Dana White Says Donald Trump, Conor McGregor Received Loudest Ovations Ever

TMZ

The UFC has no shortage of star power at its events -- in and out of the Octagon -- so, who's gotten the loudest pop from the crowd?!

Transcript

00:00You've put on a lot of big heavyweight fights in the past.

00:03I mean, John Stipe, we know all the big heavyweight fights.

00:07You think this is the biggest one though?

00:09Maybe the gold against the best heavyweight?

00:11Yeah, I think because Stipe hasn't fought in a minute, people are sort of disrespecting

00:17him and overlooking him.

00:19But that's been his whole career.

00:20He's always been the underdog and he always comes out on top.

00:25So that being said, he's taking on Jon Jones, the greatest to ever do it on Saturday, who

00:30absolutely buzzsawed through Cyril Ghosn in his first heavyweight fight.

00:37So it's going to be interesting.

00:42If Jon wins this fight, does that also make him not just the greatest ever, regardless

00:46of division, but also then the greatest heavyweight ever?

00:49Because he would have, at that point, obviously he would have beaten Stipe.

00:52Yeah, Stipe and Cyril Ghosn, who was number one when he came in.

00:56Yeah, I mean, it's already undeniable that this guy is the greatest of all time.

01:04And if he wins on Saturday night, then turns around and fights Tom Aspinall, the Tom Aspinall

01:09Jon Jones fight will be probably the biggest heavyweight fight we've ever done by a long shot.

01:16Massive.

01:18I see people online, Dana, suggesting like Jon is ducking or scared of Tom.

01:23I could never imagine Jon Jones being scared of anybody in an octagon.

01:27Why do you think that he has resisted that potential next fight?

01:30And you've made it clear, hey, Jon, this is going to be the next fight.

01:33He's the interim champ.

01:34Why do you think Jon's been resistant?

01:36Jon Jones isn't afraid of anybody in the octagon or out of the octagon.

01:40This guy, this guy has a very dark side to him.

01:44Yeah, there's during during covid, when all the riots were happening and stuff, he walked

01:50down the streets of Albuquerque and was like slapping people and taking spray cans out

01:55of their hands that were doing graffiti.

01:57And like, yeah, I remember those guns and the dogs and he's good.

02:03Jon Jones isn't afraid of anybody.

02:04And I think that, you know, he gets in this weird place where he's fighting.

02:12It's almost like he's got steeped on Saturday when it's over, Jon Jones will disappear.

02:17You won't hear anything from him.

02:18You won't see him again.

02:19You know, and then that, you know, the competitive spirit will start bubbling and

02:25they'll say, I'm ready to fight Tom Aspinall.

02:27That's how the it's how it all works with him.

02:30So you would be shocked if this was the last time we saw Jon in an octagon tomorrow night.

02:34I wouldn't be shocked if he said I retire tomorrow night.

02:38That wouldn't shock me at all.

02:40I mean, he's earned it.

02:40I mean, the guy's thirty seven, thirty eight years old.

02:43Now he's beat everybody.

02:44He's never lost 16 years.

02:47The youngest heavyweight champion of all time.

02:51Right. And.

02:54When you when you think about the gauntlet of people that he went through and the light

02:58heavyweight division and how he finished them.

03:02Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me and it would suck, but it wouldn't surprise me.

03:06Yeah, I hope I echo that.

03:08I hope that's not the case.

03:10You know, we always ask you, hey, who's the next guy, Dana, on the roster?

03:14Obviously, I think a lot of people think Bo Nickel is a guy who's got an incredibly bright

03:18future in in your promotion.

03:20This seems seemingly is his toughest test, obviously a big step up in competition here.

03:26What about Bo Nickel and his fight, Dana?

03:29Yeah, I agree with you.

03:31I mean, look at a guy that like has six fights taking on a guy who has like twenty five

03:35fights. So this is a huge step up for him.

03:38He asked for this fight.

03:40He wanted to be tested.

03:42He's going to be on Saturday night.

03:43If he rips through Paul the way he's ripped through everybody else, then he's ready.

03:50He's ready for a top 15 guy.

03:54Right, so so huge, huge moment for him.

03:56You know, it's funny, obviously, this is going down at Madison Square Garden.

04:00I remember a time when New York state, they wanted nothing to do with MMA.

04:04It seems like they like having MMA now and especially they like having the UFC come

04:09through their state, you know, with the gate and the excitement and all that.

04:13Is that a bit satisfying to see the way New York has come around with the UFC?

04:18Very satisfying.

04:20This is the number two biggest gate of all time at Madison Square Garden.

04:24Now the UFC holds the number one, number two, number three, number four, number six, number

04:30eight and number nine all time.

04:32Seven of the top 10 biggest gates ever at MSG.

04:37Obviously, tomorrow is going to be a packed house.

04:40This is a hot ticket.

04:43There was a guy who on November 5th, he he had a pretty big night, a pretty big win in

04:48your close friend Donald J. Trump.

04:52Will Donald Trump, will the president elect be in the building tomorrow?

04:55There's been a lot of people talking about whether he was going to attend the fight,

04:58Dana.

04:59Well, I think that anything is possible.

05:01He's a big fan.

05:02Who knows?

05:03He could pop in.

05:06If he does, what do you think that moment will be like?

05:08We've seen him during the campaign.

05:10We've seen when he walks out of that tunnel with you and it's just an electric feeling,

05:15even watching on TV.

05:17What do you think that would feel like potentially tomorrow if it does happen?

05:20Huge.

05:21But, you know, you know, it's crazy when you think about it.

05:24When you think about fighter walkouts, whenever a fighter walks out to the I mean, the two

05:29biggest that that actually shake the arena are President Trump and Conor McGregor, two

05:35of the biggest fight walkouts ever.

05:38So yeah, if he comes tomorrow night, it will definitely be fun.

05:43That'll be awesome.

05:44Before I let you go, how about Charles Olivera and Michael Chandler?

05:48Obviously, a lot of implications there, title picture and whatnot.

05:52How do you see that fight?

05:54I think that today at the weigh ins, we should cut the checks for fifty thousand dollars

05:59for fight of the night and just hand it to him after weigh ins.

06:03It's impossible for that not to be the fight of the night.

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