UFC 264 Press Conference Transcript: Dustin Poirier Defeats Conor McGregor

Dana White: (00:00)
Wow. It’s much cooler in here than it is out in the other arena.

Dana White: (00:05)
That can’t be right. Yeah, they got a gate on here. This can’t be right. I think the gate was 16.76 million. Attendance was 20,062. Tai Tuivasa and Du Plessis got the performance of the night. And then fight of the night was the O’Malley fight. The kid comes in on short notice, wouldn’t go [inaudible 00:00:47] on a win, fought his ass off and he deserves… And bonuses were $75,000. So congratulations to all of them.

Speaker 2: (00:56)
Yeah, no doubt. Dana got to get your thoughts on the main event. A great fight while it lasted and then kind of a bizarre ending. So talk about your immediate reaction to that.

Dana White: (01:04)
Yeah. These second leg break [inaudible 00:01:07] in, what? The last three fights or something? It sucks. It’s brutal. It’s not the way you want to see fights end. Dustin Poirier will fight for the title and when Conor’s healed and ready to go, you do the rematch, I guess, I don’t know.

Speaker 2: (01:26)
Obviously it appeared a pretty clear leg break. Do we have official medical confirmation?

Dana White: (01:30)
He goes into surgery in the morning.

Speaker 2: (01:32)
Okay.

Dana White: (01:32)
Yeah.

Speaker 2: (01:33)
Did you get a chance to speak to him at all before he was transported?

Dana White: (01:35)
Just when I was standing in the Octagon.

Speaker 2: (01:39)
You said it right there, you said do the rematch, right? He said he thinks the rivalry isn’t over. Do you feel that way? That the rivalry is over, and needs that-

Dana White: (01:45)
Listen. The fight didn’t get finished. You can’t have a fight finish that way. We’ll see how this whole thing plays out. Who knows how long Conor’s out. Poirier will his thing until Conor’s ready.

Speaker 2: (02:05)
You said it. Obviously that’s the fight to make the title fight. Did you speak to Charles or Dustin? Any idea how soon they’d like to fight?

Dana White: (02:12)
No.

Speaker 2: (02:12)
No? Did want to ask you about Gilbert Burns as well in the co-main event. Obviously that’s the most exciting fight, put a big result against the top contender. What did you think of his performance?

Dana White: (02:20)
Yeah, he won. What else is there to say about the fight? It wasn’t a good fight, but he won.

Speaker 2: (02:29)
He had three call- outs. He said Masvidal, Leon Edwards, Nate Diaz. You got all those guys at the top knowing that we’re waiting on the title fight, do any of those match-ups stand out to you as one that makes sense for him?

Dana White: (02:39)
Yeah. Obviously Edwards and Masvidal make more sense than Nate does, but I don’t know. Right here right now, it’s the last thing I’m thinking about.

Speaker 2: (02:50)
Yeah. And I did want to ask you about Sean O’Malley. He got a huge pop in there tonight, as you said, “I don’t think you did anything wrong in there, the other guy was just incredibly tough.” So what did you think about him and where he stands? He seems like just becoming a massive star.

Dana White: (03:02)
Yeah. Listen, he did what he was supposed to do. He stayed on his feet, kept moving, hit the guy with tons of combinations, didn’t gas out while doing it. He was looking at the clock a little bit there in the fight, but when you’re in there against a zombie, I could just imagine what it’s like. So I thought he put on a good performance.

Speaker 2: (03:22)
Yeah. Last thing from me, I just meant to ask you earlier, I know you said this is the fight business, people are going to say mean things, but did you have any disappointment in Conor still chirping at Dustin while he’s sitting on the ground and he didn’t-

Dana White: (03:32)
I didn’t hear it. I didn’t hear one word of it.

Speaker 2: (03:35)
He brought his wife back into things.

Dana White: (03:36)
Ah, yeah. I don’t like that.

Speaker 2: (03:38)
Yeah.

Dana White: (03:38)
Yeah. That’s not good. Yeah. Leave people’s family and wives and all that stuff out of it. The family has nothing to do with it.

Speaker 1: (03:46)
Dana, to your left. One of the things Conor said at the press conference the other day was he doesn’t count submissions, that he’s 19-1, or whatever his record will be without submission losses. So here he’s either going for guillotines, so that he doesn’t… Why was he going for a guillotine?

Dana White: (04:04)
Listen, you say a lot of things at press conferences and when you’re in a fight… A guillotine’s a part of the sport, so if it’s there, you take it. It was actually a very risky move for him to take that. I think if you’re going to take it, you keep it standing and try to do it standing instead of going to the ground. But you’re in the heat of the moment and…

Speaker 1: (04:24)
You probably had a good view of that across the Octagon. Did you think Conor was badly hurt when the round ended? Forgetting the ankle, just from the punches that Dustin was landing and he landed a lot of big shots from the top and then the left hand that knocked him down. Did you think Conor was in bad shape just from being buzzed?

Dana White: (04:41)
I think he definitely was on the receiving end of some elbows and some punches, but that’s part of the game. Everybody takes that.

Speaker 1: (04:49)
I guess what I’m saying is: Do you think that would have been a situation where you might’ve seen Dustin finish it if Conor hadn’t gotten injured like that? You see what I’m saying?

Dana White: (04:56)
Well, he got back up on his feet and was throwing punches. His ankle snapped from throwing punches. He was fighting back. It wasn’t like he was up against the cage and defenseless and Dustin was unloading on him.

Speaker 1: (05:10)
Dustin landed a punch that knocked him down and that’s why his leg collapsed back on him. Dustin landed a left-hand that knocked Conor back and when he got [crosstalk 00:05:18]-

Dana White: (05:18)
Listen, I don’t know. Only Conor knows the answer to that question, but if his ankle doesn’t break, I think we get to the end of the round and go to round…

Speaker 1: (05:28)
What do you make of Dustin’s performance? He took a couple shots early and he shows a lot of resilience as a fighter, right? Is that what you make of it?

Dana White: (05:38)
Yeah, the shitty part for Dustin is that he gets out of the guillotine, he’s got the top position, lands great elbows, punches, and ends up winning the round, and then Conor breaks his ankle. So the storyline is Conor broke his ankle instead of Dustin looked good.

Speaker 1: (06:02)
Last thing, do you think that a Poirier from, say, 2016 or 2015, after the Conor loss, would have been able to do this? It seems like the passage of time and the experience he’s gained has made a big difference in him being able to weather that storm that Conor put on him and then still come back and put on a good performance and win the fight.

Dana White: (06:25)
Yeah, a hundred percent. The Dustin from then got knocked out in the first round. So this Dustin took some big shots and was able to get out of the guillotine and turn that guillotine into an advantage for him.

Speaker 1: (06:41)
Lastly, what is the key to that? From your standpoint, is it just experience and having been in those situations, you think that fighters learn that?

Dana White: (06:49)
Yeah. Well, one, I think it is for somebody like Dustin is, this guy is at the American Top Team and he’s training with savages every day. That’s the key to everything. Even in boxing, you have to have the best guys in the world around you, going at it with you every day.

Speaker 3: (07:07)
Dana, right here.

Dana White: (07:08)
Yeah.

Speaker 3: (07:08)
Right here. Did you agree with the stoppage in the O’Malley/Moutinho fight? Moutinho was very upset when Herb Dean stopped it with 30 seconds left.

Dana White: (07:15)
I think it could have been stopped three minutes before that. He could have stopped it in the second round. That fight could have and should have been stopped at any moment. I had no problem with that stoppage.

Speaker 3: (07:26)
And what did you make of Tai Tuivasa’s knockout over Greg Hardy? It looked like it was chaos in there for a bit until he landed a big bomb and now he’s doing shoeys with everyone in the arena. It looks like he could be a big star too, moving forward in that division.

Dana White: (07:38)
He’s a fun heavyweight, he’s a fun guy to watch. And he’s a fun guy in the Octagon and out of the Octagon.

Speaker 3: (07:45)
And then finally. Ilia Topuria. Finally he’s the first one to stop Ryan Hall inside the Octagon. What did you make of Ryan Hall doing his rolls in there and Ilia Topuria just walking away and then diving in and finishing him?

Dana White: (07:57)
Listen, everything that that kid’s done before this has worked. Tonight it didn’t.

Speaker 4: (08:02)
Hey, Dana.

Dana White: (08:03)
Yep.

Speaker 4: (08:04)
Right over here.

Dana White: (08:04)
Hey.

