Dana White caught watching Canelo Alvarez fight he had $100k bet on at UFC event

09/11/2024 11:38 AM

Dana White was engrossed by a Canelo Alvarez fight during one of his own events.

White is an avid boxing fan and was pictured watching Canelo become the undisputed super middleweight champion against Caleb Plant during a 2021 event that clashed with UFC 268.

The UFC president stuck the fight on his cageside monitor while Rose Namajunas and Weili Zhang squared off in a strawweight title fight in the co-main event.

Whilst Namajunas defeated Zhang by unanimous decision, Canelo stopped Plant in the 11th round – a result which delighted White, who had stuck a $100k bet on the Mexican superstar to win by knockout.

He said: “I like Canelo. I bet on Canelo – that’s why I watched the fight.

“I bet $100,000 on him to win by knockout.”

When asked if he got paid he grinned and replied: “Uh… yes.”

But this wasn’t the last time White got caught watching a Canelo fight at a UFC event.

The 55-year-old also had Canelo vs Dmitry Bivol on in the background during another Namajunas title fight – this time against Carla Esparza.

In the end, he was very lucky to have something distracting him from the contest, which proved to be one of the worst MMA fights of all time.

Namajunas and Esparza refused to open up during the five-round affair and landed just 68 strikes between them.

UFC commentator and popular podcaster Joe Rogan labelled it 'the stinker of all stinkers' while White admitted to ‘zoning out’ halfway through the clash.

"It was a weird fight," White told the assembled media during his post-fight press conference after UFC 274.

"It seemed like they didn't want to engage. I think there was a total of six punches thrown in the first round.

“So, yeah, that was a tough one – it happens sometimes. I started zoning out like halfway through so I don't know (who won)."

On Saturday night, Canelo and the UFC clash again as his upcoming super middleweight title fight against Edgar Berlanga goes head-to-head with UFC 306.

It is unlikely White will be tuning in to Canelo’s next fight as he will almost certainly be captivated by the stunning visuals inside the Las Vegas Sphere.

UFC 306 is the first sporting event to be held at the ultra-modern venue, which boasts the world's largest LED screen on its exterior and a huge interior LED screen that wraps around most of the audience.

White has spent nearly $30m on the ten-fight UFC event and has promised fans it will be one of the most impressive spectacles in sporting history.

"We are going to put on this unbelievable entertainment event," White told ESPN.

"There's a movie that's going to run in the Sphere, and there are chapters to this movie.

“So, before each fight, there's a movie, and you will be focused on the Sphere and the screen, then the fighters will walk out, and then the fight is the star of the show.

"When that's over, there will be another movie, then a fight.

“This movie that I'm talking about and these chapters will tell the history of combat sports in Mexico, the history of Mexican people, their traditions. It is what I call a love letter to Mexico."