‘Old’ Dana White Apologizes For Pereira Slap Attack

Russian bruiser Zelim Imadaev straight-up slapped welterweight wild man Michel Pereira at the UFC Vegas 9 weigh ins ahead of their 170-pound contest this Sat. night (Sept. 5, 2020) inside the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas.

The brief scuffle could have probably been avoided altogether, but promotion president Dana White admitted he’s getting too old to display the kind of reflexes he once had. Fortunately, Pereira did not make much of an effort to retaliate.

“I’m getting old guys, that was a quick one, that was on me,” White said after the weigh ins (via MMA Weekly). “They started getting aggressive, going toward each other but I didn’t think it would escalate to that, that quickly. I blew it. This is the fight game man, that one’s on me. I apologize, I shouldn’t have let that happen.”

Pereira (23-11, 2 NC) will have a chance to exact his revenge in roughly 24 hours and snap a two-fight losing streak in the process. Imadaev (8-2) is also coming off consecutive losses and looking to score his first win inside the Octagon.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 9 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the main card portion that also streams on ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET.

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