Speaker 4: (08:05)
Hypothetically speaking, if Dustin beats Oliveira and becomes the champion, would you want Conor to fight him for a title shot, or would you want him to fight someone else to earn the title shot?

Dana White: (08:14)
In all that stuff… you can’t do the hypotheticals in this sport. It’s all about timing and what’s going on, what has happened since that? We got to see how this whole thing plays out. Conor goes into surgery tomorrow, I don’t know how long he’s going to be out, how much rehab or therapy he’s going to need.

Speaker 4: (08:31)
And lastly, Tai Tuivasa. When he gets the victory, he does the shoeys, the crowd loves it. Do you think we can make that a tradition? If he gets the victory, he does a shoey on the cage.

Dana White: (08:42)
Make it a tradition?

Speaker 4: (08:43)
Tradition.

Dana White: (08:48)
I don’t know. That’s up to him. He’s been doing it since he won, hasn’t he? I mean, since he’s been here. He goes out and does a shoey with everybody, ever since he got here, right? Sounds like it’s already a tradition.

Speaker 4: (09:01)
All right.

Speaker 2: (09:02)
Dana, to your right. Right here.

Dana White: (09:03)
Hey.

Speaker 2: (09:04)
Hi. Do you have any update on how many stitches Jessica Eye got in the forehead there?

Dana White: (09:08)
That’s a good question.

Speaker 5: (09:08)
13. 13.

Dana White: (09:08)
What babe?

Speaker 5: (09:12)
13 stitches.

Dana White: (09:14)
13? 13 stitches.

Speaker 6: (09:15)
Dana, over here to your right.

Dana White: (09:16)
Oh, wait.

Speaker 6: (09:17)
Oh, I’m sorry.

Speaker 2: (09:17)
Still got some more. What’d you think about that fight though? And the cut? That was a nastier one that we got there.

Dana White: (09:22)
Yeah, no, that was a beauty, man. She’s tough. She’s tough as nails. There’s a logical thing that happens to you when you get split wide open like that, and blood is running all over your face, into your eyes and you can see it in the camera, especially for a woman. And she’s tough, man. She’s a gamer.

Speaker 2: (09:41)
And then as for the other woman who won on the card. Irene Aldana, what’d you think of her performance?

Dana White: (09:46)
I thought she looked incredible tonight. I thought she looked incredible tonight.

Dana White: (09:53)
Is this thing… What am I doing wrong? I’m holding it wrong? Yeah.

Male: (09:57)
Just like that.

Dana White: (10:00)
I didn’t see the fight ending like that, and I thought that was going to be a much tougher fight. She made it look easy. She didn’t have a mark on her face.

Dana White: (10:08)
And yeah, this mic sucks. It’s not me.

Speaker 2: (10:14)
There you go. It’s been like that all night.

Dana White: (10:16)
All right.

Speaker 6: (10:17)
Dana, over here to your right.

Speaker 2: (10:19)
Is it kind of exciting for you to have this emergence of Mexican stars though? She’s been around for a while, but has continued to look great.

Dana White: (10:25)
No, she continues to get better in every performance. And I think tonight was a real coming-out party for her, man. And to be honest with you, when I think about it, she should have been up for a performance. You know what? I’m going to give her some money. Thank you for bringing her up.

Speaker 2: (10:40)
Yeah, of course.

Dana White: (10:41)
We’re going to pay her some more money too. Remind me of that, because you know I’ll forget.

Speaker 2: (10:45)
All right. And last thing for me, Dana. We know that you’re going back to Fight Island in October now, is it just going to be for the one event or are you going to do multiple while you’re over?

Dana White: (10:52)
Oh yeah, yeah. I’ve been talking about how I can’t wait to share with you guys all the stuff we’re doing, I just haven’t gone there yet. I got to get back to Abu Dhabi and have some meetings to get everything finalized out there. Abu Dhabi is going to be very big for UFC for the next however many years.

Speaker 2: (11:10)
Thanks Dana.

Dana White: (11:11)
Thank you. Go ahead, sir.

Speaker 6: (11:13)
Dana, were there any decisions or stoppages that you disagreed with tonight?

Dana White: (11:18)
Your mic’s worse than mine.

Speaker 6: (11:21)
I better get closer. Any stoppages or decisions that you disagreed with?

Dana White: (11:24)
Hey, now we got a plane. All right.

Speaker 6: (11:26)
I know, perfect.

Dana White: (11:26)
This is fucking awesome. What are we on the runway here?

Speaker 6: (11:30)
Should I go a third time?

Male: (11:31)
Back to the Apex. Back to the Apex.

Dana White: (11:31)
Back to the Apex.

Speaker 6: (11:35)
Any stoppages or decisions that you disagreed with tonight?

Dana White: (11:38)
Any what?

Male: (11:39)
[inaudible 00:11:39].

Speaker 5: (11:40)
Stoppages that you disagree with.

Male: (11:42)
Or decisions.

Speaker 6: (11:42)
Or decisions.

Dana White: (11:43)
Stoppages I disagreed with? No, no. No. Listen, like I said, the one fight could have been stopped a round earlier. That guy took some serious punishment. We sent him right to the hospital. No stopping, no talking, no nothing. Right to the hospital.

Speaker 6: (11:59)
Gotcha. Which fighter or fighters impressed you most tonight?

Dana White: (12:02)
Which one…

Speaker 6: (12:03)
Which fighters impressed you the most?

Dana White: (12:04)
Impressed me the most? It was a great card. A lot of kids looked really good tonight. But the Irene Aldana fight, I thought Irene looked awesome. I thought O’Malley taking on a zombie that wouldn’t stop coming forward at him, no matter how… We all know O’Malley hits like a truck. That kid has one punch knockout power. And he hit this kid with everything thing. Kicks, punches, you name it and it couldn’t stop him. And I thought he held his composure really well. And obviously Tai Tuivasa… I could go on and on except for the co-main event.

Speaker 6: (12:43)
Yeah. Absolutely. And last for me, is the fact that Irene Aldana missed weight something that could go against her as far as you getting her another fight with higher ranked contenders? Is that a factor or can you forgive that and let her go on to bigger and better?

Speaker 5: (13:01)
[inaudible 00:13:01] even though she missed weight. [inaudible 00:13:10].

Dana White: (13:10)

Speaker 6: (13:10)
My mic must be really bad.

Dana White: (13:11)
I’m on top of shit. I didn’t know she missed weight.

Speaker 6: (13:13)
Uh-oh.

Dana White: (13:16)
Yeah. That’s a good question. That’s something we need to talk about. I didn’t even know that.

Speaker 6: (13:20)
Understood thank you.

Speaker 9 : (13:21)
Hey Dana.

Dana White: (13:22)
Yeah.

Speaker 7: (13:22)
Dana, right here.

Dana White: (13:23)
Yup.

Speaker 7: (13:24)
Right over here on your right, Dana.

Dana White: (13:25)
Yeah.

Speaker 7: (13:27)
This is your big night back in Las Vegas, not at the Apex. You filled up T-Mobile. Was it what you expected? I’m assuming you’ve thought about it quite a lot.

Dana White: (13:36)
Yeah. The buzz and the energy here was awesome. Yeah. It was a good show. You don’t ever want to see a main event end like that, but it happens, it’s a contact sport.

Speaker 7: (13:47)
You talked a lot about, on the broadcast, the most celebrities who have requested tickets. I’m assuming you have a lot of celebrity friends. What’s your nice way of telling them, “I don’t got any more tickets.”

Dana White: (14:00)
This was the one that we had to do it to a lot of people, we had to tell them we don’t have any more tickets. This thing sold out so fast and filled up so fast. For instance, I was just telling somebody the other day, you guys know Coach Brent Venables is? The defensive coordinator for Clemson. The night we were in Abu Dhabi and Poirier won the fight, he texted me that night for tickets for the rematch. That’s how early we were getting ticket requests. Yeah, celebrities are used to calling last minute, and nobody got any last minute tickets.

Speaker 7: (14:35)
[inaudible 00:14:35] talk about in boxing, obviously the Tyson/Fury fight got canceled due to COVID. You obviously are now not competing with them, with Sandhagen and Dillashaw. What are your thoughts on that? Obviously that might’ve hurt a bit of the ratings a little bit, for UFC.

