Dana White responds to Dan Hardy’s recent accusation that they staged a video showing his concern for Calvin Kattar’s health in his fight against Max Holloway.
White and Hardy have had a rocky relationship that dates back to Hardy’s time as a commentator in the UFC. White and the UFC granted Hardy his release after he got into a disagreement with people in the organization. Hardy also had a public disagreement live on television with Herb Dean over Dean taking too long to call off a fight. Hardy got up and was screaming at Dean to end the fight, which caused White to come to the side of Dean, claiming that Hardy was out of line for his outburst.
Hardy recently was interviewed and said that the UFC media team and White were staging his concern for Kattar.
“And it looks like, ‘Hey, they just caught this on camera across the arena.’ The dude was mic’d up. The receiver of the microphone was attached to the camera that was filming him from across the other side of the arena. That whole thing was staged to protect the UFC. And I watched that, and I’m like, ‘That’s just dirty.’ Actually do something to protect the fighter. Don’t do something to protect the sport or the company if the fighter gets damaged.” Hardy said about the situation.
Dana White aired out Hardy in the UFC 280 post fight press conferences
“I don’t even know what that means,” White answered with a harsh tone. “We’ve never staged anything, ever. You know, we have a documentary that we filmed during COVID. That’s why I was mic’d. I’ve never been mic’d, I was mic’d because of that. Are you talking about when I said, ‘let’s get him straight to the hospital?’ Do you know how many fights a week I say that. No interview, no nothing, that guy goes straight to the hospital.”
White continued to go off on Hardy, claiming that he doesn’t care what he has to say.
“I don’t give a f*ck what Dan Hardy says. Dan Hardy was a guy that was mistreating a woman that works here and that’s why he was fired. Obviously he’s bitter, so I’m assuming that’s why he would say something like that. Why would I stage that?… Everyone should have been concerned about Calvin Kattar that night.”
