The UFC Nashville, headlined by Cory Sandhagen and Rob Font, saw the former coming out with a dominant victory. Yet, the event grabbed attention for all the wrong reasons, as the UFC president, Dana White, walked out in the middle of the said fight. He did so likely because the fight was too one-sided and failed to create the excitement reminiscent of a main event.
The fight failed to live up to the expectations, and many experts were left bewildered. Heading into the fight night, it was predicted to be an entertaining affair throughout. Therefore, even though there were glimpses of genius displayed by Sandhagen, the fight turned out to be completely in his favor. This was likely due to the fact that Rob Font accepted the match on short notice. Undoubtedly, preventing him from being 100% prepared to take on his crafty opponent, known for his grappling.
A clean sweep for @CorySandhagen 👏 #UFCNashville pic.twitter.com/DDBKXUDiok
— UFC (@ufc) August 6, 2023
The fans had a field day with many coming in with harsh comments. Consequently, one fan had this to say about the fight, “Bisping telling it like it is. This fight stinks.” Another fan mentioned Dana’s reaction: “Dana White walked out during the 4th round”.
There were a few who were critical of Dana’s premature departure and had this to say, “Guy sits through 5 hours of people slapping each other in the face, but walks out during a dominant win by Sandhagen against an extremely game opponent.” Apparently taking a dig at the UFC president’s alternate promotion for slap fighting.
Was Dana White under pressure due to Nate Diaz vs Jake Paul?
It is well known that White is not a fan of boring fights, and has vocalized his dismay about the same in the past. There was even a time when Dana praised what Mairbek Khasiev did in the Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA). Khasiev, the founder of the ACA, Russia’s biggest fighting promotion, stepped in and stopped a fight he deemed uneventful. Eventually, it was called a no-contest.
EVEN IN SLO MO IT’S JUST AS INTENSE 🔥
Watch #PaulDiaz LIVE NOW on DAZN PPV on https://t.co/FoiaUucafv 🥊@jakepaul | @natediaz209 | @mostvpromotions | @realfightinc | @celsiusofficial | #CELSIUSLiveFit | #CELSIUSBrandPartner pic.twitter.com/pyiG0YI8nu
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) August 6, 2023
As such, it was no surprise that Dana walked out. This week might have been even tougher considering the UFC fight night was competing against the Nate Diaz v Jake Paul event broadcasted by DAZN. Nonetheless, Sandhagen will take the victory and climb his way atop the bantamweight division.
In his post-fight speech, he demanded the winner of the bantamweight title fight between the champion Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley after their fight at UFC 292 on August 19. Will White grant him a title shot after this performance? We’ll have to see.
