Dana White has torn into the Australian media after the UFC returned Down Under this weekend.
The MMA mogul was in the country’s capital of Sydney on Saturday night for UFC 312 as Dricus du Plessis retained his middleweight title against Sean Strickland at the Qudos Bank Arena.
UFCWhite branded the Australian media ‘a bunch of p******’[/caption]
Du Plessis broke Strickland’s nose in the fourth round en route to a wide unanimous decision victory and is expected to face Khamzat Chimaev next.
Throughout the build-up to fight night, Strickland, who has never shied away from controversy, came under fire from the Aussie press.
Australian newspaper the Daily Telegraph put Strickland on their back page on Thursday, urging someone to ‘knock him out’ after the American bashed Australia’s gun laws.
Sydney Morning Herald editor Bevan Shields also penned a column entitled ‘Watching our premier chat to UFC boss Dana White made me feel physically sick’.
Shields was referencing a recent episode of the Straight Talk with Mark Bouris podcast that featured White and New South Wales Premier Chris Minns.
In the article, Shields questioned the government’s decision to spend taxpayers’ money on the event after it was revealed the UFC had reached a $16million deal with New South Wales.
Shields repeatedly pointed to what he described as a ‘justifiably angry response from women’s safety advocates and anti-violence campaigners’ throughout his piece.
“The UFC is one of the most brutal ‘sports’ on the planet,” he wrote.
“Perhaps that’s why it’s also wildly popular, especially with young men…
“The vast majority of voters find the UFC gross and would be appalled to know their money is helping to prop it up.”
The Daily TelegraphStrickland caught strays from the Aussie media during fight week[/caption]
During the UFC 312 post-fight press conference White answered questions from the Australian press and launched into a scathing rant about the state of the journalism in the country.
Seemingly referencing Shields’ article, White proceeded to brand Australian media ‘p*******’.
“For a place that is so tough and the people, everything on land and in the water can kill you – you have the biggest p****** I have ever seen in the media in my life,” White said.
“I saw a story where a guy was like: ‘I saw Dana do a podcast with the [NSW] Premier and it made me physically sick’.
“Holy f****** s*** you guys have to have the biggest p****** of all time in the media here. Just for the record.”
This comes after Strickland launched into a similar tirade in response to the aforementioned Daily Telegraph article which branded the former middleweight champion as the ‘UFC’s biggest imbecile’.
Strickland had took aim at Australia ahead of his bout with Du Plessis, saying the country had a ‘lack of freedom’, while dubbing Australians ‘English white trash’.
“I come to this f****** country and I talk about freedom of speech, and guns, and taxes,” he said at UFC 312’s pre-fight press conference.
“And you got these f****** communists in the media trying to f****** put me down.
“Why? Because you want to control the media and you don’t like freedom of speech.”
