My Mom's Basement - QUARANTINE MINI-POD: DANA WHITE RETURNS

Episode Date: May 5, 2020

Dana White returns to My Mom's Basement to discuss the rescheduled UFC 249, Conor McGregor wanting in on Fight Island, the massive sporting event conference calls with Donald Trump he's been apart of, and more.You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/mymomsbasement

Hey, My Mom's Basement listeners. You can find our episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube, and Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. On Saturday, we've got UFC 249. On Wednesday, we've got Fight Night, Smith vs. Teixeira. And then the next Saturday, we've got Overeem vs. Harris. This is going to be an incredible week for fight fans. How are you feeling? I'm feeling awesome, man. I leave for Jacksonville on Thursday. Can't wait to get down there and get fight week underway. Yeah, the last time we were talking about UFC 249,

it was pre-April 18th, the original date for this event. And when we were getting closer and closer to that event, it looked like maybe it was going to get the call to get shut down. Then you eventually did get the call. When you did, what was that emotion like? Were you just frustrated? Were you like, man, we worked so hard and got this closer? Did you kind of expect it in the back of your head?

No, I wasn't frustrated. We did it. I mean, I was ready to go. We could have had that event that weekend. ESPN asked me to not do it. Out of respect, I didn't. And I think the only way I can explain to you how I thought I was exhausted I was literally yeah deep down exhausted I went home I went to sleep that night

I got up the next day and we planned these fights literally that next day you didn't give yourself one day's break Dana you didn't give yourself I didn't give anybody I gave ESPN a break I gave ESPN until Monday I didn't tell them till Monday but ESPN a break. I gave ESPN until Monday. I didn't tell them until Monday. But yeah, me and my crew, I literally called my lawyer, Hunter Campbell, and said, call the state of Florida. We're going to go. We're going on these dates. So was that, did you think Florida immediately when they declared the WWE essential business, was that almost like the light bulb in your head? Like, okay, if the WWEwe is running there we can too that was obviously part of it we knew that that was going on there but it was more about the governor and the mayor and the athletic commission working with us you know instead of instead of having these these we can do this and we can do this safely and we're willing

to spend the money it's going to cost to make this as safe as it can possibly be. I want politicians and, you know, athletic commissions that are going to work with us, not try to work against us. So it was a no brainer. Those guys have been amazing. Yeah. Speaking of like working with politicians and all that, you've been on this task force team on these calls with Donald Trump and all different presidents and sport commissioners and vince mcmahon roger goodell everyone you could name can you talk and can you talk about those is that like an nba thing or no yeah no it's it's like let's let's figure out solutions instead of um uh you know the president feels that sports should be first we should figure figure out the sports, let them come out,

give the people something to watch while they're, because the hardest part is going to be, it's going to be harder to figure out how do you put people back in cubicles? How do you send kids back to school? Things like this are going to be much harder than figuring out sporting events. So let's figure out sports. Let's give people something to watch. And then let's start working on the other things, the. Let's give people something to watch. And then let's start

working on the other things, the tougher things, like getting people back to work. Are you and Vince McMahon just the alphas on that call? Does everyone else know, like, don't mess with Dana and Vince? No, not at all. I bet they do. I bet they do. That little shrimp Batman from the NHL, I bet he's scared of you. The calls were actually really good. I thought the president handled them really well. And I thought that everybody on the call had a lot of good input, ideas, questions, you know, problems that might pop up. It was very cool. All right. So before we get into the fight card itself, I promise we'll talk about these fights

because I want to. Last time you had a big back and forth with the media. You were going, fuck the media. You were calling them wimps, scrawny, this, that. This time, I haven't gotten the same, I don't know, the same anger, the same animosity from you against the media. Have you reached the same pushback and you're just letting it go or is it dust off your shoulder now? And I don't think, listen, I don't want people to think that I was saying these things out of anger. It's obviously I'm not a big fan of the media, but it's a fact that these aren't,

I wasn't saying it to be mean to the media or to try to, this is a fact, okay? If you go on and look at some of the people that do these interviews and say these things. You're going to offend me again, Danny. You get careful with your words. They are the weak. They are the weak. Careful with your words. If you took them all, if you took the weakest of the weak, you put them all in a room together.

They are wimps amongst wimps. Okay. These are not the people that are going to determine how I run my business. These are not the people that are going to turn, these are not the people that are going to determine how I run my business. These are not the people that are going to determine. These are not the people that built this country. Okay. That, that is not, these are facts. I'm not being mean or saying horrible things. These are facts. Do you think they played a role in the last event getting canceled in that you said in the whole buildup, I'm not telling anyone the location. I'm not telling anyone the location. And then as soon as the location got out, it seemed the dominoes fell in place for that event to get canceled you think that happened I can tell you exactly what happened there are things that I'm not supposed to know that I know but yeah you you had these people these these these wimpy weak people calling

these athletic commissions saying how can you let this happen? How can this go on? How can this and that and everything else? But that's what I expect from the week. I expect them to do this. This isn't something that I don't expect them to do. I said it to people before. When you see these negative stories that are written, Google these people. Google them and look at them. And what do you expect them to say this is what you expect from them they are the weak

oh and just another clarification i'm not one of these people you're talking about not talking about all right thank god all right let's talk about these fights a hell of a card the main event you've got tony ferguson versus justin gaethje for the interim lightweight championship obviously two of the biggest savages that the lightweight division has the entire company has really crazy matchup on paper i know you've seen some pushback because the booking of this fight definitely puts the eventual khabib fight at risk did that play a big factor are you saying right now in pandemic matchmaking, availability is more important than anything? Listen, take everything you know about fights, right?

