Dana White does not hesitate to openly criticize others. He will do so with the media, he will do so with fighters, and even once he did so with Meryl Streep. He’s not a guy to keep his feelings to himself.
Over the years White has had numerous things to say about referees, and hardly any of it has been good.
Here are 7 times that Dana White blasted referees…
7. UFC 208: Holm vs. De Randamie
Granted, Dana White was already in a bad mood by the time UFC 208’s main event started, but referee Todd Anderson did little to alleviate this.
Twice during the 5-round fight the now inaugural women’s featherweight champion, Germaine de Randamie, hit Holly Holm with shots after the buzzer. These were shots she started throwing after the buzzer as well. While some, including referee John McCarthy, defended De Randamie, stating that the round isn’t over until the ref steps in, many feel at least one point should have been deducted for the illegal shots.
“What’s wrong with this ref is he doesn’t have big fight experience like that. None of these guys do in this state yet, and they should’ve had one of the experienced MMA refs in there reffing that main event.” White said referring to the state of New York’s relatively recent experience with the sport.
“I was hoping that the main event would deliver and erase most of the rest of the night. That didn’t happen. You know me, it’s been a long time since we’ve had a bad show, and they happen. It happens.”
Had 1 point been deducted the fight would have been declared a draw, had 2 points been deducted Holm would have been the winner. Holm has since called for a rematch, but she will have to wait for De Randamie to face Cyborg next in all likelihood.
