5 UFC main events that Dana White absolutely hated

#2 Curtis Blaydes vs. Alexander Volkov (UFC Vegas 3)

Curtis Blaydes failed to impress Dana White with his win over Alexander Volkov

Few things in a UFC main event anger Dana White more than a fighter who talks plenty of trash about what they’re going to do to their opponent, only to not deliver on that talk inside the octagon.

That’s probably why the UFC president disliked the 2020 clash between Curtis Blaydes and Alexander Volkov – which headlined UFC Vegas 3 – so much.

Prior to the fight, Blaydes had promised that fans wouldn’t see a stand-up war between himself and ‘Drago’. Instead, he suggested he’d simply “ragdoll” the Russian fighter around the cage in a one-sided beating.

Blaydes did win the fight in pretty lopsided fashion, but it wasn’t the beating he promised to deliver. ‘Razor’ instead largely outwrestled Volkov for a decision, and to make matters worse, he appeared to run out of steam late in the fight.

🤼‍♂️ @RazorBlaydes265 just set the HWT takedown record with his 1️⃣2️⃣th of the fight! #UFCVegas3 pic.twitter.com/PTrTS6BPre

— UFC (@ufc) June 21, 2020

It wasn’t the worst headliner of all time, but Dana White was clearly irked in the aftermath. He stated that Blaydes had the “wrong attitude”, and then claimed that “when you talk the sh*t that he talked and perform like he performed tonight, you look stupid”.

Whether White’s angry attitude towards Blaydes was really down to the performance in the Volkov fight – or whether it was down to comments he made about low fighter pay – is a question mark, but it’s clear that the UFC president was no fan of this main event.

---

#1 Anderson Silva vs. Demian Maia (UFC 112)

Dana White was furious with Anderson Silva's performance against Demian Maia

Perhaps no other headline fight in the history of the UFC has earned the ire of UFC president Dana White quite so much as the UFC middleweight title bout between Anderson Silva and Demian Maia at UFC 112.

Silva was already on shaky footing with the UFC at the time. The reigning UFC middleweight champion had regularly been labelled the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter by White, but dull victories over Patrick Cote and Thales Leites had dented his reputation as a walking highlight reel somewhat.

Still, after his win over Leites, ‘The Spider’ had unleashed one of the most memorable UFC knockouts of all time, destroying Forrest Griffin inside a round. It seemed written in stone that he’d do the same to Maia in the main event of the UFC’s first show in Abu Dhabi.

However, that wasn’t the case, and in a truly bizarre fight, Silva preened, posed, danced, and did just about enough to edge a dull decision over Maia. And unsurprisingly, the performance sent White over the edge.

Apr10.2010In what was one of the most bizarre fights in UFC history,Anderson Silva defeats Demian Maia in Abu Dhabi at UFC 112 pic.twitter.com/tYbbj5kWK4

— MMA History Today (@MMAHistoryToday) April 10, 2021

Not only did the UFC president refuse to present Silva with his title belt after the fight – leaving it to Silva’s manager Ed Soares – but he went on an angry rant after the event, too.

White stated that the fight was embarrassing, and even threatened to strip Silva of his title and cut him from the UFC altogether if he produced a similar performance in his next fight.

Days later, cooler heads prevailed, with Soares stating that he and Silva had met with White to clear the air and that they’d apologised to the UFC’s head honcho. Still, this remains the most angry we’ve ever seen White following a UFC main event.