After six long weeks, the UFC is back with UFC 324 on Paramount+ mere hours away. However, most top stories have nothing to do with it. On the latest iteration of MMA News Round-Up, Dana White has hit back at a fighter who insulted him after a recent win. That’s not all, though.
In other news, the UFC CEO has shed more light on the ongoing renovations to the UFC Apex. And last but not least, Paramount+’s first UFC event could have been disastrous due to some streaming issues, but MMA journalist Ariel Helwani appears to have provided a fix.
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Dana White cooks TNU fighter for insulting him
There are plenty of ways to go viral, but this guy chose the wrong man to get famous off of—Dana White. After his win at Tuff-N-Uff 151, David Goldenberg went on an unhinged post-fight rant, insulting White. “Hey, Sean Shelby, Hunter Campbell, and who’s the third musketeer? The bald guy kind of looks like a bloated Mr. Clean. What’s his name? Dana White?” Goldenberg said.
“Better wake up, motherf—r. Next big thing is here, so get your checkbook ready.” Of course, the clip spread fast across social media, and he even got his 15 minutes of fame. But soon, reality came crashing down after Dana White caught wind of what Goldenberg said about him. Writing online, the UFC CEO didn’t hold back. “Worst fight of the night,” White wrote.
“Stunk the place up with his performance and then talks like he put on the Fight of the Night. The fight after his was a woman’s fight that made his fight look even s—tier,” he added before praising another fighter on the card, writing “@smilla_fairtex blows Scrappy Douche outta the water!!” The timing couldn’t have been worse for Goldenberg.
Tuff-N-Uff has long served as a feeder system to the UFC, and TNU 151 featured multiple legitimate auditions for the big show.
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UFC CEO opens up about $35 million upgrade to UFC Apex
Since late last year, the UFC Apex has been undergoing a noticeable facelift. The Las Vegas venue, which has hosted the majority of UFC Fight Night events in recent years, took an unexpected step forward this week by staging a boxing card—Zuffa Boxing 1. During the event, UFC president Dana White offered further insight into the scale of the upgrades, revealing that the Apex is in the middle of a massive $35 million renovation project.
“I don’t know who’s going to the boxing tonight,” White said. “But you are not going to feel like you are in the Apex, where you have been a million times. We did a $35 million renovation over there. And tonight’s sort of like our kick-off night. But it’s not done till May. By mid-May, it will be completely done.”
White went on to explain that the changes will significantly enhance both capacity and fan experience once the work is finalized. “And we will be able to fit 1,100 people in there,” White continued. “You know the box we have upstairs, we will have another of those. We have concessions, bathrooms… our hospitality room used to be pipe and drape in the back, it’s not anymore.”
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Ariel Helwani rescues viewers from Paramount+ streaming issues
UFC’s deal with Paramount will see the promotion walk away from the pay-per-view model, as fans can now pay a monthly subscription to watch all UFC events. However, it appears the Paramount+ app has some issues while streaming. “I like the Paramount+ app; however, I have always had an issue minimizing the screen while watching on the phone,” Helwani wrote on X.
“If you swipe out, you can’t keep watching like on YT or Netflix or E+. Anyone know if this is possible? I’m very spoiled,” he added. However, minutes later, Helwani appears to have found a solution to the problem as well. He later responded to his own tweet, revealing the solution to the problem. “I found a workaround,” Helwani wrote. “If you watch via the CBS Sports app, PIP [picture in picture] works. You’re welcome,” he explained.
It appears Paramount has $7.7 billion for the UFC, but not enough to pay its developers to make the user experience seamless. Hopefully, no such issues will affect the viewing experience on fight night.
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Clearly, Dana White has been busy lately—whether it’s clapping back at a fighter or pulling back the curtain on the massive renovations underway at the UFC Apex. At the same time, Ariel Helwani stepped in to spare fans a lot of stress, offering a timely update for those planning to watch the event on their phones. With all that news flying around, which update excited you the most?
The post MMA News Round-Up: Dana White Denies Fighter a UFC Career, $35M Apex Upgrade, & Paramount+ Streaming Issue Fix for UFC 324 appeared first on EssentiallySports.
