Welcome to Fightful's coverage of the UFC 246 post-fight press conference. We'll hear from UFC President Dana White and the top winners on the night. You can watch the press conference in the video above.
Press conference beginning with Dana White. No update on Barber. Elliot and Cerrone transported. Calls the Barber situation "weird."
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Dana will no longer doubt Conor fighting at 170. Says Conor being in demand is "a great problem to have." Also says the PPV number "killed it" and praises ESPN's promotion.
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Dana says the Khabib rematch makes sense if Khabib beats Tony. "Its the fight to make. Masvidal doesn't even have a belt...although Conor wants his BMF title."
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Dana puts more praise on Conor, wont diss Cowboy for being shot. "He has an incredible fight IQ, speed, power, ability." Predicts Khabib/Conor 2 does more than 3 million buys. "It might rival Conor/Floyd."
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Dana thinks Conor is willing to wait for the Khabib fight. Thinks the fight could be in a stadium. Could be in MSG. The O2.
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Dana loved Conor's attitude leading up to this fight. Says he was going through stuff before the Khabib fight. Thought he was happy coming into this fight. Says he loves Conor.
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Dana buries the ref in the Holm/Pennington fight for not breaking the clinch. "What fucking fight is he watching? He's moving around trying to stay away and they're leaning up against the fence for 4 minutes." Says he almost walked out.
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Dana liked the performances by Diego and Dober. Wasn't surprised by the Roxy/Barber fight. Looks forward to Grasso at 125.
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Dana doesn't think the Cerrone stoppage was bad/late.
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Dana says Conor wants the 155 title. Says Khabib/Conor wont be in Moscow for "many reasons." Says Vegas makes the most sense but Khabib isn't a fan of Vegas
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Dana would like a nicer tone in the Conor/Khabib fight, but the fighters/camps hate each other. Says the organization has to do their job.
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Dana says they're doing something with Floyd this year. "He's in our plans." Didn't elaborate. Said he was talking to Floyd all night.
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
"Khabib is rich. Over 50 million" - Dana. Says Khabib doesn't turn down fights.
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Dana says he needs to talk to Gaethje face to face and get on the same page.
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Dana says he called Conor to let him know Usman got hacked on Twitter so he didn't confront him. Conor didnt believe it, but there was no issue.
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Dana hasn't talked to Nate Diaz in the last few weeks. Doesn't see him fighting into upcoming plans and doesn't know what Nate wants to do.
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Dana says you can't put a number on Conor's value.
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Paulo Costa will be ready May/June according to Dana. Says Adesanya wanted to fight Yoel. "Nobody wants to fight Yoel. Izzy wants to fight him. He has the title. Feels his legacy will be incomplete if he doesn't beat Yoel."
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
That's a wrap for Dana.
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Holly Holm is up. Says she wanted a knockout. Calls Pennington scrappy. Was happy she could take her game away. "I wanted to do more."
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Holm says she heard some boos, but it doesn't bother her. Holm will take the criticism and try to be better. Holm says she felt a pop in hamstring and thats why the fight was pushed back. Says she was confident in the hamstring for this fight.
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Holm says her father had a stroke three weeks ago. He's doing great, but its been a balance for her. Doesn't want to make any excuses on the fight.
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Holm says she feels good at 135. Says it takes time for a boxer to be good at MMA when asked about Claressa Shields.
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Holm has no plans to retire. Definitely didn't want to leave on a loss. And that's it for Holly.
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Conor has arrived. Says he was eager with the left hand, which Donald ducked. "Now they'll have to say 'He's just got a left shoulder.'" Says it disrespectful for people to claim he only has a left hand.
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
"Having the most head kick knockouts is like a world title to me." Knew Donald wanted to catch him with a head kick. But knew Donald likes to lean so he knew he could catch him with a head kick. Says Donald's Grandma is phenomenal. "Was great to finally meet her."
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Conor is looking at dates, not titles. Says he'll chat with Lorenzo and Dana. Wants to get back to training. Believes he achieved it all too soon and lost motivation. "I had to come back for the love."
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Conor says he wasn't committed and felt like he disrespected the people that believed in him and supported him. "I had to re-center myself."
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Conor won't commit on a winner between Khabib/Tony. "It's a fight."
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Conor says he loves Russia and went to Moscow recently and they support him. Would be eager to fight in Moscow. "I'm more Russian than [Khabib]" Says if it's a stadium show overseas, it's happening in Ireland, not the UK.
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
"We'll see what happens with Floyd. Discussions never stop. He's far from retired. That rematch will happen at some stage." - Conor
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Conor says it wasn't easy to stay sober in training camp. Says he learned his lesson, but is going to enjoy it now until the next camp.
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Conor praises Cerrone. Says it was an honor to share the cage with him. Can only hope to hit the records Cerrone has. "Give him a belt. They're making belts for everyone nowadays."
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
"They didn't want me to have the 2nd belt. Now they're stripping fighters and creating belts so guys can do it. The BMF Title isn't a great belt, but I'll take it." - Conor
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
"Let's go Nathan. Number three. It's always here." - Conor
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Conor is skeptical about Usman's twitter being hacked. Thinks Ali got a hold of the account with the first tweet, then they got heavier, then it became a hack job. Doesn't think it was Usman. "It had all the hallmarks of Ali."
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
Conor says he feels good at 170. "I hold a couple of nice wins." And that's it for Conor.
— Fightful MMA & Boxing (@FightfulMMA) January 19, 2020
If you missed anything from UFC 246, check out Fightful's full report by clicking here.
