**Dana White goes off on Eddie Hearn: 'You're on Ariel Helwani talking about me?' — Transcript & Summary | SozAI** Source: https://sozai.app/transcript/dana-white-eddie-hearn-ariel-helwani/ Dana White discusses Sal's impressive Contender Series win, UFC event highlights, and addresses rumors involving Eddie Hearn. ## Key Takeaways - Sal earned his UFC contract through performance and hard work, not connections. - The Contender Series is a significant and popular platform for discovering new talent. - Dana White is actively involved in fighter development and UFC event planning. - There is ongoing tension and rumors involving Eddie Hearn, but no recent meeting occurred. - UFC continues to explore new venues and opportunities for major events. ## What the video covers - Dana White shares his emotional reaction watching Sal's tough fight and his decision to leave quietly after the win. - Sal is praised as a humble, hardworking fighter who earned his UFC contract through merit, not favoritism. - The Contender Series is highlighted as a powerful platform that sometimes outrates UFC Fight Night. - Dana discusses the decision to switch the order of the fight card, which resulted in an explosive night. - Preston took a short-notice fight at a higher weight class and plans to return to his natural division. - Dana comments on the exciting Chavez fight and the potential for future big UFC events at new locations. - There is a mention of a recent meeting and ongoing discussions about production and contracts, including a denied meeting with Eddie Hearn. - Dana emphasizes the respect and positive reputation Sal has within the UFC community. - The conversation touches on other fighters like Matteo Suarez and Olivia Beerly, highlighting UFC’s talent pipeline. - Dana briefly addresses his relationship with Tyson Fury and the boxing world’s perception of him. ## Chapters 1. 00:00 Dana White Reacts to Sal's Fight 2. 01:07 Dana Explains His Post-Fight Reaction 3. 02:13 Contender Series Popularity and Impact 4. 03:13 Overview of the Fight Night and Card Changes 5. 04:11 Sal's Performance and UFC Contract Discussion 6. 04:52 Preston's Short-Notice Fight and Weight Class 7. 06:23 Chavez Fight and Future UFC Event Locations 8. 07:42 Sal's Reputation and UFC Community Support 9. 08:45 Discussion of Production, Contracts, and Eddie Hearn 10. 09:48 Other Fighters and Dana's Boxing Connections Answers ## Questions about this video Why did Dana White leave immediately after Sal's fight? Dana White left quietly because he did not want to appear overly celebratory after Sal's tough and well-earned victory. What makes Sal's UFC contract significant? Sal's contract is life-changing as it provides enough income to support his family, allowing him to focus fully on his fighting career. Was there a meeting between Dana White and Eddie Hearn? No, Dana White clarified that there was no meeting with Eddie Hearn recently, despite rumors and discussions about production and contracts. ## Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown 00:04 Speaker A Only one more left, guys. Brutal. Dana, I'm sure you have experienced a range of emotions over the course of your career, but watching S fight tonight as you're sitting there, it's, you know, it's going both ways. It's a 00:16 Speaker A tough fight. The other guy was very good. What are you feeling? 00:24 Speaker A Yeah, that's why I got up and walked out right after he won. I don't want to be overly celebrating, you know, and this other kid got knocked out and he 00:37 Speaker A came in to, you know, to compete here, but all my guys in Boston were blowing me up saying, "Your boy's in trouble tonight. This guy's a real guy. He's tough." And, um, you know, uh, S, I don't know if any of you have had 00:43 Speaker A the opportunity to meet him or get to know him. He's one of the greatest kids ever, and it couldn't happen to a better person. So, I'm happy for him. 00:53 Speaker A I was going to ask you, so you just knew you had to get to the back right away just— 01:07 Speaker A Yeah. Well, I just don't want to be out there [expletive] jumping around like a little girl after he wins, you know? I 01:15 Speaker A both these—I actually contemplated. I've never done it before, but I was going to go back to, uh, to Azy's, you know, uh, dressing room and say, "Listen, I understand how you're probably feeling right now, but you determine 01:26 Speaker A whether you get in here or not. We don't." And I said, "Fuck, maybe he needs to feel like we're all against him. You know, maybe I shouldn't mess with any of this." So, I just left him 01:37 Speaker A alone. And here we are. You mentioned it on the broadcast, but I wanted to talk about it again. The reception he got was crazy. It's as loud as anything I've heard in the Apex. And we spoke on Saturday about how powerful 01:50 Speaker A a vehicle the Contender Series is for these guys. When people tune in to watch this storyline of the employee get a contract, he performs like that. The reactions like that. How big do you think Sal can get based off this? 02:02 Speaker A How do I think what? How big can S get based off—Listen, if S keeps fighting like that, Sal's going to be big no matter what. Um, but, uh, yeah. Yeah. No, the Contender Series is a monster, man. I mean, 02:13 Speaker A this thing outrates fight night sometimes. 02:26 Speaker A Oh, that's crazy. How do you manage your relationship with S now? Do you want him to carry on working if he chooses to work at the office? Do you kind of say to him? 02:32 Speaker A Well, I think this contract changes his life to where he doesn't have to work at the office. I think that, um, you know, when we run into S now, it'll be at the PI training. I think if he's gonna, uh, 02:42 Speaker A really do this and take a run, now he's got a contract that actually pays him money, you know, enough money to make a living and support his family. Then he needs to take this serious and go. 02:54 Speaker A Talk about the main event right after that. I heard you say how hard it would be to follow S and then these two came out and started swinging straight away. 03:05 Speaker A Talk to us about the night as a whole. 03:13 Speaker A It was a great night. Yeah, the first fight started out, you know, wasn't a bad fight, um, but just wasn't what I was looking for and then the rest of the 03:26 Speaker A night was absolutely explosive. I think it proved to be the right decision, but was there anything behind, you know, switching the order of the card shortly before? 03:36 Speaker A What's the question? The female fight was supposed to be the main event, um, and then it got switched and obviously whoever did that was a good idea. It was a great idea. Whoever did that, good move. And just going back to Sal, 03:43 Speaker A I mean, obviously you like, you said, great guy and everything, but I can't help but think there's going to be people out there that say, "Oh, well that's Dana's guy. You think he's going to have to work harder?" 03:54 Speaker A People are going to talk [expletive] about you no matter what. So that's the last thing Sal's to worry about. Um, he went in there and earned that tonight. You know, everybody, even Sean Shelby, like we'd be walking down the halls and Sean was 04:02 Speaker A like, "Just letting you know, he's in a [expletive] fight. This is, you know, this is easily 50/50." And then all my Boston guys were blowing me up that know the kid and were saying he's a 04:11 Speaker A tough kid. Sal earned it. I mean, and even that shot, he hits him with that shot and then just watches him. He doesn't try to jump on him. He knew. 04:15 Speaker A Couldn't have had a more badass performance. 04:25 Speaker A That's awesome. And I saw on the video package, you know, kind of promoting the fight. He had said that you came up to him and said, "You talked to Hunter and Sean, all them." 04:34 Speaker A Yeah. And he's like, "No, why?" He's like, "Because I want to see you on the Contender Series." So, 04:43 Speaker A So is this like did you see something in him or it's like now? Because I know you've seen his fights over at Tough Enough. Do you 04:47 Speaker A think this was now, you know, the time for Sal to get on? 04:52 Speaker A Yeah. Well, he, you know, he's been smoking people over there and he's not getting any younger and if you're going to take the opportunity, 05:06 Speaker A go. Let's do it. I mean, he's not getting any younger. You got to go. 05:12 Speaker A And shifting gears to the main event, uh, Preston, I believe he took this on short notice. He's a natural middleweight. Even had a fight scheduled a couple weeks after this. Obviously, not anymore, but, uh, just did you get to talk 05:17 Speaker A to him briefly? Anything after, you know, is he going to go back down there or how's it going to go? 05:26 Speaker A I think so. I think, yeah, he was, you know, they all yell at me after the, you know, when I'm 05:34 Speaker A when I'm leaving after the interview. And I think that's what he said. He said, "Well, you have, this isn't even my weight. Wait till you see me in my weight." And Dana, what did you think of the, uh, 05:42 Speaker A the Chavez fight as long as it lasted? You know, the slam and everything else. 05:48 Speaker A Yeah, it was such a great fight. Um, yeah, let me let me look at my, uh, yeah. 06:03 Speaker A Um, you know, these guys had great exchanges. Both tough guys, you know, and what I love is that I got to see everything, literally everything from the kids. So, now, um, you mentioned a couple weeks ago Craig was touring the site. Do you 06:12 Speaker A have any update for us on that, uh, on that potential location for another, you know, big event? 06:25 Speaker A Uh, we're working on it. 06:35 Speaker A Okay. 06:43 Speaker A We're still working on it. Literally, it's being worked on right now. 06:49 Speaker A Okay. That's a fact. 07:00 Speaker A Okay. Excellent. Thank you. 07:09 Speaker A Yep. Uh, Dana, you know, you said, uh, what a great kid Sal is, and obviously that must be true. I mean, with the reaction that he got, can you just tell us? 07:18 Speaker A There's one person at the headquarters that doesn't like Sal. There's not one. Tell a little bit more about him because he does seem like a hard worker, always positive attitude. 07:23 Speaker A Um, you know, he was just saying, you know, don't you think people can say, "Oh, he got this or that because he's Dana's boy." 07:42 Speaker A He earned his way here. I mean, and, you know, that's one of the many things that people respect about him. 07:48 Speaker A Incredibly humble. It's not like this guy is like, you know, some director over at the UFC. He's a hardworking guy that shows up every day, does what he's supposed to do, and is completely humble about it. You know, he doesn't 08:02 Speaker A win the title at the fight and come roll around the [expletive] office like he's, you know, like he's Anderson Silva or Jon Jones or something. You know what I 08:13 Speaker A mean? He could not be a more humble, great human being. And to see this happen to him, everybody that works for UFC or fights at UFC or has crossed his path is genuinely happy for him. 08:22 Speaker A Yeah. I mean, it kind of sounded like, uh, like the way you just described it that you're 29, you got to start doing this, that he probably never even asked to be on Contender Series. You thought that maybe somebody in his position would 08:29 Speaker A have, right? It's not like he was running around the office trying to use his, you know, relationships to get— 08:45 Speaker A No, I was the one that pushed the Contender Series. 08:52 Speaker A Uh, one last thing is that the way he described that you told him sounded pretty cool that he was stocking your fr— 09:04 Speaker A what's the confusion? Oh, I thought there was a meeting. Well, he said he talked a lot about about breach of contract and that's why you weren't at the press conference because you weren't allowed there. 09:13 Speaker A Um I just it wasn't because I had it's it's weird if Dana White doesn't show up to Dana White's Contender Series on a Tuesday. I haven't missed one in 10 years no matter what. And then I had the the press 09:23 Speaker A conference on the fight in Utah. Yeah. Um, and the day that we held it, the way the reason that day was held is because that was the day Turkey had Turkey wanted to be at the press conference and that was why the there's 09:36 Speaker A absolutely zero confusion. Everything that I have said since however long ago I said it is true. And now he he's open to meeting with me about what what what should we possibly meet about? 09:48 Speaker A I think one of the big things that was talked about was that you guys will be handling handling production. That's a fact. He seemed to disagree. He said it's a breach of contract. Netflix sounds like he's got an incredible 09:58 Speaker A lawsuit. Okay. Will Are you open to Are Are you [ \_\_ ] kidding me right now? 10:05 Speaker A Did he talk about AJ and Fury? Um he talked about how big a fight it was great that he's going to England. 10:11 Speaker A That That's all that matters. Who gives a [ \_\_ ] I mean, have I been wrong in anything that I've said? 10:18 Speaker A Not Not yet. But he there he Yeah. Nothing. I am producing the fight. I am promoting the fight. 10:27 Speaker A I will be there at the fight and then I'm flying right back to Vegas for the UFC fight and all of my producers and guys that run production will be flying with me. 10:37 Speaker A Thank you so much. We already had the meeting. The meeting was [ \_\_ ] yesterday. 10:41 Speaker A Yes, Dana. I mean, this is so [ \_\_ ] silly now. AND THE FACT THAT YOU GUYS ARE EVEN ASKING ME THESE questions and if he's on Ariel Hani forever long he's on is he's talking about me. You were the main 10:53 Speaker A TOPIC OF THE WHY WHY AM I THE MAIN TOPIC? AJ AND FURY FIGHTING. Those two ARE GOING TO MAKE A [ \_\_ ] TON OF MONEY. The fight has finally happened. 11:03 Speaker A Yeah. And I Everything that I have said about my involvement in the fight has been absolutely true. 11:12 Speaker A Anybody want to debate that? Anybody? Am I wrong? Am I okay? Um, if S pisses you off in the coming months, are you gonna match him up with an undefeated Dagistani? 11:23 Speaker A Um, I I don't I don't think it's possible for Sal to piss anybody off. Um, he's the nicest guy ever. Um, that's a weird question. 11:37 Speaker A Dana, right over here, Matteo Suarez is a 22-year-old bantamweight. You said he has exactly the kind of style that you'd want in the UFC. Can you talk more about adding someone like that to the bantamweight division and what you 11:46 Speaker A expect from someone so young? Yeah. Well, I think that coming off Tuesday nights, I mean, everybody that we've added, uh, you know, I I'm excited to see these guys come in and compete and Yes. And obviously, you know, 12:00 Speaker A especially in that division to have another, I mean, explosive, talented, well-rounded guy is very exciting. And at that age, yeah, he's he's definitely incredible for the age. There's no doubt about it. 12:13 Speaker A One thing that has been noticed this season on Contender Series is the level of prospects you guys have been signing. 