Following the conclusion of UFC 289: Nunes vs Aldana, UFC President Dana White spoke with the media inside Rogers Arena in Vancouver, covering topics ranging from the retirement of Amanda Nunes and what this means for the women's featherweight division to what's next for the former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira after his first-round TKO of Beneil Dariush.
White began with the list of athletes who would be taking home performance bonuses following a fight night which saw eleven fights welcome the Octagon back to Canada inside a sold out Rogers Arena.
With the bantamweight and featherweight champion Amanda Nunes calling it a career after her eleventh title fight win — a milestone which ties her with Anderson Silva — White gave a reaction:
“I’m not shocked that she retired… Her life is a lot different than it was 10 years ago.
“Would I like to see her stick around and do more? Absolutely. I love the kid. She’s been incredible to work with, she’s such a good human being and a great champion and obviously the greatest female fighter of all time. I’d love to keep her around but if she’s ready to go, you’ve got to be happy for her.”
While on the topic of the women's bantamweight and featherweight divisions, White addressed the outstanding question of if the women's featherweight division will be eliminated, as well as what's next for the vacant women's bantamweight title.
“The answer is probably yes. I mean, I don’t make these decisions right after a fight. She told me when she walked over to the side of the cage that she was retiring so I don’t know. But it makes sense.
"We got a lot of things to work out on Tuesday now. It would make a lot of sense (for Julianna Peña to fight for the vacant title)."
The other big question mark created by last night's results is what comes next for the former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira following his first-round TKO of Beneil Dariush?
Another item on Tuesday's agenda will be who gets the next shot at the reigning lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev — with a case made strongly by Oliveira on Saturday night, who became the first UFC athlete to secure 20 finishes inside the Octagon.
"Incredible performance, especially agains Beneil who a lot of people thought was gonna win this fight. Incredible."
"If you look at how that guy turned his career around, from 2016 to today — he’s a completely different fighter. What he has accomplished in the last however many years has been unbelievable. It’s amazing what he’s done and he looked like a world beater tonight. I’m excited for him and Islam to fight again."
White made sure to follow up with clarification that while this fight is not booked, it will be discussed this week.
White capped off his media availability discussing the reception during fight week from Canadian fans, how it played into a fight week filled with high levels of energy, which all six fighters representing Canada clearly fed off of, all coming away with their arms raised in front of a home crowd.
“Canada has always been a place where there’s talented fighters… Canada is back on the rise.”
He also addressed questions of UFC making yet another return to Canada and other locations like Ireland, Conor McGregor's staged altercation with the Miami Heat's mascot going awry, as well as the impact the Golden Knights winning the Stanley Cup will have on Las Vegas.
UFC 289: Nunes vs Aldana took place live from the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada on June 10, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
