Dana White's Contender Series
Dana White Talks Noche UFC, Grasso vs Shevchenko 2, And 10-8 Round Scoring At DWCS Press Conference
UFC CEO Dana White Fielded Questions From The Media Following Week 7 Of Dana White’s Contender Series
Another high-caliber week of Dana White’s Contender Series went into the books Tuesday as the UFC CEO signed four new fighters - Igor da Silva, Kaynan Kruschewsky, Stephanie Luciano, and Shamil Gaziev – to the UFC roster. After announcing those signings, White went to the media room at the UFC APEX to speak with reporters on a wide range of topics, including his thoughts on Week 7, Noche UFC, Alexa Grasso vs Valentina Shevchenko 2, and judges’ scorecards.
White opened up the press conference by applauding 20-year-old Igor da Silva, who won his flyweight bout by knockout in the second round.
ALL WEEK 7 DWCS RESULTS AND RECAPS
“First of all, 20 years old is way too young but that guy has been fighting for five years at 20 years old. His first fight was at 15 years old, he’s 8-0, 100 percent finish rate, four knockouts, four subs, he went in there and looked incredible,” White said. “Where do you find a kid 20 years old that has all of that? Nowhere. He was my first choice.
“I think that every once in a while, you’ll find these kids that are special, and at a younger age they can come in and adapt to it. Some have and some don’t. I think Igor has it and we’re going to find out if I’m right or wrong.”
He then compared da Silva to the other Week 7 signees – Kruschewsky and Gaziev, who are both in their early 30s. White was impressed by how polished both Kruschewsky and Gaziev looked, as both earned stoppages via submission in the first round of their fights.
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Giving contracts to guys who are battle-tested and further down the line allows the matchmakers to put them right into the mix in their respective divisions.
“I got a couple of guys that are too young and a couple guys who can be thrown into big fights right now,” White said. “Everybody is unique. Everybody has a different story and a different background.”
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One unique thing that happened on Week 7 was that DWCS saw its first draw, as strawweights Talita Alencar and Stephanie Luciano went the distance without a clear winner. The bout was a rollercoaster, with six-time Brazilian jiu jitsu champion Alencar getting tons of ground control time and winning the first two rounds, but then Luciano roared back, dropping Alencar multiple times and pouring on the strikes in the final frame to earn a 10-8 round.
Despite the draw, White believes he saw something special in the 23-year-old Luciano and gave her a contract, stating that he thinks Luciano has that “it” factor.
10-8 Round Scoring:
The 10-8 round in the Alencar-Luciano bout prompted White to bring up the flyweight title fight scoring from Alexa Grasso vs Valentina Shevchenko 2. White believes that a 10-8 round should be easy to spot and he’s happy that the NSAC is having a training on 10-8 rounds to reduce issues like this going forward.
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“Absolute ass whoopin’ where the fight can be stopped at any moment and one fighter absolutely dominates from bell-to-bell you can score it a 10-8,” White said. “With so much on the line you have to have the best of the best [judging] in title fights.”
Women’s Flyweight Forecast And Noche UFC Recap:
White thought the rematch between Grasso and Shevchenko was incredible and applauded both women for their performance.
“You have to do the rematch. We will rematch them,” White said. “It’s the right thing to do and it’s the fight that needs to happen.”
White also agreed with the media that putting top ranked contenders Erin Blanchfield and Manon Fiorot into a title eliminator would make sense.
White also discussed the success of Noche UFC, where he revealed that it was the most watched UFC Fight Night of all-time on ESPN+, receiving 1.1 million unique viewers. White reaffirmed that the UFC will be doing Noche UFC going forward and that he’s determined to continue growing the market around Mexican mixed martial arts.
“I’m doing this for the rest of my reign here. This thing was a massive success for us,” White said. “This thing is something that I’ve been thinking about since the day we bought this company. We are finally in this position. I’m all-in on Mexico.”
White said the next step was to make Noche UFC even bigger and better in 2024, but before that happens, he’d like to see a Fight Night happen in Mexico as soon as possible.
“After what happened on Saturday night, we’re going to Mexico,” White said with a smile.
UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs Shevchenko 2 took place live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 16, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