12:17 Speaker A You guys have been signing a very high level of prospect and fighters that a lot of people do think are right there to the UFC more than even in past seasons. Has there been a change in philosophy when it comes to booking for 12:27 Speaker A the Contender Series or is that something that just naturally happened with No, the pool continues to get better is what happens. And the beautiful thing about this is millions of people see these guys fight before they ever set 12:39 Speaker A foot in the UFC. there's already a story and a, you know, footage and what they've accomplished and it's it's it's incredible. This has been an amazing pipeline of talent for us. 12:50 Speaker A Thank you. Thank you. Just one about one of your guys real quick. Yeah, let me get her first. Yeah. 12:54 Speaker A Hi, Dana. Uh, four out of the five fights this weekend. Um, uh, ended in a first round knockout. Is there any fight in particular that stood out to you? And was there any fight that was especially hard for you to make a decision on 13:08 Speaker A giving on a contract tonight? Are we talking about Utah or here? Here. Yeah. What's your question? Four out of the five finished the first round and and what's the question? 13:18 Speaker A Yeah. Is there anybody that stood out to you tonight? And in uh was there anybody that made, you know, it hard for you not to Yeah. After the first fight, everybody stood out. 13:27 Speaker A Yeah. Literally after the first fight, everybody was impressive and blew me away. Thank you. Um Okay. And I I wanted to a follow up on an interview that Oscar de Laoya recently did on Fight Hype TV. 13:38 Speaker A your favorite person. Um, he said that one of the reasons why he didn't show up to the Conor Ben and Ryan Garcia fight, it was because he thought that he was perhaps going to be set up uh to be 13:48 Speaker A embarrassed. Uh, what is your response to what he had to say? I would never do that. I would listen, my my dislike for Oscar De La Hoya is very well known. He knows it. I know it. 13:59 Speaker A Uh, and and and it's mutual, but I am the type of person I would call and say, "Don't even [ \_\_ ] try to show up to this fight. You're not welcomed." And and I would never have somebody show up 14:12 Speaker A to an event and and do that. It happened to me. Vince McMahon did it to me for Rhonda's first wrestling match. I showed up at uh Will Call. I flew to [ \_\_ ] New Orleans, showed up at Will Call, and 14:23 Speaker A they said, "Ah, yeah, we have no tickets for you." I said, "Oh, shit." All right. 14:28 Speaker A I started making some phone calls. They end up getting me tickets. I'm in the [ \_\_ ] bleachers, you know. I I I've been through all that. I I I wouldn't do that to even an enemy. I wouldn't do that to um Oscar knew he had 14:41 Speaker A tickets. Oscar knew where he was sitting. Oscar was coming in the back like all the celebrities do. He had access to to the celebrity VIP area and he knew all of that. 14:53 Speaker A I'm not saying that in his mind he didn't think maybe these guys are going to do that. But let's just be straight up and open about that. I would never do that to anybody. And there were other guys that felt that way, too. I know 15:05 Speaker A Sullean felt that way from, you know, WBC and some of these other guys. And uh I wouldn't do that. I'm I'm Listen, if I don't like you, and I tell people straight up, we're probably not gonna [ \_\_ ] we let's not even talk to each 15:18 Speaker A other. I don't like you. We're never going to be [ \_\_ ] friends. But it doesn't mean like people who fight here that I don't like can still fight here and have a good career and make a living. Um but I would never have 15:28 Speaker A anybody show up and be treated like that. I wouldn't do it. So it's safe to say that there was no malicious intent. He also did say that um you know his team felt a little bit disrespected and contractually that some 15:40 Speaker A things were not met on the side of his team um regarding some things that were in the contract um as far as for them having particular access. Do you have anything else to say about that? I mean you should talk to Turkey about that if 15:51 Speaker A that's the case. Yeah. Okay. And um just to follow up what you said earlier, you said that the meeting with uh Eddie Hearn was yesterday. Did you have any uh you know particular There was no meeting with Eddie Hearn. 