Dana White: (14:52)
I don’t think about that at all. Listen, I used to, 15 years ago. I don’t worry about that anymore at all, because it never has happened. And one of the things that we’ve learned over the last however many years is when you have twos fight the same night, as long as you’re not really stomping all over each other, you actually did pull a better number because as fight fans, we’re a bunch of sickos and we will figure out a way to watch both of them at the same time. I’ve done it a million times. Even recently when we’ve had some boxing events going on the same time. Even at the Apex, we’ll have it on in my room in the back, whatever the boxing fight is or I’ll have them put it at my table. So fans do the same thing. I actually think it helps everybody when we do it.

Speaker 7: (15:39)
Thank you.

Dana White: (15:40)
Yep.

Speaker 2: (15:40)
Hey Dana, down to your left over here. Dana.

Dana White: (15:43)
Yup.

Speaker 2: (15:43)
Obviously, we all saw what happened, but any other details? Do we know it was the ankle, the lower leg? Do we know exactly what it was?

Dana White: (15:49)
It looked like the ankle to me, but I’m no doctor. Once they get in and do the x-rays on him and look at it, they’ll know exactly what’s wrong. We’ll probably know within… You know? What?

Hunter: (16:01)
Lower tibia of the shin.

Dana White: (16:03)
Lower tibia of the shin, I guess.

Speaker 2: (16:04)
Wow. I should’ve just texted Hunter, I guess. I’m just kidding.

Dana White: (16:06)
I don’t know how the fuck they figured that out that quick, but… touché.

Speaker 2: (16:10)
Did you get a chance to speak with Conor or anyone from his team before they-

Dana White: (16:12)
No. Only in the Octagon I saw him.

Speaker 2: (16:14)
Okay. Thanks, Dana.

Dana White: (16:16)
All right.

Speaker 9: (16:17)
Dana.

Dana White: (16:18)
Go ahead. No. Behind you. He was next five guys ago. Yeah, you.

Speaker 9 : (16:24)
Thanks, Dana. I was just wondering: You mentioned the celebrities and so forth, but what did Donald Trump say? What did you say to Trump? There was a chant, “USA, USA.”

Dana White: (16:38)
I met him outside and walked in with him, and nothing. He’s a fight fan here to see the fights tonight. That’s it. I’ve been friends with this guy for years and just two friends, who were fight fans, watching a fight.

Speaker 8: (16:56)
Dana, how come the bonuses were 75 grand tonight? What was the decision behind that?

Dana White: (17:01)
I was in there giving the fighter meeting. It’s a big fight. I was getting all fired up and I just said fuck it.

Speaker 8: (17:09)
Just being at the tables, just getting carried away?

Dana White: (17:12)
We get a little fired up in the fighter meeting sometimes and…

Speaker 8: (17:15)
Is there any chance you could just make them 75 grand going forward?

Dana White: (17:21)
Probably not.

Speaker 8: (17:23)
Thanks.

Speaker 9: (17:23)
Dana.

Speaker 10: (17:24)
Dana.

Dana White: (17:26)
Seriously fuck up our budget.

Speaker 10: (17:27)
We’re kind of to your center, like right… There you go.

Dana White: (17:31)
Hi, hi. Yeah. How are you?

Speaker 10: (17:31)
Hey. Good, thanks. So Conor McGregor is probably the most successful athlete in terms of being a brand in UFC. You’ve got Dustin who has the hot sauce, and he’s making some headway with that. What are the conversations like that you have with fighters about taking advantage of their moment and really being able to capitalize on their brand? Not just as a fighter.

Dana White: (17:56)
It’s so hard to do because you’re dealing with grown men and women and you can’t tell people how to spend their money. The one thing that I always tell them is: please pay your taxes. Please pay your taxes. That’s the one thing that you don’t want to screw up and get behind. And to be honest with you, probably one of the most successful brands too, is Ronda Rousey. I was just with her a few days ago over at the Apex. This girl owns more houses than I don’t know. She bought a house in Hawaii and she’s starting a new business and she’s doing this, she’s doing that. She’s got a new TV show. I think she has really done a great job of capitalizing on all the money she’s made and is continuing to make tons of money outside the Octagon since she retired.

Dana White: (18:49)
But you either got it or you don’t. You could take five different business owners: One is a great businessman and does everything right and blows the business out of the water…

Dana White: (19:02)
And does everything right. And blows the business out of the water. One’s okay. And the other two are terrible. They have it. If you have it, you do. If you don’t, you don’t. But you can’t tell these kids how to spend their money.

Speaker 11: (19:13)
Dana?

Dana White: (19:14)
Yep.

Speaker 11: (19:15)
Right here.

Dana White: (19:15)
Yep.

Speaker 11: (19:16)
In the midst of the NBA finals and the Wimbledon finals and the Euro finals, this event tonight was the global epicenter of sport. This organization has jumped leaps and bounds beyond mainstream. Tell me a little bit about what that means to you personally and how now you believe the UFC is viewed in regard to, topic A is UFC over all of that around the planet?

Dana White: (19:44)
Thank you, sir. First of all, Eric, my social media guy came to me. I don’t remember what time it was tonight, but he said, “We’re trending number one in every country, in the world right now. We’re trending number one.” So, little things like that. And I always knew that this would. And I’m so crazy driven to make it that, to make it the biggest sport in the world. And I feel like over the last year and a half, a lot of people have gotten soft and lazy and I’ll run right over all of them. That’s the way that I look at it. And I look forward to it.

Speaker 12: (20:36)
Dana, over here on your right, right over this way.

Dana White: (20:39)
Yep.

Speaker 12: (20:40)
So all week you were saying most pre-buys ever, most pre-buys ever. Do you have that number in front of you right now? Or do you have an estimate of that number?

Dana White: (20:51)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was all about that right before the ankle break. I’m thinking that I know that at eight o’clock, we were over 1.2 million buys just in the U.S. So my assumption, I have to be careful with this stuff now because we’re a public company and I can’t go out, shoot my mouth off and have it be completely wrong. But I’m going to say that we came in anywhere between 1.7 million and 1.8 million.

Speaker 12: (21:26)
That’s fantastic, Dana. Obviously a huge week, a lot of obstacles in the way. What was the biggest challenge of setting up this fight week?

Dana White: (21:38)
You know, this was a typical fight week. The worst part of this week was tickets. Tickets is this job. I hate it. I’ve been doing it for 20 years. And when people tell, ask me, “When you retire, what will you be excited about?” I’ll be excited about not doing tickets anymore. That’s about it. Every other aspect of this job I love or tickets suck. That’s the worst part of this job. It’s like a wedding every weekend. I’m doing a wedding and seating people. And nobody’s happy with where they’re sitting. And this guy’s in front of me and that guy’s behind me. And you know how that goes, especially when you got celebrities and all that shit. It just… and fighters, you got to seat these guys. I could bitch all night to you about tickets.

Speaker 12: (22:32)
Dana, you said you had words with Connor in the cage? What were the words exchanged?

Dana White: (22:37)
No. I just looked at him. I said, “How you doing? Are you okay? Are you okay?” And he just gave me the nod like…

Speaker 12: (22:42)
But as soon as he’s better, you see a rematch happening between him and Poirier?

Dana White: (22:46)
I don’t know. Listen, the rematch is there. You got the rematch with him, like you got the rematch with Diaz. It’s always going to be there. I don’t know what the landscape’s going to look like when he’s ready or how long it’s going to be. And so to say definitively, I can’t right here right now, but you always have that rematch.

Speaker 12: (23:06)
Usually people talk about the fighters entrances, but Tai Tuivasa’s exit was maybe one of the best exits ever. Would you share a shoey with Ty?

Dana White: (23:20)
If the world was on fire and everybody was dying of thirst, that’s the last fucking thing I would ever do ever, but good for him. Not my thing.

Speaker 12: (23:35)
Yeah. And we’re finally back Vegas is open. It’s alive, T-Mobile. Do you have any dates, more dates here in Vegas for T-Mobile.?

Dana White: (23:44)
We do. I don’t know it off the top of my head, but we will be back to Vegas. Yes. Yep.

Speaker 13: (23:53)
You mentioned the pay-per-view buys. Before, you were talking a lot about efforts to crack down on online piracy and stuff. Where do you feel like you are with that right now?

Dana White: (24:02)
Yeah, I got a text tonight that there was something like, there were tons of sites out there doing it, but we have a whole system in place that. We’re so good at that. We’re so good at that. We battle that every day. We spend a lot of money to make sure that doesn’t happen. The other thing, too, hats off to ESPN. No issues tonight whatsoever with anybody purchasing. I was beating the drum all week to do pre-buy. So you’re not part of the two million people that are trying to jump on at the same time and do it. And I don’t know if you guys, I haven’t heard one word all night about anybody having trouble buying the fight. So they did a great job.