Think about this. If you can't pull off Tony versus Habib, what's the second fight you go to make? This is the fight, okay? Now, when I'm going out on a Saturday and I'm a fight promoter, there's one thing that I can't do. I cannot guarantee you that a fight is going to be unbelievable, it's going to be incredible, and you're going to get every dime's worth of your money out of this fight. I absolutely, positively guarantee you that this Saturday.

I guarantee you that this fight will be one of the most violent fights that you have ever seen in your life. I guarantee you that both of these guys will be going for a finish from the minute the bell rings till the minute the bell rings. And I promise you this fight will be a fight of the year candidate. I agree with that. I don't think I've ever seen either one of these guys have a bad fight. Justin Gaethje, we spoke about in many interviews that we've done, talked about one of your best signings in recent years, as far as big prospects that have come into the UFC and really delivered in just entertaining fight after entertaining fight. And then Tony Ferguson is just a whole nother animal. I'm sure you've seen all the memes that Tony Ferguson is the type of

guy, this, that. He cut weight for the fight that got canceled on April 18th. He cut down to 155, just to show everyone in that lightweight division that he was serious about it. And he's going to be doing it again this upcoming weekend. How would you describe his mentality to, like, the non-Tony Ferguson fan? How can you be a non-Tony Ferguson fan? Like a fucking lunatic? He's a fucking lunatic. 100% a fucking lunatic.

Absolutely, positively out of his fucking tree. Okay. Now, if you are a fight fan, you cannot not be a Tony Ferguson fan. Okay. It's like you cannot not be a Justin Gaethje fan. If you like fights, if you are really truly a fight fan and you like fighting you like both of these guys and you love this fight you love it so is this fight you tapping out on that khabib tony thing or you still think i want that fight i would like to get it one day so if tony ferguson wins this fight he is the interim champion he has to face the champion the only thing that scares the shit out of me is what's going to happen next time we book this fight. Is this planet going to get hit with a fucking asteroid or something? I know. We're going to get the murder hornets. Have you seen the murder hornets?

Yeah, the murder hornets that are coming. I don't know. The event will be attacked by murder hornets. I don't know what's going to happen at this fucking fight. Okay. And the co-main event, Henry Cejudo defending his bantamweight championship against Dominic Cruz. This is a bit of an out there fight. I don't think anyone expected this to get booked. The original fight, I think it was for UFC 250, was going to be Henry

Cejudo versus Jose Aldo. And before we even talk about the Dominic Cruz matchup, I want to ask you about that. Aldo coming off two straight losses, one to Volkanovski in the featherweight division, and the very controversial loss that some people thought he won against Marais when he made his bantamweight debut. Henry Cejudo takes him and just picks him and said, I just had shoulder surgery. I would love a tune-up fight. His words, not mine. I want Jose Aldo.

And you guys booked that fight. It seemed out of the ordinary, just from an outsider looking in to the UFC matchmaking process. Why did you kind of give in and give him what he wanted so that night Cejudo text me and I love the level of disrespect I didn't know he said just had shoulder surgery I want to tune up fight with Jose Aldo I didn't know that that's funny actually and he he texted me that night Cejudo right after the fight and said, Danny, you fucking know that Jose Aldo just won that fight. You know, he won that fight. He didn't lose that fight.

And did you think he did win the fight? That's the fight I did thought he won the fight that night. And that was the fight he wanted. You know, this guy wants, these guys that were perceived as the best or the greatest of all time. He wants the, the Aldos and the Cruzes and these type of guys. So be careful what you wish for because Dominic Cruz is one of these guys who unluckiest human being of all time. I mean, this guy is always injured.

But he comes back and the guy's one of the best up. Yeah, look at the T.J. Dillashaw fight right he came back after two years off and wound up winning that but I was just confused in like there are very legitimate contenders that are on win streaks in that division and they were calling for shots Aljamain Sterling won you know particular there was nothing it was just like Aldo's a big name so there you go no Aldo's still one of the best in the world I mean what's Aldo's a big name, so there you go. No, Aldo's still one of the best in the world. I mean, what's Aldo ranked right now? Aldo is, well, in the featherweight division, they got him ranked number 11.

And he's six on bantamweight. I can see behind you there. Yeah. All right, we could move on to the next fight, though, because I am looking forward to this. And as a Cruz fan myself, I would love to see him pull off that miracle comeback once again um but he did he hit you up about that did like you get a text from cruz because he hasn't fought since late 2016 yeah both of these guys in that so i don't know so cruz cruz really wanted this

fight badly and the problem so hudo had so hudo said i don't want to train through this friggin pandemic and do all the stuff that i need to do to get in shape, and this guy's going to pull out of the fight. And I said, that's a very valid concern. And Cruz made it very clear that he will not be pulling out of this fight. Yeah, so other fights on the card, you've got Ngannou versus Rosenstreich. You've got Cater versus Stevens, which that fight might be my sleeper most excited for on the entire card. I agree with you.