16:03 Speaker A No, there wasn't any meeting. Okay. because you know like you know following up here on my colleague he said that you know for you know the production to be involved with TKO UFC you know I know we're running around in a circle here 16:14 Speaker A but that there needed to be quote unquote permission from Eddie and or AJ for that to even happen. So we just kind of wanted to get some clarity on that. 16:22 Speaker A So I'm producing the show. All right, drop the mic. And and at the end of the day, who gives a [ \_\_ ] They're fighting. Yes, I'm helping promote the fight. Yes, I'm producing the fight. Um, he's going to 16:36 Speaker A make a [ \_\_ ] ton of money. Him and AJ. That's it. I mean, I I don't know what the big I I heard that he had said that I he looks forward to the press conference. So, he and it's not about me 16:48 Speaker A and him. He can't stop talking about this. It's It's not about me and him. AJ and Fury is the fight gives a [ \_\_ ] about me and Eddie Hearn. 16:58 Speaker A I mean, I think other than you guys. Yeah, exactly. I feel like you guys are probably more promoting the fight, the beef between you two more than anyone else. So, is it safe to say if you are producing the show that maybe we can see 17:09 Speaker A you and Eddie, you know, at a press conference going headtohead with one another? Um, you know, just, you know, is that really what people want to see? 17:17 Speaker A Please give it to us. For sure. Eddie Eddie and I are not the same. 17:24 Speaker A We're not even [ \_\_ ] close. Thank you. Thank you. I just had uh one about one of your guys uh Shakur Stevenson. You'd mentioned, you know, a couple months ago that we should expect him to see him by the end 17:37 Speaker A of this year. Is there any update on, you know, when we might see a Shakur fight announcement? 17:41 Speaker A Yeah, we're working on the Shakur fight right now. Literally today, couple hours of my day today was spent on Shakur. 17:49 Speaker A Yes, Dana right over here for me. Uh Olivia Beerly said she quit a six-f figureure job for this opportunity. Like a lot of people online had a lot to say about that choice before even getting a contract. What do you have to say about 18:01 Speaker A that decision? What what's what's what's the question? Olivia Beerley, the girl that you didn't sign tonight, she quit a six-f figureure job in order to come fight cuz she said God told her to come fight in the UFC. A 18:11 Speaker A lot of people had a lot to say about that online. What do you have to say about that, her making that decision behind? I think that um a lot of sacrifices made to to try to become professional athletes and the fact that 18:23 Speaker A she did that and and and that she uh sacrificed that for for the she should have showed us that in the third round. 18:30 Speaker A Both of them, not just her, some are too. Neither one of them went went after it in that third round. And the whole fight was kind of I get it. They're both fighting um probably the best opponent they've ever fought in their careers 18:45 Speaker A tonight. But that's what this is all about. And and you got to got to show me you you want it. Show me you want to be here. And I saw none of that. And I'm not just pointing her out. I didn't see 18:55 Speaker A any of it from Summer either. Hey Damon, quick one. Curious about uh can you just talk about the relationship that you formed with Tyson Fury and you know him saying that get the two Baldies together and he wants you involved in 19:07 Speaker A the fight. And then as a as a follow-up to that, just will you be emotionally invested in that fight when he fights? 19:12 Speaker A Well, I think that uh the whole Tyson Fury thing started back uh you remember when he was like undefeated and couldn't get a fight and he was talking about fighting in the UFC and fighting UFC guys and that that's really when I got 19:25 Speaker A to know Tyson and and I've always liked Tyson, but I it's not like I've ever had anything against AJ. I don't know if you remember a few years ago when I was talking about getting into boxing that AJ was a a a big good-looking uh 19:37 Speaker A heavyweight who knocks people out after he beat Klitschko. I I was I after he beat Klitschko, I was talking a bunch of [ \_\_ ] about how boring the Klitschko brothers were. And then I'm at dinner in LA one day and they're sitting at the 19:50 Speaker A table next to me. Um, but yeah, I mean, it's not like I've ever had this unbelievable relationship with Tyson, and you know, I've disliked AJ in any way, shape, or form. Um, yeah, but but Tyson's been great. And 20:07 Speaker A Frank Warren, like I said, I'm assuming Frank Warren dislikes me as much as everybody else in boxing dislikes me, but um you know, he's a real guy and everything that I've seen from this guy and you know, the way 20:23 Speaker A he carries himself, whatever, I like him. All good. Good. Thanks. Topics: Dana White Eddie Hearn UFC Contender Series Sal MMA fight night Preston Chavez fight Tyson Fury Study this video - [Flashcards from this video](https://sozai.app/tools/ai-flashcard-generator/?from=transcript&id=75265) - [Quiz on this video](https://sozai.app/tools/quiz-generator/?from=transcript&id=75265) Free, made by AI from this transcript. 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