Photo: Dana White Has Canelo Fight On Monitor During Rose/Esparza 2
UFC President Dana White was more concerned with the Canelo Álvarez fight during Rose Namajunas and Carla Esparza’s women’s strawweight title fight at UFC 274 this past weekend.
White was pictured cageside during the title bout watching the Canelo Álvarez vs. Dmitry Bivol light heavyweight title bout on one of his monitors. Check that photo out here below.
In White’s defense, Namajunas and Esparza put on one of the most uneventful UFC title fights in recent memory. Both women were reluctant to engage, in regards to striking, for the majority of the contest. Esparza did, however, manage to get some takedowns during the fight.
It is also possible that White’s primary focus was still on the Esparza/Namajunas fight, as his gaze in the above photo appears to be situated on the strawweight title fight. However, White himself did admit during the post-fight press conference that he ‘zoned out’ during the title fight.
When it was all said and done, Esparza got her hand raised via split decision to unseat Namajunas from the 115-pound throne. Esparza again defeated Namajunas to become a UFC strawweight champion, as she did back in 2014 to win the inaugural title.
Despite the title change, the crowd was not impressed, booing both during and after the fight, voicing their frustration with the lack of action. After the fight, Esparza spoke on the lack of action during the bout, stating that Namajunas’ reluctance to engage was to blame for the lackluster contest.
“I believe my coaches told me that I was winning, I think they said she was going to be a little bit safe in that last round,” Esparza explained.
“I’m not too sure, in that last round I was just like ‘oh my gosh, I wanna do more, I really want to set in the eyes of the judges’. I hate to say it this way, but it’s hard to fight someone who doesn’t wanna fight.”
Canelo vs. Bivol certainly contained a lot more action. Bivol became the first man to defeat Álvarez inside the boxing ring since Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013. The Russian retained his light heavyweight titles over Álvarez via unanimous decision to improve his perfect record to 20-0.
What do you think about Dana White having Canelo vs. Bivol on his monitor during the Namajunas vs. Esparza fight? Sound off in the comments!
Continue Reading Photo: Dana White Has Canelo Fight On Monitor During Rose/Esparza 2 at MMA News.
Photo: Dana White Has Canelo Fight On Monitor During Rose/Esparza 2