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UFC boss Dana White busted over telling detail in fight photo

andrew reid
·4-min read
Pictured right, Dana White watches a TV monitor while the co-main event is on at UFC 274.
Dana White seemed more interested in a boxing match than one of his co-main events at UFC 274. Pic: Getty/Twitter

UFC boss Dana White has been called out by fight fans after ignoring Rose Namajunas’ title fight against Carla Esparza on the weekend.

Namajunas and Esparza went toe to toe in the strawweight rematch at UFC 274 at the same time Mexican boxing superstar 'Saul' Canelo Alvarez was fighting Russia's Dmitry Bivol in Las Vegas.

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Despite the fight being a co-main event on the UFC 274 card, White made no secret about which bout he more was more interested in watching.

Eagle-eyed fans captured an image of the UFC boss intently tuning in to the Canelo fight on a monitor in front of him, while Esparza and Namajunas slugged it out in front of him in a bout described as an absolute "snoozefest".

One fan tweeted: “Dana White is cage side watching the Canelo fight and hasn‘t even looked up at the Octagon once.”

Another said: “I feel like Rose and Carla were probably watching that fight as well cause they sure as hell weren‘t fighting.”

Esparza would go on to win via split decision to become the new strawweight champion of the world in a contest dubbed 'the worst title fight in the history of the sport.'

Both Namajunas and Esparza landed a combined 68 strikes in 25 minutes. To put that into perspective, Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje nearly matched that in just over three minutes in UFC 274's other main event.

Pictured right, Rose Namajunas punches Carla Esparza in their Women's Strawweight bout at UFC 274
Rose Namajunas (R) punches Carla Esparza in their Women's Strawweight bout at UFC 274. Pic: Getty

"It was a weird fight, it seemed like they didn't want to engage," White said at the UFC 274 press conference.

"I think there was a total of six punches in the first round; it's a tough one but it happens sometimes.

"I started zoning out halfway through it, so I don't know [who won]... I don't think anyone is clamouring for that rematch so we'll have to think of something else.

"Rose is one of the best. She's always gonna be there. We'll see what happens."

In her post-fight press conference, Rose was convinced that she did enough to win the fight.

"I felt like as if I landed the more shots," Namajunas said.

"I even took her down. None of her takedowns were significant, or any control time. She hit me with, I'd say, one good punch.

"I felt like I did the damage. I controlled the fight. I stuck to the strategy, and she didn't really have any offence. She was whiffing at air the whole time. I thought I won."

Dmitry Bivol inflicts second career defeat on Canelo Alvarez

White's controversial move to watch the booing over his own sport was perhaps vindicated as Canelo suffered just the second defeat of his 61 fight career.

Bivol retained his WBA (super) light heavyweight title after winning 115-113 on all three judges' scorecards.

Pictured left to right are boxers Canelo Alvaraz and Dmitry Bivol.
Boxing fans were left seething over the judges scorecards between Canelo Alvaraz (pictured left) and Dmitry Bivol (pictured right). (Getty Images)

The super middleweight champion appeared to become tired and frustrated in the sixth and seventh round when he struggled to break down Bivol's defence.

Bivol also surprised many as he often bullied Canelo and forced the Mexican back onto the ropes throughout the fight.

However, the boxing world was left utterly shocked when all three judges had the fight even going into the 12th round.

Many experts had Bivol winning by a wide margin, up to five or six rounds, but were left stunned by the final result.

with agencies

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