Cowboy Pettis on the prelims. That's a dream fight right there. Greg Hardy versus DeCastro on the main card. You've also got Thug Nasty. We're Doom making his comeback. It's just an amazing card, top to bottom. Any other notes you want to say on that one before we move on i agree with you i the card is completely stacked with great

fights um and waterston on that one or is she on a different one later in the yeah no you got the karate hottie and esparza on this card too uriah hall and jacare suza yeah i mean we can keep going i saw that today you know uriah Hall is older than Dominic Cruz? Isn't that weird to think about? Yeah. Yeah, no, it is. Yeah. Very strange.

This is a very important fight for Uriah Hall. Yeah. So moving forward, your goal is to, if this continues to be an issue, which it looks like it's going to be the whole pandemic, you want to move fights to the apex ideally, right? The UFC Apex Center. Right. And do you have like a date in mind where you're going to do that or a month or anything i'm shooting for the 23rd of of may yep oh wow so we'll do four fights in four weeks

holy shit four fights what am i talking about yeah four fights in two weeks this is literally fight fan stream keeping the smaller cage from dana white's tuesday night contender series if you were to move forward in the apex contender series will happen too holy shit amazing and fight island what's the latest on that everyone loves fight island everyone loves talking about mid-june if we can get this if we can get all the infrastructure done by mid-june i would love to do a fight that weekend that the that the place is completed um if not we'll look at the end of June. So are you talking to fighters already about, hey, if this is good, will you fight then?

But if it's not, it's a wash? Or is it like we're not even concerned about matchmaking on Fight Island yet? No, we're concerned about matchmaking on Fight Island. Yeah, we're going to start. You think about it, we're supposed to do a fight in Brazil. We've got a fight that we're supposed to do in Kazakhstan. We've got a fight that we're supposed to do in Perth, Australia. You know, so all these fights would now move to Fight Island.

And are you thinking of any of the wacky things that people are suggesting for either Fight Island or the Apex and piping in the crowd and putting in the background of virtual crowds or anything like that? I've thought about it. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I've thought about it. Believe me.

But I think we'll just keep them raw and real and, you know, like we always do. It is kind of cool, right? You guys had that empty arena event in Brazil and it was sort of reminiscent of like a high school wrestling meet, I said. It reminds me of the early days of the Ultimate Fighter, too.

Yeah, absolutely. So this is a hot topic today. I know that you're probably not going to say too much on it, but recently you said that there's a fight interesting for Masvidal that is outside of the Kamaru Usman fight. Obviously, everyone's speculating that this could be Conor McGregor. He's posting on Instagram, Twitter, that he's staying ready through this pandemic.

I'll just ask you this. Have you spoken to Conor McGregor recently in a conversation that would make you think he's interested in fighting soon let me see if he texts me back me and he and i were texting a minute oh here he is what do you say is that connor yeah this is connor right here he's asking me what date what date could could I fight on fight Island? And, and, uh, will there be fans? Fucking incredible. You tell them there'll be one fan.

It's your executive director of support. He'll be there. Send me location. I'll parachute down. Like I'm in call of duty war zone. This is me and him outside his bail bondsman's place. I don't know if you saw that. Connor's asking me, Connor wants to fight. So does he want Masvidal? Is that the the is that the name he wants um no we're not talking about a specific opponent but he wants to fight he wants to fight it sounds like he wants to fight in june and he's asking if there would be fans there there would not be fans and the fight would either be mid-june or end of june but connor wants to fight i assume you want that fight as well. That would be fucking incredible. Imagine that entertainment in the middle of the quarantine,

a Conor McGregor main event. Oh my goodness. Okay, well, I appreciate you checking that phone. I don't even know how I'll continue on with the rest of this interview. Another fight that it looks like it's getting talked about, looks like it's getting booked soon. Stipe Miocic versus Daniel Cormier, the trilogy.

I saw Stipe said today that he might want to wait until December. His gym is not open for training. Is this going to get to the point where we're going to see a lot of interim championships arise or champions? No, I don't think so. I think we'll see a championship fight. Listen, fights can happen right now. You either want to fight or you don't. So are you saying if a champion doesn't want to fight, could they potentially be stripped of their title?

Possibly. Okay. That's not my call to make. Amanda Nunez versus Felicia Spencer. Are you making progress on that one? Is that looking to get rebooked? Listen, I'm looking at next week. That's all I'm looking at right now.

Okay. We're looking to get next week done. That's it. Next week, I'd like to go next week done. That's it. And then I got- Next week, I'd like to go the 23rd in the apex and other than that, we're not even thinking about anything else right now except making sure we pull off next week as safely as we can possibly do it. All right, I got one more question for you and then you gotta text

Connor back or like give him a call or something. Tell him I said hey, be like, I was just on with Robbie, so funny.