Dana White responds to criticism over the UFC heavyweight title situation

Dana White recently got a lot of flak for his decision to introduce an interim heavyweight title fight between Ciryl Gane and Derrick Lewis. However, he is not someone who takes criticism lightly.

Speaking to John Morgan from MMA Junkie, White revealed his thoughts on the entire matter and joked about the criticism hurting him. He implied that the criticism didn't affect him and said:

"Oh yeah tons of regrets, lots of concerns and it's just killing me. It ruined my fourth of July. No. I put on fights every Saturday, you want to fight? I got fights for you. You don't wanna fight? No problem. You don't have to fight."

The winner of the fight will get to fight Francis Ngannou for the heavyweight belt. White added that it was a great play and that the fight made sense.

Dana also added that Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane are the two best heavyweights in the world after the undisputed champion Francis Ngannou.

Dana White says he wasn't annoyed at the Francis Ngannou manager who responded to him on Instagram, but rather one who apparently disagreed with a deal the UFC presented. pic.twitter.com/evsdE9FzZ7

— The Mac Life (@TheMacLife) July 7, 2021

---

Dana White explains why the interim title fight is a good idea

Morgan asked him if the introduction of the interim belt devalued Ngannou's championship win, and Dana said no. He explained why the fight was a great idea and said:

"No. If anything, this will make the title fight even bigger when these guys fight, be champion vs. champion.

Dana then said that both Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane have very interesting storylines going into this fight. Lewis already has a win over Ngannou, and if he wins the interim belt, then Ngannou will have a chance to avenge that loss.

On the other hand, if Gane wins the interim belt, then he'll be undefeated going into this title fight against Ngannou. Gane is one of the biggest prospects in the UFC's heavyweight division, and Dana White has treated him perfectly.

On this day in sports history July 7, Derrick Lewis defeated Francis Ngannou by Unanimous Decision at UFC 226 in 2018. pic.twitter.com/KxF16ZaRxb

— Nicholas Francoletti (@NFrancoletti) July 7, 2021

Watch the full video here: