the Neo Nazi allegations that are tailing recent free agent acquisition Benjamin Brinsa (he will be released immediately if they are accurate).
- He is not thinking about bring back the apologetic Paul Daley (not today, anyway).
That's not all ... more nuggets in the full video interview above.
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