Dana White slams two DWCS winners as 'horrible' before handing them UFC contracts

Dana White awarded UFC contracts to all four winners at Dana White’s Contender Series Season 10 Week 8 on Tuesday at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, though two of those deals came with stinging public rebukes from the promotion’s CEO.

Heavyweight Adama Diop (7-1) stopped Zaurbek Sabanov (5-1) but drew White’s sharpest criticism of the night. “Your fight was horrible, sloppy and one of the worst fights I have ever seen on the Contender Series,” White told Diop on stage. “Your stand-up is horrible; you tried to wrestle your way to a win till the crowd started booing you out of this place.” White warned the 31-year-old Senegalese fighter that UFC heavyweights would knock him out if he repeated the performance, before signing him anyway with a blunt parting shot: “Don’t f*cking make me regret this.”

Featherweight Ian Escuza (8-0) also received a contract under protest from White. Escuza finished Luca Borando (9-2) in just 32 seconds with a knee and follow-up ground strikes, but the sequence included a knee to a grounded opponent that White believed should have resulted in a no contest rather than a stoppage victory. “I disagree with the athletic commission,” White said. “I think this fight should have been a no contest.” It was UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby who intervened backstage to advocate for the undefeated Peruvian. “Sean Shelby just fought hard for you in the back,” White told Escuza. “Don’t make Sean regret this. Welcome to the UFC.”

The evening’s cleanest performances came from strawweight Aieza Ramos Bertolso and lightweight George Staines. Bertolso (8-0) entered as a -500 favourite against Camila Reynoso (9-2) and justified the odds with a dominant first-round submission via Brabo choke. White admitted he had initially doubted the pricing but acknowledged she had proved the oddsmakers right.

Staines (9-0), a teammate of Paddy Pimblett, closed the show with a slam knockout of Loai Abushaar (7-2) in the main event, impressing White against a 6-foot-4 lightweight opponent.

The card was reduced to four bouts after a last-minute cancellation: the scheduled featherweight opener between Ilias Bulaid and Erick Visconde was pulled when Bulaid fell ill after making weight. That fight has been rescheduled for DWCS Season 10 Week 10.