UFC President Veal White he usually does not hide his views on fighters at Post-Fight Press conferences. He is known to praise fighters as well as expressing his disappointments. In the post-fight presser of UFC 278, he shares his assessment of the fight between the UFC president. José Aldo and Merab Dvalishvili.
Jose Aldo defeated Merab Dvalishvili in three rounds in the smallweight division. Aldo entered the arena with a big pop from the Utah audience. He also received a standing ovation from the crowd. aldo He had a 3-win streak after an unsuccessful attempt to capture the 135lb crown against Petr Yan.
The Machine, on the other hand, had a 7th streak after tasting their last loss in 2018. The Georgian struggled to move Aldo to the canvas in the struggle. Despite repeated attempts, he failed to achieve significant success. Known for his takedown defense, Aldo defended Machine’s takedown attempts quite well.
Although there wasn’t much action in the fight, the Georgian native still did enough and controlled the fight to claim the victory by a Unanimous Decision on the Judges card. The crowd did not like the performance as boos rained down on the last bell. The UFC President also joined the crowd, expressing his disappointment in this fight and Merab’s performance.
Related: ‘So strong and relentless’ Conor McGregor, Teddy Atlas and pros react to Merab Dvalishvili pulling over Jose Aldo for biggest victory at UFC 278
Dana White was unimpressed by Merab Dvalishvili’s performance against Jose Aldo
Following the UFC 278 fight card in Utah, the post-fight press conference was held as usual, and the UFC President kicked off the conference by announcing the fight bonuses. Dana answered many questions from the media, including: Ferguson‘s next fight, a review of the UFC 278 card, Edwards upset against Usman, and much more.
When asked about Merab not answering the question about his fight with teammate Aljamain Sterling, who is the current Bantamweight champion. White He continued to express his disappointment with the fight and stated that if Merab wanted to fight for the title, he would have to make a statement in front of the packed Utah crowd.
“I think Merab tonight, I haven’t seen a lot of offense from Jose Aldo. I think when you’re on a card like this, when the place is filled like this and you want to make a statement in that section, go for it. Listen, I understand you’re fighting Jose Aldo and I don’t know whatever. Merab I don’t think he’s done him much good tonight.” White replied.
After defeating former WEC and UFC champion Jose Aldo, Merab now has an 8-game winning streak. But in a league like Bantamweight, you have to do something extraordinary to get noticed in the championship game. It would be interesting to see if he wins the next championship or if he needs to prove his worth before he takes the shot.