Speaker 14: (24:42)
It seems like you guys make so much money from ESPN directly now. And from increasingly international rights fees and stuff, and that pay-per-view gets to be a smaller chunk of the business.

Dana White: (24:52)
Oh no, no. The pay-per-view is where we live or die. Pay-per-view is our business.

Speaker 14: (24:58)
Do you see that as like five, 10 years from now? You think that stays the same way? Because it seems like you’re trending more and more in rights fees.

Dana White: (25:04)
It’s going to be interesting to see how that plays out. Because in my opinion, over the next 10 years, the networks and all this stuff are going to go away. Everything’s going to be streaming. Everything’s going to be streaming and it’s going to be global. And I think that like ABC, CBS, and NBC that we grew up with as the powerhouses in television, there will be three of those. Will it be Netflix, ESPN and YouTube? I don’t know. It’ll be somebody. There’ll be three powerful people out there and they’ll start locking up sports rights or whatever’s going to do. I think the landscape is going to change so much in the next 10 years. I don’t know.

Speaker 14: (25:44)
Lastly, what do you think about Greg Hardy at this point? Because he’s gotten some good placement and then you guys have had a good push behind him, but he hasn’t beat a lot of guys who are like notable, still UFC guys.

Dana White: (25:52)
Well, tonight was a big night for him. Tonight was a really big night. Tai Tuivasa Would have been a real win for him. So, yeah. I don’t know what this means for him tonight, but yeah.

Speaker 15: (26:04)
Dana back over here on your right.

Dana White: (26:05)
Yep.

Speaker 15: (26:06)
So both Connor and Dustin this week, they mentioned that they want to challenge Charles Olivera for the lightweight title at the end of the year at Allegiant Stadium down the street. But since T-Mobile is the exclusive home for the UFC events in Las Vegas, is Allegiant stadium even a possibility for that fight?

Dana White: (26:23)
No, no, no. I my mic working? No.

Speaker 15: (26:25)
Not a possibility.

Dana White: (26:26)
No. You know what kind of a fight you have to go have to go into a stadium? You got to have, you got to be in a place. Like for instance, when we do a stadium… When Australia opens back up and we can go back over there and put on a… You do an out of Attasania versus Whitaker in Australia or New Zealand or something like that. Those are stadium shows. The other thing, I don’t love stadium shows here in the United States and other places. In Australia they’re used to stadiums. I think it takes away from the experience. When you watch a fight in an arena like tonight, it has a tighter feel. It has this energy and this buzz inside of it. You can see the fight really well, no matter where you’re sitting. And I don’t like taking away that that in-house experience.

Speaker 15: (27:21)
So there’s no possibility even if a big fight presents itself?

Dana White: (27:24)
Anything’s possible. Allegiant Stadium, the end of this year with Allavara and Poirier? No, that’s not possible.

Speaker 15: (27:29)
Okay. So last one for me, there was also a lot of confusion amongst fans about the booking of Sierra Gohan versus Derrick Lewis in Houston. Did the multi event fans-

Dana White: (27:38)
Who’s confused?

Speaker 15: (27:39)
Fans.

Dana White: (27:39)
Oh.

Speaker 15: (27:41)
Did the multi event partnership that the UFC signed with the Toyota Center increase the urgency to have Derrick Lewis booked for a title fight in Houston next month?

Dana White: (27:48)
No, it was almost simultaneous when we did the deal, I’m friends. He’s a fratita.

Speaker 15: (27:55)
Okay. So no relation to that at all?

Dana White: (27:56)
No. He’s a fratita. He and I, last time we got together… First of all, when we were coming out of the end of the pandemic here, he hit me up and said, “Texas needs you. We need you out here really badly. Can you come to Houston?” I said… And then I think you guys remember this… I said, “Fuck, I’ll go this weekend.” It was like the Stipe fight, the Stipe, D.C. Fight. I was going to bring it there that weekend. Some shit went on internally. We couldn’t get it done. We go out there. We kill it in Houston.

Dana White: (28:28)
And he’s like, that night after the fight I met with him. And he’s like, “I want you to come back more and more often. So let’s talk about it.” We started talking and we’re going to go back to Houston. But there’s no… One thing that I never do is never put any pressure on ourselves that we have to go somewhere or whatever. We did the deal because we’re friends. We like each other and we do really good business together. And I like Houston too. So that’s why.

Speaker 15: (28:55)
All right, thanks, Dana.

Dana White: (28:56)
Yep.

Speaker 16: (28:57)
Are we going to London in September?

Dana White: (28:59)
We what?

Speaker 16: (29:00)
Are we going to London in September?

Dana White: (29:03)
We’re supposed to. I think so. I got to go to London here, soon. They got me doing something over there. I’ll be going there soon. And we’re trying to go there before the end of the year.

Speaker 16: (29:13)
Is there a concern? Because there’s S=still the travel ban at the moment.

Dana White: (29:16)
Yeah, I know. Listen, I don’t know how any of this stuff’s going to play out. We’ll see how this winter’s coming in. When we start going to the fall and then winter and Delta. I don’t know, man. We’ll see.

Speaker 16: (29:30)
Is there any concern that we might have to start going back and all that stuff, lock downs and stuff like that?

Dana White: (29:35)
Other people will go back. I’m not going back. You know what I’m going to do. I’m good. No matter what happens, I’m moving forward. I’m doing my thing. Do I think other sports will possibly shut down? Yeah, I think they probably will again. But we won’t. So you guys will all still be traveling unless your bosses don’t let you. That’s it? Thanks, everybody. Have a great night.

Speaker 17: (30:13)
Gilbert, congratulations on the victory. I know you’re always seeking a finish and surely would’ve preferred that tonight, but talk to me about how you’re feeling after that win.

Gilbert Burns: (30:21)
I feel good. I feel special even though I just lost the title shot. And then we’ve got to go back and beat a freaking guy that’s very dangerous. The game plan was stay disciplined, hands up, taking down, smashing. Make sure I control him when I take him down. Don’t hurry to the submission on the first round, like I did with Woodley and ended up losing. So stay on top, controlling his machine. That was a little bit of the game plan. But for sure, I always want to finish. I felt bad that I didn’t had a finish, but I beat a guy that a lot of guys lost. A lot of guys that… a guy that a lot of guys doesn’t want to fight. Yeah. I feel grateful and special.

Speaker 17: (31:01)
Can you talk about how challenging it was when you talked about like bringing in Raymond Daniels and getting a feel for that? But he is one of the most unique guys in the division. So you think you’re ready. You think you know what to expect. How different was it when you got in there?

I got ready with three guys: Raymond, Dennis, my guy that was here with me, Jason Jackson, a beast, number three at the Bellatore. He was the one doing the cage defense. Defend the take down. He gave me such a hard work that I felt ready. Raymond, Dennis, Jason Jackson, Lee Jemanis, all my guys I stand for. I felt great. I feel ready for sure. It’s still tricky a little bit. He hit me with a freaking spinning kick on my neck. My neck’s sore right now. But besides that I’m healthy. I’m good. And I’m happy with that win.

Speaker 17: (31:47)
Crow obviously voiced their displeasure a little bit at some point. I mean, you’re hearing that in your mind, but you know you’ve got to stay in this position to win the fight. Is that difficult to stay disciplined? I mean, what’s going through your head as you’re hearing the crowd.

I just lost my fight for the title because I wasn’t disciplined. It wasn’t as hard to stay disciplined. I want to win. I Want to become a champion. And they given me such a tough guy to fight. A guy that Leon said no. Colby said, no. I said, “Give me this guy. I don’t care.” And I got to stay disciplined. That was my whole training session. Every day, my preparation is to my coach. I want you to discipline. Before we start sparring, I want your discipline. I want the hands up. I want you lighter on your feet, moving. When you go, you go. If you’re not feeling like it, keep moving. Keep the hands up and stay active. And that, it paid off.

Speaker 17: (32:37)
Nice. Like I said, it’s a big win over tough guy. You had a handful of names ready. I think they all make sense because they’re all right there with you. But are any of those matchups more preferable to you than others?

