Lightweight Contender Bashes Dana White Over Moving Weigh-ins
During the UFC 225 post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White said the official weigh-ins would be moved back to late afternoon instead of the mid-morning time slot. The weigh-ins used to take place in the late afternoon, but were moved to the morning (generally 9 a.m. locally) in 2016 citing fighter safety.
White stated that the fight promotion has interviewed multiple fighters about the planned move and that's what the majority want.
“Believe me, we’ve studied it. The numbers don’t lie. We talked to fighters. A ton of fighters want to go back to 4 o’clock. And there’s a lot of fighters that don’t," he said. “No matter what, there’s no debate about this. There’s no debate. We’re going to 4 o’clock."
One fighter that wasn't asked about moving the weigh-ins back to late afternoon was former lightweight title contender Al Iaquinta. Not only was Iaquinta not talked to about the policy change, he doesn't believe White spoke to as many fighters as he claimed.
“His sense of reality is gone. It’s gone. It’s shot. It’s absolutely shot. It’s scary. Now he’s putting our health at risk," said Iaquinta during an interview on The MMA Hour.
“Why did you move the weigh-ins in the first place? Because he (White) wanted more exciting, in his mind, he wants more exciting fights. How are you going to get more exciting fights? Give the fighters more time to recover, which is also beneficial to us because it’s healthy. It’s healthy for us to replenish. But what he realizes is now people aren’t making weight more, so this was actually a bad move.
"Even though it was healthier for the fighters, we’re going to move it back to the nighttime because he interviewed a million fighters. I haven’t seen one that wants it at night. You do an interview with him now; it’s not about the truth. It’s about his agenda. I’m weighing in in the morning,” said Iaquinta.
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In July 2016, UFC sold to WME–IMG (which was later rebranded as Endeavor) for a staggering $4.2 billion. White remained president of the fight promotion, but Iaquinta believes White has been unleashed since the sale.
“Lorenzo (Fertitta) kept him in check. Now, I think that he’s going to run this thing into the ground. Now, he’s just saying whatever he wants to say. No one is keeping him under wraps. He’s saying whatever he wants to say. You’re just going to move the weigh-in? What fighters did he interview? He said, ‘we interviewed – we’ve got 550 fighters on the roster. We interviewed more of them than you.’ I don’t think so. I haven’t talked to a fighter that was interviewed or was talked to about moving the weigh-ins back to the nighttime. I think it’s about him. It’s all about him. It’s always about him, and if it’s not about him, he wants to get right in there," said Iaquinta.
"Ragin' Al" would like to see White part with the organization. He believes that White has one foot out the door and should step through with the other one.
“He did great. He’s got one foot out the door. Just go man. Go. Go. He’s done," he said. "And I don’t care. I’m going to say it. I think 50 percent of the people don’t see it and 50 percent of people are just too scared to say it."
