Dana White: I was too harsh on Mir, gameplan was perfect
At UFC 119, Dana White was so dissapointed with Frank Mir’s performance versus Cro Cop he awarded no Knockout of…
At UFC 119, Dana White was so dissapointed with Frank Mir’s performance versus Cro Cop he awarded no Knockout of the Night bonus at all, despite the fact that Mir’s was the only KO on the entire card. Saturday night Whites dissapointment endured, saying “Frank Mir has been a two-time world champion. He’s been around a long time. He’s a super-talented guy. I expect more of him.”
His remarks on Nelson were harsher still. “I thought Roy looked terrible tonight. I thought it was terrible. I thought it was embarrassing … I don’t know (what Nelson’s future holds). I have a meeting with him on Friday, and we’ll see what happens.”
White went on to judge the fight as a whole. “I thought it was borderline embarrassing … If they were earlier in the card (it would be fine), but being in the co-main and the main event position is when you take the most criticism. When you’re the co-main or the main event, you’ve got to go out there and perform and look good. When you don’t, you’re going to hear my opinion about it – and the fans and the media, I’m sure.”
Less than 24 hours later, White eased the assessement, at least of Mir. “I think I was a little harsh on Mir,” White said. “He came into that fight with the perfect gameplan, and he nailed Roy with some big shots. Mir dominated that fight from start to finish, and he deserves some credit for that.”
“Overall, I thought the card was great. Brian Stann-Jorge Santiago, Demetrious Johnson-Miguel Torres, Rick Story-Thiago Alves, those were all great fights. Travis Browne and Stefan Struve, those guys come out to finish fights, and that knockout was amazing.
“But the main event and co-main event just didn’t really wow that crowd, and you know how I get. I think I was just a little frustrated last night that we didn’t end on a high note, and I was probably too hard on Mir.”
White also said at the post fight press conference that Frank Mir will not be here. We went to the hospital, fractured jaw and rib. Frank Mir’s wife later tweeted that His jaw isn’t broken he already knew that but they made him go cuz he was complaining about his bite.” Still, given that both Nelson and Mir fought having recently been ill, the performance was a solid one.