UFC 287: Dana White raves about Israel Adesanya's 'anyone, anytime, anywhere' attitude toward fighting
In the infancy of the Dana White Era of the UFC, the promotion used a marketing line that read, "As Real As It Gets." And though that's long gone to pasture, White may want to revive it about former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
Adesanya has headlined nearly 20% of all UFC pay-per-views since he fought Anderson Silva in the main event of UFC 234 a little over four years ago. On Saturday, Adesanya will headline again when he rematches champion Alex Pereira in the main event of UFC 287 in Miami.
Adesanya is 0-3, getting knocked out twice against Pereira, who finished him in the final round of UFC 281 in New York on Nov. 12. Adesanya, though, immediately wanted to run it back.
Several of Adesanya's peers have questioned coming back so soon, particularly against an opponent who has knocked him out twice. White, though, simply lavished praise on Adesanya during a one-on-one interview with Yahoo Sports on Friday.
"There are many things I love about this kid, but one of them is he's a real fighter," White said. "This kid always wants to fight. He always wants to stay active and he will literally fight anybody. Anybody. Look at his history with Pereira and he's always down to take these fights back-to-back-to-back and continue to face this guy. A lot of people talk big publicly, but behind the scenes, they don't want to take a lot of these tough fights: 'I'm injured. I've got personal stuff going on.' Whatever it is, [but they say no].
"Not him, man. Adesanya wants to fight everybody, he wants to fight regularly and he only wants to fight the best."
White didn't agree with the logic of some of the fighters who have questioned whether Adesanya facing Pereira so quickly after his KO loss at UFC 281 was the right move for him.
White said there was no reason in his mind for Adesanya to wait.
"What's he going to take time for?" White asked, rhetorically. "He's faced this guy however many times now [and] was dominating, dominating that fight and got caught in the fifth round, and you know. And [Adesanya] even hurt him in the second round. The bell rang. Realistically, [Pereira] got saved by the bell in that second round. I think [the idea he should have waited before fighting Pereira again] is ridiculous."
Colby Covington will get next welterweight title shot, period
Both Gilbert Burns and Jorge Masvidal, who meet in a three-round welterweight co-main event Saturday, have said they are determined to win so impressively that they will change White's mind about giving the next shot at Leon Edwards' welterweight title to Colby Covington.
Both made strong cases for themselves, but it appears White is having none of it.
"There's nothing that will change my mind about Colby Covington getting the title shot," White said. "He deserves it. First of all, I truly believe if Kamaru Usman did not exist, Colby Covington would be the long-reigning champion in that division the way Usman had been. But, I can tell you this: Gilbert Burns and Masvidal I think is going to be an incredible fight. I think it's going to be a war and whoever comes out of that winning is going to be next. I mean, it's that simple."
Rob Font, Adrian Yanez have respectful conversation during face-off
One of the fights flying under the radar at UFC 287 is the bantamweight bout between Rob Font and Adrian Yanez. After the news conference on Thursday, they squared off for photos with White between them. White revealed they were talking to each other, which is hardly uncommon.
Fighters often make all sorts of threats in those situations. That's not what they said, according to White, who may have been the only person close enough to hear.
"One of the things I loved about the face-off between those two ... and they were both saying to each other, 'I'm a fan. I've been wanting to fight you. I've wanted this [fight],' and this and that," White said. "The other one came back and said, 'Me, too. I'm a fan of yours. I love what you do. I can't wait to do this.' It was so cool to hear that. There doesn't always have to be the pushing and the other bulls***.
"These guys can say, 'Hey, I respect you and love what you do,' but it's not going to change the fact it's going to be an absolute war. I love this fight. I love what it means for both guys and I can't wait to see that one."
Raul Rosas Jr., 18, gets prime placement on big card
The UFC is very calculating about where it puts fights on each card. There is nothing random about the placement of any of the fights.
Raul Rosas Jr. is an 18-year-old bantamweight who is scheduled for his second UFC fight and will open the main card against Christian Rodriguez. It's not insignificant that Rosas was given such prime placement.
"That fight, we're opening the [main] card with it because we do believe this kid [Rosas] is good and he's fighting a real guy," White said. "He's 7-0 and he's fighting a guy who is 8-1. One of the things about the UFC, and you can think about any company anywhere in the history of combat sports, when do you have a kid who is an up-and-comer like this at his age where you're not padding his record and all this bulls***. You're fighting the absolute best.
"When you get to the top, there's never any question about, you know, 'Is this kid good enough?' You have a 7-0 taking on an 8-1, and that's why we're opening the show with that. The fight's going to be awesome [between] two real guys, and the winner is going to climb up the ladder."
