UFC President Dana White has criticised Jorge Masvidal and Kamaru Usman for their public altercation at Radio Row, and says it’s ‘not good’ for the UFC.
Masvidal and Usman became engaged in a heated argument last week when they attended Super Bowl XLIV’s Radio Row in Florida.
The pair had to be separated by security when the argument broke out between interviews.
Jorge Masvidal and Kamaru Usman just got into a verbal confrontation at Super Bowl radio row. (🎥 @JoshAppel) pic.twitter.com/K6kqTnpXyC
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 29, 2020
‘Neanderthals’
The altercation drew a lot of attention and raised excitement further amidst speculation of a mega-fight between the two stars.
But the UFC boss was unimpressed, and says the attention these things draw isn’t always positive.
Speaking to Will Cain on ESPN, White said: “I don’t love it”,
“People think because I’m a promoter I’m like, ‘Cha-ching. That’s great for us.’”
“But it’s not great for us.”
“We’re here at the Super Bowl – Radio Row at the Super Bowl, the NFL – and these two are acting like neanderthals.”
He went on to express his concern with the location the altercation took place, and says the pair risked scaring non-UFC fans.
“The problem is for the people that are in here that do radio and in the media,” White continued.
“It scares people like this.”
“That’s scary, that’s a scary thing when that goes down.”
Lil bitch brought his camera to try and flex and act hard. I was dolo and If you wanted to do something you could have tried but you didn’t lol 😂 #youplayedyourself #cloutchaser #tookanotherL
— KAMARU USMAN (@USMAN84kg) January 29, 2020
Legal Implications
White also highlighted the legal implications should the dust-up have escalated any further.
He said: “If they touch each other, now the police get involved.”
“We’re regulated by the government.”
“Now, the athletic commissions are getting involved.”
White says fighters should save their problems for the Octagon instead of letting it spill out into public events.
He confirmed Usman and Masvidal will clash in Vegas and says they should reserve any more issues they have until then.
“Those two are going to fight in Las Vegas, ok,” he confirmed.
“International Fight Week weekend.”
“For 25 minutes they can do whatever they want to each other.”
“You don’t have to do it here at Radio Row at the Super Bowl.”
On the heels of a radio row dustup, @danawhite suggests Jorge Masvidal and Kamaru Usman settle their differences in the Octagon (via @WillCainShow) pic.twitter.com/OBBMzNopbm
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) January 31, 2020
Win Streaks
Masvidal will go into the fight with Usman on the back of three consecutive wins.
He knocked out Darren Till and Ben Askren before defeating Nate Diaz via TKO at UFC 244.
Gamebred’s 5 second knockout against Askren is the fastest in UFC history.
Usman on the other hand is on an 11 fight winning streak in the UFC.
With two of the UFC’s hottest stars set for a showdown, could we see more public spats in the build-up to the fight, or will they save it for the Octagon?
(Featured image source: YouTube/ ESPN and Instagram/ Kamaru Usman)