In a busy week for combat sports news, Dana White faced a wide-ranging array of questions as he sat down to talk to the media at the UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs Hernandez post-fight press conference.
White opened up talking about the main event winner in Houston, as former middleweight champion Sean Strickland stopped Anthony Hernandez in the third round after an impressive display.
“He was in great shape tonight,” said White.
“(He) looked good, sharp, and got the job done.
“I don’t know what I was expecting. If you bet $300,000 on Strickland tonight, you won a million bucks. A couple people did it on Polymarket. I don’t think a lot of people expected Strickland to look as good as he did tonight.”
Perhaps the biggest news of the week involved the signing of UK boxing star Conor Benn, who departed his longtime promoters at Matchroom Boxing to team up with White at Zuffa Boxing.
It was a move that sent shockwaves through the sport of boxing, particularly in the UK, and one that White said showed just how easily he is dealing with his promotional rivals in the boxing space.
“Well, I think you saw this week. I am really beating up babies,” said White, echoing the comments he made at the Zuffa Boxing 03 post-fight press conference.
“Is there a bigger p***y than (Matchroom Boxing Chairman) Eddie Hearn? This guy (Benn) is supposed to be your friend. You're f***ing crying. He made more money. He's going to make more money, and (Hearn) had the right to match it. He could have matched it.”
And when White was asked whether he’d look to sign more big names on short-term deals, he made the same request he’s made to the media a few times already since the launch of the Zuffa Boxing brand.
“Like I said at the last press conference there, judge us at the end of the year by the work that we do this year,” he said.
“At the end of the year, you judge what you think we've accomplished in one year in the sport of boxing.”
With the UFC schedule now in full swing, the countdown to the special, one-off UFC event at the White House is well and truly on. White said he’d met with President Donald Trump this past week to discuss preparations for the event, though there were no conversations about the fights themselves.
“I was with him yesterday (Friday),” said White.
“He didn’t even ask (about) the card. We just went through all the logistics.”
White also said that, while organizing the event requires significantly more difficulties compared to a regular UFC show, he’s confident that his team will make it happen.
“There’s going to be tons of problems pulling it off,” he admitted.
“But we will do it.”
Another big story in the week involved UFC Hall of Famer and inaugural UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, who announced a return to MMA to take on fellow women’s MMA pioneer Gina Carano.
Rousey had stated that she had taken the idea to White first, and the UFC boss revealed that they had discussed the matchup.
“(Ronda) and I have been talking about this since last year, and yeah, it just didn't work out. But I'm happy,” he explained.
“Me and Gina are in a really good place – we weren't at one point – and I'm happy for both of them.”
White was also asked about two of his UFC champions’ respective career paths, as he gave his take on both light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and middleweight champ Khamzat Chimaev, with both men rumored to be eyeing potential moves up to a heavier weight class.
On Pereira, White said that he’d be prepared to work with “Poatan” given his reliability and willingness to fight when the promotion needed him.
“Well, you know, he's one of those guys that always steps up (and) does whatever we need him to do,” he explained.
“Whatever that guy wants to do, we would work with him.”
But on the topic of Chimaev, the UFC CEO said he wants to see the UFC’s first champion from the United Arab Emirates establish himself as a divisional champion by adding some title defenses to his resumé before he makes any more divisional moves.
“I’d like to see him defend his title at a weight first,” he said.
“I'd like to see him defend his title before he talks about jumping around. You’re going to keep going up in weight divisions without defending? Yeah. I’d rather see him defend.”
White also had a quick line on recent comments made on social media by Conor McGregor, who tweeted and deleted a statement saying he had accepted a fight.
White played down the comment, simply saying, “If it was done and he accepted, I would announce it.”
Finally, White also had some words of praise for the “veteran voice of the Octagon” himself, Bruce Buffer, who was honored during the broadcast for reaching 30 years as the UFC’s iconic announcer.
When asked if he would be going into the UFC Hall of Fame this summer, White replied, “Well, he’s definitely a Hall of Famer. I don’t know when he goes in. It’s just a matter of time, I don’t know when...”
UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs Hernandez took place live from Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on February 21, 2026. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