Not really. I just took the NMF belt. I can take the PMF belt. If Leon want it, he can get it. If [foreign 00:32:55] want, he can get it. I know I just got a title shot. I can’t ask for another title shot. I don’t believe they’re going to give it to me. So I want to keep working on it. Keep it staying disciplined. Keep getting better. I need to find that balance to stay disciplined. But at the same time, get a finish. I’m just going to keep working. Give me any one of these guys. Only thing I like [foreign 00:33:20] a lot, but he just got two losses and he make a lot of money. So he got to give me a actual check to fight him and I’ll fight him. But I fight [inaudible 00:33:31] next, but put me on a pay-per-view card. I’ll fight him. And it’s going to be a crazy one.

Speaker 18: (33:36)
Go to your left.

Speaker 19: (33:38)
What was the secret to getting Stephen down so many times? I mean, I don’t remember him being taken down that often.

He never fought me. But the secret was Jason Jackson, Bellatore number three on the ward. That was, he was the guy. Two guys, like I said, Raymond Daniels gave me the discipline and Jason defended the take down. They make me ready. A lot of ideation, a lot of things. They got very strong. My guys from IAGP, my strength, conditioning coach, they led me very, very strong. And all the preparation for the Kamara fight. I think I learned so much and they called me ready.

I was getting ready to fight Kamara. Didn’t like the way it went. But I was very well-prepared to clench a lot, to scramble a lot. We keep growing on the preparation for sure. We change a lot of the styles, but I have that real power right there. If, as soon as I get ahold of him and I was remembering the training. As soon as I get a body lock, I was just like, “Man, the guy’s not as strong as Jason is.” It felt so good. You know, when you expect the guy to be a freaking monster and when you get a hold, oh, he’s not that monster. That feels good.

Speaker 19: (34:47)
How well did he defend? Because when you did get him down, it didn’t seem like you ever really threatened anything.

I mean, the hardest part was to get close. I need to be very aware to don’t get any counter shot, trying to get the angle, but he was very sneak. But as soon as I got in, I felt great and said, “Okay, it’s a matter of time. Take that guy down. Let’s make sure we get a good grip. We stay strong, stay busy.” As soon as I get a good position, I went for it. And every, I think was three times. The three times that I tried, I took him down.

Speaker 19: (35:21)
And two other questions for me. Number one, how do you break down Colby against Uzma? Now that they fought each other, what changes do you think each guy would make? And who would you favor?

My favorite is Kamara. I never trained with Colby but I trained a lot with Kamara. He’s a tough guy. He just beat me. He always stay active. He stays training. Colby broke his jaw. Kamara broke Colby’s jaw. I think Kamara has more power. You don’t see. I think I never saw Colby knocking everyone downward, even knocking no one out. Kamara does. Kamara has a fricking gas tank. True good at wrestling. Yeah, Kamara’s the favorite. I think if he has anymore fights against Colby, he won’t ever see one.

Speaker 19: (36:06)
And then lastly for me, you had talked about your discipline being important. Tactically, what do you think? Anything we have to change in the rematch when you finally do get Kamara?

Yeah. A lot of things are going to change in my preparation. I did a lot of mentally changed a lot of things. I got very angry at that fight, very emotional. And that took me out of the fight. I got to stay disciplined a little bit more tactical mistakes that I made it and I’m going to keep evolving. That’s why I want to fight. And I do believe one or more, two fights, we got another title shot and I don’t mind with them. Just going to keep getting better, keeping disciplined and putting a lot of tools on my game. I just show a lot of guys, Johnny Hendricks, a title that a lot of guys couldn’t think, want to point out the way I did. And yeah, still going to get better and try to get to finish next time. But yeah, I’m going to keep getting better .

Speaker 18: (36:58)
Gilbert, to your right over here.

Speaker 20: (37:00)
Were the constant level changes in round two and three, was that a part of the game plan?

Yeah, a lot of that was, “II got to make him guess,” so sometimes he got on the defense. He was very effective coming forward and then I’m like, “Okay.” And then I listen to my coach, Daniel Kamibrazini, “Hard change level.” And then I changed to say, “Oh, okay. You don’t like that.” And then yeah, after that, I started listening to my coach saying discipline and that’s what it did.

Speaker 20: (37:26)
And how much nicer is a win like this, you know, back in front of the crowd being on one of these big cards, you know, having the family here again? How much nicer is that?

It’s super nice having the family here, my wife right there, Bruno, Pedro, Joshua, the whole family right here was amazing. And for sure, the arena that energy, they were booing. I don’t care. It was good. I felt that energy. But the main thing was coming back from a loss. It’s always good to get a win, especially, especially that was a big one. It was a title shot, which I was about to became a champion. And then I lost. It’s over. No, it’s not over. Okay, let’s bounce back. Let’s keep…

Speaker 21: (38:03)
It’s over? No, it’s not over, okay, let’s bounce back. Let’s keep working that. I think that makes me a very… A successful night, a special night, be able to bounce back, be like, okay, with the dream, we’re still alive, let’s go.

Speaker 22: (38:15)
Did you get a chance to see the main event? And just what’d you think about it?

Speaker 21: (38:18)
I saw a little bit, I was taking a shower and then the kids started yelling. And then, but when I saw the kick, I think he kicked right. And then Poirier blocked.

Speaker 22: (38:28)
He stepped back on it.

Speaker 21: (38:29)
Yeah. Oh, my wife said “Aw, he broke his feet” and then we were looking, fortunately, I think it’s a crazy sport it’s a tough sport. And I saw what happened with Anderson Silva. I saw what happened with Chris Weidman not long ago. We saw what happened to Conor. So it’s, unfortunately, it’s a very hard sport, and we got to appreciate these guys when they are out there, putting on the show. And he’s unfortunate, I was always looking for so much for this fight, but it is what it is. I think Conor got to take, for sure, a little time off to heal up, but I wasn’t watching, I don’t know. I didn’t know how the fight was going, but he’s in an unfortunate situation.

Speaker 22: (39:16)
And do you think that he’s kind of crossed the line a little bit with, you mentioned your family right there, but if somebody was doing that to you, is that too much? How he’s been bringing in for you, his wife and everything to the conversation.

Speaker 21: (39:26)
What was he doing?

Speaker 22: (39:27)
He’s been talking, you know, trash talk about family, Dustin’s family, and life and everything.

Speaker 21: (39:33)
He tried to get an orange. We try to get on each other’s mind, I think for sure we cannot cross that line. But at the end of the day, we’re fighting. I’m trying to take the guy’s head off. If you say something, I think you for sure, I don’t want to cross that line, but in the same way, we’re going to fight anyway. So, I don’t like to cross that line, but if the guy does, it’s my job to not let that affect me. So I think he’s a little… I don’t know, but it’s part of the game.

Speaker 23: (40:05)
Can you go over here to your far right?

Speaker 21: (40:07)
Yep.

Speaker 23: (40:08)
You mentioned that when you had Steven in a body lock, he wasn’t as strong as your training partners. Was there anything else that surprised you or was unexpected in the match with “Wonderboy”?

Speaker 21: (40:24)
The distance that he did was very good. It was long. Another thing that I liked so much was when he hit me a couple of times, it wasn’t as hard as I thought. Because I tried to put a Moss out there, yeah look at that guy, when he hits it’s going to be hard. When I go to the cage, he’s going to be hard and everything will be put hard, if it’s not as hard, better, but if it’s hard, I’m ready for it.

Speaker 21: (40:47)
Fricking Raymond Daniels was so quick. He moved from a lot of different angles that it’s kind of hard to say, but Raymond, I think was a little quicker, a little bit fricking spinning from every angle and kicking me. But he’s still a very tough opponent that I saw tonight.

Speaker 23: (41:06)
For sure. I know it doesn’t matter to fighters if you’re the underdog or the favorite, but you were the underdog, excuse me, in that fight. And a lot of people were saying, even though you have great training partners, it’s not going to work against “Wonderboy.” What did you think if you read these things or if people tell you these things?

Speaker 21: (41:23)
The thing is, I don’t read those things. And if I do, it really doesn’t affect me, I know exactly who I am. I know exactly the skill set that I possess. I’ve been finishing all these guys. I lost to Kamaru Usman my last time. Yeah, I did. But that’s my own loss in that division. Besides that, I beat every single one in that division, and I’m going to keep doing that. So I don’t pay attention to that. I know exactly who I am. I know my capabilities, and I cannot control what people are going to say. People are going to hate on the fight. Now they’re going to say, “Oh, that guy, that guy is old.” Like same thing when I fought Demian Maia, “Oh, Demian Maia’s old.” Okay. I fought Woodley, “Oh, Woodley’s old.” Okay. And then I fought “Wonderboy.” Now Wonderboy’s old. And then if I fought the next guy, that guy is old, everybody’s old. So I’m just going to keep on beating everybody.

