Dana White’s UFC Fight Night 26 Post-Fight Media Scrum: Brown vs Lawler a ‘crazy-a**’ war, Uriah Hall ‘not a fighter’
Last night’s UFC Fight Night 26 from Boston, Mass. Turned out to be one of the best cards of the year, featuring everything from knockouts, upsets, comebacks, and a surprising submission by Chael Sonnen to cap it all off. It was a ton of great action for MMA fans worldwide, and it left a ton of questions unanswered.
Thankfully, UFC president Dana White was on hand to engage in his traditional post-fight scrum with MMA H.E.A.T. First, he spoke about the Irishman Conor McGregor, who looked sharp against Max Holloway last night, but was disappointed that he could finish the bout.
“I love that he’s that kind of a kid, I love that he’s that kind of a fighter. And, uh, that just shows you more and more the promise that this kid has. I love that attitude. He’s pissed off that he didn’t finish? You kidding me, that’s right up my f***** alley. Why am I promoting this kid? Because I love what he’s all about.”
McGregor had a huge reception with the Irish-American fans in “Beantown,” and he’ll continue to roll forward as the hottest prospect in the UFC Featherweight division.
However, there’s another fighter who once attained a level of hype that was even bigger than McGregor’s. TUF 17 finalist Uriah Hall fought a lackluster battle against John “Doomsday” Howard last night, dropping his second bout in a row. White had an interesting perspective on what has cause Hall’s decline from his position as the next big thing:
“I love Uriah Hall. I have a great relationship with this kid. He’s one of the nicest human beings you’ll ever know. He’s not a fighter, man. If I could Brad Pickett’s brain and put in Uriah hall’s body, holy s*** there’d be some damage done. Uriah Hall has all the physical attributes to be amazing. He’s got speed, he’s got power, he’s just unbelievable. He doesn’t have what it mentally takes to fight here. That was a high-five competition.“
White was blunt and solemn in his assessment of his former future star, and the downfall has been a quick and brutal one for Hall. Roughly just five short months ago, Hall was being touted as the best striker to fight in the Octagon since Anderson Silva. Now he may be close to being out of the promotion, but I suppose that’s the fight game.
White also touched on the odd score between Michael Johnson and Joe Lauzon, where one judge scored the fight 30-25, surprisingly noted that it could have worse for Lauzon:
“What a limb fall off or something? You know what? Yeah, that was close to limb. That guy, he had two contusions, listen, that could have been a 30-10. Uh, that was one of the most lopsided, one-sided beatings you’ll ever see in the UFC. I’ve gone to smaller shows and seen a fight like that and said, “This is terrible matchmaking and they’re trying to build this guy off of this guy.” It’s terrible, you know what I mean? Probably one of the worst, one-sided you’ll ever see in the UFC.”
White also went on to discuss the surging Matt Brown, who destroyed Mike Pyle with a lightning-fast knockout in the first round. He speculated on a potential matchup between electric strikers Brown and Robbie Lawler:
“That’s a crazy-a** ass war. Listen, beating Pyle tonight was a big deal. Big deal. And he viciously knocked him out the way that he did. Listen, Pyle’s tough for everybody. Usually what happens, like he said, “Pyle’s the best in the sport,” he beats everybody up in the gym. But, Mike Pyle comes out and performs. Mike Pyle is the guy who makes everybody look like s***. The fight is usually a grind-out fight, it goes back-and-forth, it goes to a decision and Mike Pyle wins. But Matt brown put the stamp on him tonight.”
“He (Lauzon) looked terrible tonight. He looked like he wasn’t even there. He looked like he was just going through the motions. That’s not Lauzon.”
Indeed “The Immortal” may be facing off with a top-ranked Welterweight in his next trip to the Octagon. Lawler would be great for the fans, and even an opponent ranked as highly as Rory MacDonald would be a great bout for Brown.
White discussed a litany of other topics in the aftermath of the ultra-successful UFC on Fox Sports 1. Check out the full video and offer your comments below:
