Dana White hits back at Strickland and Pereira: new deal in May, no orders for Cormier
The pay figure Strickland cited is wrong, White said – he only signed a new contract in May. The UFC boss also rejects Pereira's claim that Cormier is being steered.
Archive image · Photo: Andrius Petrucenia / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped and resized)
UFC CEO Dana White responded after the Contender Series in Las Vegas to middleweight champion Sean Strickland's criticism of his pay. He has not spoken to Strickland personally, White said. "Sean Strickland just signed a new contract in May," he said. "The number that he claimed is not true." Strickland had recently floated vacating his title publicly, arguing that the UFC does not pay champions enough.
White just as firmly rejected Alex Pereira's accusation that the UFC told commentator Daniel Cormier to promote the heavyweight bout between Ciryl Gane and Josh Hokit. "Of course that's not true," White said. "I've never told DC to do anything, ever." The same applies to Joe Rogan and the rest of the commentary team. Cormier himself had already denied the claim.
Gane defends his title against the unbeaten Hokit at UFC 334 on November 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Pereira faces Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 335 on December 12 in Las Vegas.