Speaker 24: (42:12)
For sure. Last question for me, Gilbert, last question over here, if I could. How would you rate your performance, one through ten.

Speaker 21: (42:19)
I think it was a nine and a half. I think it was a good one. That guy was very tough. I can’t name the guys that didn’t take him down the way I did. Johnny Hendricks, high-level wrestling. I don’t know how many times he’s the wrestling champion, then Tyron Woodley, then [inaudible 00:42:37] He beat my guy Jason DeLucia. He’s a tough one. And then I was able to dominate him and yeah, if for sure I’m a finisher, I want to beat the crap out of the guy that is in front of me, but sometimes it’s got to go that way.

Speaker 24: (42:56)
Absolutely. Great work.

Speaker 21: (42:57)
Thank you.

Speaker 25: (42:58)
[foreign language 00:42:58]

Speaker 21: (43:27)
[foreign language 00:43:27].

Speaker 25: (43:27)

Speaker 21: (43:27)
[ foreign language 00:6:06].

Speaker 25: (45:05)

Speaker 21: (45:11)
[foreign language 00:45:11]. Thank you guys.

Speaker 26: (45:35)
Dustin, congratulations on the victory. I know that it’s just kind of a weird ending, but obviously a very exciting fight while it lasted. How satisfied are you as you sit there right now with the performance tonight?

Dustin Poirier: (45:47)
You know, you never want to get a win that way, but what happened was a result of checking a kick, I’m more than sure of it. And he got what he had coming to him, man, Karma’s a mirror, and I busted my for so long to put myself in this position. I doubled down on myself after beating him in January. When they offered me a title shot, I doubled down on myself and it paid off.

Speaker 26: (46:14)
Nice. You’re in there with them obviously just six months ago. So, you’re familiar with them at this point. How did that first round play out? Did anything surprise? I mean, he did have a couple of decent moments in there. Did anything surprise me at all?

When he jumped for a guillotine? That surprised me. Nah, he hit me with a good left hand. I kind of was at an angle, I didn’t see it, it was like a downward left-hand, the kick and punch man. He really can. He hit me with a good left hand. I thought he was going to use calf kicks against me and I was right. Yeah. That’s about it.

Speaker 26: (46:47)
Jumped the Gill, your signature move there, right?

Don’t be silly, jump the Gilly.

Speaker 28: (46:53)
It did look a little bit in there. I was trying to figure out, it looked like you were complaining a little bit to her…

That’s why I let him up. That’s why I let him up at the end of the… I don’t know, but I let him up because he was, he had three fingers in my glove, the cuff of the tape. So it’s a good grip. And he’s pulling me down into, up-kicks. He’s pulling me down and kicking up at the same time. You know, I’m not surprised that he does that type of stuff. I was telling her that you know this guys… I can’t get out of it.

Speaker 28: (47:22)
Did he acknowledge you at all? I got that’s why I couldn’t tell what was being said to her, but did he acknowledge you at all?

I told her “Maybe Conor pulled his fingers out. I got to go back, fighting is crazy. I got to go back and see,” but that’s what I was trying to tell her.

Speaker 28: (47:32)
Yeah. And then obviously there was a late sequence at the end of the opening round. I mean, you were pushing to the end. When you went back to your corner at the end of round one, did you know something was wrong?

Yeah. When I was walking away and he stayed down, I looked down at his shin and I saw the bone. Like I saw it was disfigured a little bit. And I was like, “Oh man”, it’s just weird that it held together because I’m more than sure it happened on when I checked the kick that it held together. And then probably when he pivoted on that bone, that’s when it probably separated or something. I don’t know. I’m not a doctor.

Speaker 28: (48:00)
Yeah. So as you walked back to your corner, did you go “The fights over?”

Yeah. I went to sit on the stool and I forget who was it in my corner who came up to me and said that this is over.

Speaker 28: (48:09)
Nice. You know, like you said, it’s not the way you want to fight the end. Right. But I do wonder, I mean, he said you were going to be leaving on a stretcher. He ends up leaving on a stretcher. I mean, do you take any satisfaction in that?

Listen, I kind of said some nasty stuff that didn’t make it on embedded. And maybe when this behind the scenes for this fight airs, you’ll see him on the ground still saying some real bad stuff. But even that stuff being said, I don’t wish serious harm like that on nobody. The guy’s got kids. I want him to go home safe to his family. I pray before these fights, every time before I walk through the octagon door, I’m praying not for me to win. I’m praying that we both get out of this safe, cause you know, I know what I’m going to try to do to him. I know what he’s going to try to do to me.

Speaker 28: (48:56)
He said afterwards, the rivalry’s not over. We didn’t know why he was here earlier Dana said obviously you’re going to fight for the title next, but at some point you do the rematch down the line. Do you feel like the rivalry is over? Do you feel like…

No, we are going to fight again whether it’s in the octagon or on the sidewalk, you don’t say the stuff he said.

Speaker 28: (49:14)
The things that he did say, especially afterwards, you’re saying about your wife and that’s what…

Speaker 28: (49:19)
No, my wife is solid as a rock. I’m not worried about that. That’s noise. He was saying that he was going to kill me. You don’t say stuff like that, that he was going to murder me. You don’t say stuff like that. You don’t say stuff about people’s wives either, but I know that’s zero chance, but there is a chance somebody could die, and you don’t say that you don’t wish that on anybody man.

Speaker 28: (49:41)
Last thing for me, [inaudible 00:49:43] you’re fighting for the world title next. I mean, I know it’s going to be a big moment for you. I’m sure you want to go rest a little bit?

Okay. I just want to know how much Chad Ochocinco lost tonight. You bet on Conor.

Speaker 29: (49:57)
20 bucks.

Oh, okay, okay.

Speaker 28: (50:03)
I figured he put more down than that as well. No, but what I was going to ask is obviously you fight for the title next. Do you have an idea? I mean, do you have a date circuit on the calendar and idea? I mean how soon you want to fight?

I feel like I’ve been preparing for a fight since last year, because I was getting ready for Conor in January. I fought him, as soon as the fight ended, I knew that was next. So I got home from Abu Dhabi and started training for that fight. I did a nine-week camp, but as soon as I got home from Abu Dhabi, I was… I had one trip. I got to decompress a little bit, but I was getting ready to fight him again. The last thing I want to do right now is go home and sign a contract and start getting ready right away. We’ll see. I just need to get home and think about some things and decompress and spend some time with my family. You know, I just found out my little brother’s going to be a dad. And I just want to be around him.

Speaker 30: (50:47)
Dustin, to your left. Congratulations on the victory. I know the win means a lot to you, but are you most proud of the fact that you maintained your dignity and you didn’t kind of stoop to those kinds of things? It would have been easy when the crowd was going crazy at the press conference and all throughout the week, you did not do that. Is that what makes you proud of your performance this week?

I’m proud of the performance, but I am proud at maintaining the mindset through all the craziness, all the talk, all the noise that’s surrounding me when coming into these fights, and it doesn’t start just here on fight week. It starts months away on social media. In the last month I got off of social media and just let my agency post and they would, they would send me a picture. I would tell them a caption. They would do it all, and I wouldn’t have to get on because it’s just so much negativity and so much toxicity on that, man. I don’t need that around me, dude. I’m trying to be a light. I’m trying to help people. Look. My goal is to provide for my family and with the same hands that I beat these guys down with, lift my city up, lift people in need up and just be a beacon of light and a voice for people whose voices aren’t heard. And you know, I feel like I’m doing that, and I’m happy.

Speaker 30: (51:54)
How much do you think beating him twice will help your charitable efforts? Because now you’re much more notable fighter than you were saying December of last year, having beaten Conor McGregor twice. Do you think about that and think it’ll make more of an impact for other people because of these two wins?

Yeah. Anytime you beat a guy like that on a stage like this, I don’t know, this was a big fight. A lot of eyes were on this and I got to talk about the good fight a little bit in the post-fight interview, but not only the post-fight interview, my career, my star, gets bigger. More people are Googling and I’m reaching more people. And with that, we can set bigger goals and just keep the good fight going. I have very big plans. We’re going back to Uganda to build housing on land we bought with the overflow money after we built the water wells during the Khabib fight. Me, Manny Pacquiao, Justin Wren, are all coming together with our nonprofits and we’re going there. We’re going to build on 40 acres and I’m just excited and proud and happy to be in a spot like that. To be able to recognize the position I’m in. And I do, I want it to keep growing. And these kind of fights do that.

