Dana White Talks UFC 288, Jones/Stipe & More at UFC Kansas City Post-Fight Press Conference

UFC 288 and The Possibility of New Fights Added

UFC 288 is set to be held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on May 6th. Unfortunate news came out that Charles Oliveira was withdrawing from his bout with Beneil Dariush scheduled for the event. With that being said, White was asked on the subject and if there would be any ‘new’ fights added to the card with just under three weeks to go. “We’re working on it (UFC 288) now. We’re actually working on it tonight. I just told Sean (Shelby, UFC Matchmaker) we’ll get together on Monday and button this up. Sean is like ‘I’ll call you tomorrow’.” It was then asked if Gilbert Burns would be a possible addition and that both he and Belal Muhammad were tweeting about their desire to be on the card to which White responded, “He’s (Burns) been blowing me up all day too, so probably.”

Burns just defeated Jorge Masvidal last weekend at UFC 287 by unanimous decision. There were no other details added to the subject, but one would have to think it could be possible Burns may face Dariush at 155, catchweight, or possibly 170. Another factor to consider is possibly a welterweight contender fight between Burns vs. Muhammad or Burns/Muhammad vs. Colby Covington. With only three weeks to go, hopefully, more official news on the matter develops quickly.

Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic

White was then asked about a possible update on Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic and Jones’ recent tweets. White spoke out about talks of the UFC not being in much contact with the Heavyweight champ, “No, that was totally blown out of proportion, this is what you guys do. I say something, you blow it way out of proportion. I said all the buildup and all the leadup to that fight, all this Jon Jones talk and poof he’s just gone. I don’t know what Stipe said, it turns into f****** drama, there’s no drama here. I was just saying the buildup was huge, everything else, and then poof Jon was gone, back home and everything else.”

White continued “As far as I know, everything is good and hopefully, we have a fight with him and Stipe very soon.” White was then asked about Jones hinting at it being at Madison Square Garden for the fight, White said, “That’s where we’d like to do it, so I guess Jon is back huh? He hasn’t disappeared anymore, he’s back, it’s so f****** easy to create drama in this f****** sport, it’s insane.”

It’s worth noting that all six of the previous UFC events at Madison Square Garden happened in November, so it’s possible that is when Jones vs. Miocic for the UFC Heavyweight Title could happen.

Nate Diaz Return to The UFC

Next was the topic of Nate Diaz‘s possible return to the UFC following his boxing bout with Jake Paul, White said “We love Nate, I don’t know we’ll see.” White was also asked about his prediction on the bout and if Paul may have bit off more than he could chew with Diaz, White answered, “I don’t want to s*** on other people’s fights like Oscar De La Weirdo. I don’t want to talk about the fight, first of all, neither guy is my guy, there’s just no need for me to comment on it. I wish them the best, I hope they make a zillion dollars.”

Other Important Info

• Brandon Royval was disappointed to be on the prelims for UFC Kansas City, White said he (Royval) wasn’t wrong and they messed up, he should’ve opened the show tonight.
• Brandon Royval could be a possible backup fighter for the title fight between Brandon Moreno and Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 289.
• White and the UFC would still like to do the Dariush vs. Oliveira fight at a later date.
• White was asked about Leon Edwards not to fight at UFC London in July, possibly Abu Dhabi, and if Covington was still the plan, White said he doesn’t know what’s going to happen but that they were working on it. The London card will be a Fight Night event.
• UFC is looking for a real contender to fight Alex Pereira at Light Heavyweight and with a win, Pereira could be in title contention.
• UFC Hawaii still doesn’t look like a possibility, unfortunately.
• Israel Adesanya has already been asking on when his next fight will be and it’s possible he fights again before the end of the summer. No update on who the opponent will be.

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