Dana White was already catching heat from fans for the underwhelming Apex event. Then things got worse as the UFC Vegas 107 headliner was scrapped—Maycee Barber couldn’t get medically cleared to face Erin Blanchfield moments before their scheduled bout, which fired up the audience. Mateusz Gamrot and Ľudovít Klein stepped up to fill the main event slot, but that didn’t do much to ease the disappointment. Still, amid all the backlash, the UFC boss is getting a bit of support for his comments about Israel Adesanya.

‘The Last Stylebender’s UFC run has hit its roughest patch since he got his revenge on arch-rival Alex Pereira at UFC 287. After ruling the middleweight division for years, Adesanya is now riding a three-fight losing streak. The reason? Well, if you ask the two-time champ, it’s because he didn’t listen to the head honcho before stepping in to face Sean Strickland at UFC 293 in Sydney.

At the Freestylebender Podcast with Sean O’Malley, he said: “I was like, ‘I have to fight in Sydney, I have to fight in Sydney. I haven’t fought on this side of the world for so long, “Then Dana was like, ‘Listen, kid, you have enough money, just chill out for a while.’ I said, ‘Nah,’ and I was stubborn, but in hindsight, I’m like, ‘Maybe Dana was right. Maybe I should’ve just chilled.”

Dana White stepping in as a well-wisher for a star like Israel Adesanya sparked reactions from all corners. But Michael Chandler also highlighted a different side of the UFC boss—one that fans don’t usually see. Responding to the thread, Chandler wrote, “This is the side of Dana/The UFC most will never hear about…he’s not back there cracking a whip and barking orders for us to do anything against our will. They are a well-oiled machine, and we can get in where/when we fit in.”

Chandler and Adesanya usually have good things to say about Dana whenever the topic comes up, and it makes sense. The UFC takes solid care of both, win or lose, especially considering the kind of exciting fights they bring to the table. So it’s only natural they’ve built a strong relationship with the boss and have positive things to say about him.

However, circling back to Adesanya not taking Dana White’s advice—yes, he lost the Strickland fight, but he also dropped his last two bouts, which had a decent gap between them. So that might not be the only reason for his slump. Still, ‘The Last Stylebender’ believes his arch-rival won’t repeat the same mistakes in his next outing as he did. Let’s see what he has to say.

Israel Adesanya believes Alex Pereira can beat Magomed Ankalaev with his improved skills

Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira have finally squashed their long-standing rivalry after agreeing there’s no point in dragging it out, especially with ‘Poatan’ moving up a division. Now, there’s a newfound respect and even a bit of friendship between them. Despite Pereira’s tough loss to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313, the former 185 lbs king believes his former foe has what it takes to bounce back even stronger.

Adesanya on this YouTube channel said, “I’m so proud of the guy, what he’s done. It’s like I created a monster. He showed why he is who he is across two weight classes. I can’t wait to see the next fight with him and Ankalaev again. I think it’ll be another hard one, but I think he can get it done, because it wasn’t a complete washout for that fight. He’s exponentially getting better, as well.”

Well, that might just be true. Pereira has shown some solid takedown defense—he just needed a bit more offense against Magomed Ankalaev, and he might’ve actually held onto his title. And who knows? He could make the necessary adjustments before stepping back into the Octagon for the rematch and prove Adesanya right after all.

That being said, the coming months are shaping up to be interesting for the UFC. And you can bet Dana White will be right in the middle of it, possibly orchestrating the next big moves.  So, let’s see how it all plays out.