Speaker 30: (53:01)
You referenced the guillotine attempt that he had before. You know, he put that quota where he talked about I don’t recognize losses by submission, you know, only KO’s.” So, you know, when you look at it after the fight and you go, he tried twice on you on the guillotine like, what does that say? The fact that he’s dogging submissions. And yet there he is trying to submit you twice.

That just shows you man, that it’s all noise. You know, I feel like all the craziness he was doing, he has to do that for himself to hype himself up. Honestly, man, I just, I’m good. I don’t even like this anymore doing, I just scrap because I’m good at it and I enjoy the fight, but all this other stuff, all the talk, I just come here to get in the fight.

Speaker 30: (53:44)
Last question for me. And I know you said you don’t want to talk about it in all the verified, but is it going to be difficult in your mind? Like, you know, McGregor was such a big obstacle to overcome the last time because he had beaten you the first time, this time to prove it wasn’t a fluke. Now you get to [inaudible 00:53:58] and he’s just a dude in the division that happens to have the belt. Mentally, will that be a hurdle, will that be a little bit of a challenge during camp to get yourself back to that same place?

No, he’s not just a guy in the division who happens to have the belt. He’s a guy who’s picked himself up off the canvas time and time again. Fought through adversity, through two weight classes. Been in the UFC a decade. He’s not just a guy with a belt. He’s earned, earned every ounce of gold he has around his waist and I have nothing but respect for guys like that. I don’t know him personally, but his work history, I can’t hate on anything he’s done. The guy, it’s incredible. That’s tougher to do than I think, to go undefeated, you know? Cause you never learn things about yourself. You learn so much about yourself in those losses and climbing back up at the top and getting motivated again. You know, that’s when you find out you’re a real fighter. Now, I’m not saying that these undefeated guys aren’t, but I’m just saying, I have respect for somebody like that. Who’s climbed back up and won a world championship.

Speaker 31: (55:03)
Hey Dustin, down here, to your left. Congratulations on the win. Trilogies in combat sports, there’s always a sense of closure and finality for trilogies. Do you feel that coming off of this win? Closure?

It sucks, man, because I was going to beat the guy. If his leg would’ve held up. I don’t know, I’m not sure yet. I need to digest it all. Cause right now it kind of feels weird that I just… I have a lot of fights and I’ve never… There’s always been a definite end to my, well, besides the first Eddie Alvarez fight was kind of gray area, but it’s not a good feeling. I won and I feel like what happened was because something I did, but it’s not like I went out there and submitted him or put him away. There’s going to be so many voices and so many opinions saying, “No, you didn’t win.” You know, I know that, I know the MMA fans, I know the MMA game and… But I’m going back home to my family, and you guys here can check my record tomorrow, and it’s a win.

Speaker 31: (56:00)
I want to get your action on some of the mixed reactions from the crowd tonight. When you came out after the finish, you’re a guy who tries really hard to do everything right. You have a charity, you’re a family man. And they’re cheering someone like Conor over you, even with all the things that he said, you know, some things that, like you said, maybe crossed the line. I mean, the fans reaction, how does that make you feel?

Man, fans, I appreciate them. I appreciate them filling up the seats. And they’re going to root for who they’re going to root for. Like I said, it’s noise, you know, I don’t really overthink that stuff anymore. It’s just noise. Thank you for buying the ticket.

Speaker 32: (56:46)
Dustin, over here on your right. First of all, congratulations on getting the win. In the post-fight press conference in the cage you referenced, you brought somebody out to the fight tonight. Can you elaborate on that? Tell us a story about that?

Yeah, we did a fundraiser back home right before I left to start training camp for…

Speaker 33: (57:03)
… fundraise back home, right before I left to start training camp for a young man named Peyton Murphy. And we flew him and his mom and dad out here. He’s battling a bone cancer. And the cancer went into remission and then it came back. So he’s a real fighter. Guys like that, that’s who I want to lift up and it’s inspiring to me to see this guy going about his everyday life, still loving life and living life and never giving up hope. That’s a real fighter. So yeah, we flew his family out and we did a fundraiser and raised some money for them back home in Louisiana.

That’s good stuff. All week, you did a pretty good job of not getting into the trash talk too much. You kind of took the high road all week, but in the post-fight press conference, it seemed like he kind of dug into that a little bit. Did he say something to you afterwards in the cage that triggered that? And if so, what was it?

Speaker 33: (57:56)
Yeah. I hope they show that behind-the-scenes stuff, man. He was still sitting on the ground, still saying, “I’m going to kill you.” He was putting his hand to his head like a gun. Like, bro, chill out. Chill out. He was saying that.

All right. Thanks, Dustin.

Speaker 34: (58:14)
Hey, Dustin. Right here, in the front. Dustin, a lot of the times, when you have a champion leave, the next guy coming in, there’s like, “Well, you’re great, but you didn’t beat the man to become the man.” You’ve now had two fantastic performances against Conor McGregor. Charles is on a great win streak. Can you talk about just how you guys … This is a new era in the lightweight division in both you and Charles. Even though you’re not going to get that Habib fight again, you guys are now running the show, 155.

That’s anything, man. That’s not only sports, business, everything. The next generation comes up, there’s new contenders, there’s new hungry guys who’s putting in work. And the game’s not only that, the game’s always evolving. So you have these young kids now who have been training mixed martial arts since they were 12 years old. And now they’re 18 and they start fighting. And it’s just a different landscape for mixed martial arts because it’s such a new sport.

Speaker 34: (59:14)
Fans talk about rivalry and the media gets into it, a lot of storylines get into it. What do you think of Conor … Take yourself out of it and the competition. Do you see it like this is a rival or is this just, “You know what, this is a guy I just happen to be scheduled to compete against?” How do you see him in the story of your career?

Yeah. I’m trying my best to not take it personal, but like I’m saying, man, I know I’m making it seem like a big deal talking about this over and over again, but you don’t say that type of shit to people. You don’t say you’re going to kill somebody. I don’t take that lightly, man. I don’t know.

Speaker 34: (59:59)
Thank you.

Speaker 35: (01:00:00)
Dustin, right here. You mentioned that you don’t really like fighting too much anymore, necessarily, but-

Dustin Poirier: (01:00:06)
I like fighting. I don’t like the process. I don’t like the sheep fans and crazy clickbait media.

Speaker 35: (01:00:12)
Fair enough.

It’s turned into a fashion show. I like the real stuff and that’s fighting. That’s the only real part about this whole thing.

Speaker 35: (01:00:19)
I mean, if you were to go back in time, though, if you never got into fighting, what do you think you would’ve ended up doing?

I don’t know. I was getting in a lot of trouble before fighting, man. I’m not sure. I’m glad I did. I’m glad I did, for sure.

Speaker 35: (01:00:32)
And is it fun for you to see all the celebrities at a big event like this?

Yeah. It was cool, man. Steve-O came backstage, David Spade, a bunch of people. It’s awesome. Tonight was packed. Trump was right there when I turned around. It was crazy.

Speaker 35: (01:00:47)
The Rat King make it out, Theo?

Theo’s here. Yeah. Theo is here, for sure.

Speaker 35: (01:00:52)

Speaker 36: (01:00:52)
Hey, Dustin. Dustin, congrats on the victory. Right over here. Let’s say you beat Oliveira and you become the lightweight champion. In your eyes, does Conor McGregor need to win a fight to get a title shot against you?

Bro, Conor McGregor is one and three or one in four and the lightweight division. Yeah, he has to win some fights, but like I said before, a guy like that goes out there and starches somebody. He’s right back there in the top contender talk just because of his star power.

Speaker 37: (01:01:25)
Dustin, over here.

The guy with real questions at the press conference.

Speaker 37: (01:01:30)
Thank you, sir. All stories have heroes and villains, the good guys and the bad guys. You work with kids. You inspire, you motivate, you change lives. What’s the message you could give to these kids about how people are cheering the bad guy and booing the good guy in a setting like this where they can understand how life really works sometimes? He is a magnificent personality. We get that, but the work that you do, obviously, the kids have to be confused, why are they booing the bad guy? What do you tell them and how does that affect you, personally?

I don’t know. I don’t think about it that deep, but that’s just the world we live in. That’s just the world these kids are going to grow up in. I don’t know how to answer that question.

