Final yr, Dana White couldn’t cease himself from calling Jon Jones the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter on the planet.
Now, the UFC CEO is reversing course after seeing Islam Makhachev make fast work of short-notice substitute opponent Renato Moicano on the promotion’s first pay-per-view of the yr.
Makhachev scored a quick-fire submission victory over Moicano after his initially scheduled opponent, Arman Tsarukyan, bowed out of their light-weight championship headliner mere hours earlier than they had been scheduled to make the stroll in Los Angeles.
Notching his fourth-straight protection of the 155-pound crown, Makhachev solidified his spot because the No. 1 ranked P4P fighter on the planet and Dana White couldn’t agree extra.
“There’s no doubt about it,” White stated through the UFC 311 post-fight press convention. “He’s the best pound-for-pound in the world right now and he’s the definitely the best to ever do it in that division.”
It’s fairly the change from the place we had been just some months in the past when White was stepping into heated debates with journalists over Jones’ simple standing as the best of all time.
However White’s feedback imply little or no to Tom Aspinall, the person slated to sq. off with ‘Bones’ later this yr.
“Now we’re seeing Dana White coming out and saying that he’s the pound-for-pound No. 1 in the world, Islam Makhachev,” Aspinall stated in a video on his YouTube channel. “As we all know, to me, pound-for-pound is a lot of made-up stuff. I don’t look into that. But it’s just funny that he’s kind of jumped ship now from Jon Jones to Islam… Islam did what he was supposed to do: went out there, fought whoever was put in front of him, which is what a champion is supposed to do.”
Dana White Assured Jones vs. Aspinall goes down in 2025
“We’re in the works, we’re talking on it,” White stated. “I mean, I’ve said that I’m very confident that fight happens this year… Nothing’s holding it up. It’s just a matter of getting it done. You know, this stuff, it’s not as easy to put these types of fights together as people think they are. They take time, and we’ll get it done.”
Only a few brief weeks in the past, rumors started swirling that Jones was looking for a large $30 million payday for his scrap with Aspinall. Nonetheless, Dana White known as bullsh*t on the rumors, however solely after Joe Rogan repeated it throughout an episode of his JRE podcast.