Speaker 37: (01:02:24)
When he is being cheered and, listen, this crowd is cheering USA for every other American fighter, other than you, does it affect you in any capacity?

I definitely would rather them be cheering for me, but I’m pretty solid mentally now. I just don’t care about that stuff. It doesn’t really bother me because they can’t get in there and fight for him.

Speaker 38: (01:02:49)
Dustin, over here to your far right. So one of the things you were kind of hinting at was all the noise he was making, all the trash he was talking. A lot of people were thinking both of you guys were equally as confident going into this fight, but I wonder if you feel that maybe he wasn’t that confident going into this fight?

Yeah. I think he was overcompensating for that mental space where he’s asking himself at night, “Am I still that guy?” And maybe he performs better when he’s in that character, in that mode. Everybody has their own thing. I don’t know.

Speaker 38: (01:03:27)
Would it make you feel any better or worse, knowing it was all kind of a put-on to try to get into your head because he didn’t feel he had much of a chance?

I don’t hate the guy, but you just don’t say stuff like that.

Speaker 38: (01:03:43)
Yeah, absolutely.

You don’t say stuff like that.

Speaker 38: (01:03:45)
Last question …

… great, his speed. He has a lot of great attributes. His ability to thrive under pressure and cameras and lights is amazing, as well, but he’s just a human being, like I was saying at the press conference. He bleeds, just like me.

Speaker 38: (01:04:12)
Absolutely. Congratulations.

Speaker 39: (01:04:14)
Dustin, would you mind just talking a little bit more about Oliveira? How do you see you can beat him? How do you see him as your next opponent?

I haven’t started getting with my coaches and breaking out footage and doing everything that come along with preparing for an opponent, but I’ll probably just calf kick him, probably.

Speaker 39: (01:04:36)
When and where do you want to fight him?

We’ll see. I need to go home and decompress. I don’t know the schedule for the UFC, what they’re planning on doing at the end of the year. I know somebody earlier told me Charles wanted to fight me in December. So we’ll see. We’ll figure everything out. I just want to get home to my family.

Speaker 40: (01:04:58)
Dustin, question for you. Your mental focus was outstanding. You never played the McGregor games. You didn’t focus on the title either. You focused on Conor. Looking at Charles now, will that be an issue, thinking about Conor or will the-

No.

Speaker 40: (01:05:10)
… entire focus be on the title?

No, because I know, for certain, the title fight wasn’t even going to be an option until tonight happened. So there’s no reason to drain energy on that plan. When I have plan A right here, I can’t look at plan B or the next step because all I have is a moment.

Speaker 41: (01:05:32)
Dustin, I think, after the last event, a lot of us felt that the story between you two, everybody liked the interaction, but now after seeing what happened in this fight, where do you think that the hate from Conor stems from?

Like we were just talking, maybe he has to build himself up to be that guy. And he performs better that way. He believes the stuff he’s saying and he turns into that character. I don’t know. Maybe he’s a bad person. I don’t know.

Speaker 41: (01:06:00)
And then a couple other lighthearted ones. I’d love you to give me one more chance to plug the stuff that you’re doing with Justin Wren and Pacquiao, a little update on where you guys stand with that and the work that you guys are doing.

I have to get my wife and see the donations that have come in through the website. And then, obviously, every fight, I auction off my fight kit. So 100% of those proceeds from the auction of my fight kit of what I wore tonight is going to go to that goal. And I’m not sure exactly where we’re at with that, but I would guess we’re going in the right direction.

Speaker 41: (01:06:34)
And lastly, I’m not sure if you saw it while you were in the back, when Tuivasa was coming out and leaving the cage, he was doing some shoeies. I don’t know if you saw, somebody poured him a shoey, but actually put your hot sauce in there, as well.

Yeah.

Speaker 41: (01:06:46)
I don’t know if you actually saw it. He wasn’t the biggest fan, but I don’t think he was blaming it on the fact of your sauce. It was just the fact that somebody actually put hot sauce in with beer. He said it was [crosstalk 01:06:54].

From a shoe?

Speaker 41: (01:06:55)
In a shoe.

Don’t blame it on the sauce. Blame it on the feet. You know what I mean?

Speaker 41: (01:06:57)
Fair enough. Congrats.

Speaker 42: (01:06:57)
Just real quick to your right.

Speaker 43: (01:07:02)
[crosstalk 01:07:02] final two questions we have, Dustin.

Speaker 44: (01:07:05)
You mentioned how you don’t care about the stuff around the fight so much anymore and you don’t get dragged into the negativity. And we could see you in the pre-fight press conference, it seemed like you were just willing yourself not to get pulled into his stuff. How did you get to that point? What was the process like to go from being pulled into some of that stuff to getting to this point where you’re not as bothered by it?

It’s just been a long process of years of making mistakes from being too committed and caring too much about everything and things that I can’t control. I’m not sure. It’s just evolution of myself, not only as a fighter, but as a husband and a father. I don’t know. I know who I am, so people can’t tell me who I am. You can’t sit here at a press conference and tell me who I am. Come on.

Speaker 44: (01:08:00)
Lastly, people wondered, I think, after the last one being in Abu Dhabi and a different environment, and how some of these fights without crowds have been a real different feel, and then you come here and it’s the exact opposite of that, a packed arena and a really high-energy, high-emotion kind of environment, for you, what’s the difference between those? How does it translate to a different fighting experience?

When I fought at the Apex last year, that was one of the best fighting experiences I had. It was quiet, peaceful. Fighting is chaotic. When I’m in the locker room warming up, I have anxiety and nerves. I’m about to go in front of the world. Millions of people are watching. My city back home is watching and rooting for me. I don’t want to let anyone down. I don’t want to let myself down. I want to perform to my ability, at the top of my … Whatever I’m capable of doing, I want to perform at that.

Over time, I’ve got acquainted with those feelings. So when I’m in the locker room warming up, I’m like, “Here we go again.” And I’ve learned that those feelings are what keep you alive, what keep you able to react in a moment at a higher speed and be on your game, but I liked fighting in the Apex when it was quiet.

Speaker 45: (01:09:19)
Dustin, I know you’ve been up here awhile. So I’m going to let you get out of here, but you’ve been asked a bunch about you tuning everything out, you tuning Conor out, not paying attention to it, but what about … Do you have to have a conversation with the family and people around you to say, “Hey, listen. A lot of stuff is going to come out. Just ignore it. Don’t pay attention to it?” Because other people might have a more difficult time.

Yeah. Well, my wife yesterday.

Speaker 45: (01:09:41)
Thug wife, by the way. That’s the new nickname.

Yeah. My husband, or am I her wife?

Speaker 45: (01:09:49)
No. [inaudible 01:09:49], I think, said thug wife for the picture of her flipping off Conor in the [inaudible 01:09:53].

Yeah.

Speaker 45: (01:09:56)
That’s what I mean, though, about other people around you don’t-

Well, she was getting worked up, just like the stuff with the charity, but I’ve been in the spotlight a long time. I’ve been fighting in UFC, had great performances mostly, a few ones that didn’t go my way, and I just know the fire that comes down with that stuff. So I’m more equipped to handle all the hate. She’s not. So when the charity stuff started happening with Conor and a lot of hate was being thrown, she felt it because she does so much for the charity. So it kind of started bringing her down. And then, with Conor doing this other stuff he just did, it was working her up more than it was me. So, yeah.

Speaker 43: (01:10:38)
[crosstalk 01:10:38] have tomorrow?

Speaker 45: (01:10:39)
Sorry. How much more difficult is it when you have to see your family going through it and you have to watch them? Because you are able to tune it out. You said, hey, it was cool, you were chill, but then when you have to … It has to hurt you to have other people [crosstalk 01:10:52].

Yeah. I don’t like to see that, man, but I don’t know. I guess that’s just where I’m at in my career, in the sport, but I don’t want anybody around me to have to go through stuff like that. But man, that’s whatever, man. It’s social media stuff. That shit’s not real.

Speaker 34: (01:11:15)
Will there still be sauce tomorrow or will it be sold out?

We’ll have to see. This is the original. This is the OG. We’re about to launch the KO edition on the 15th. So people wanted a hotter sauce and we definitely brought a hotter sauce with ghost pepper.

Speaker 34: (01:11:30)
Can you eat it? Can you eat the hot one?

Oh, yeah. Thank you guys so much.

UFC 264 Press Conference Transcript: Dustin Poirier Defeats Conor McGregor

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