'These guys want to fight'… Dana White hints at new fighter acquisitions in 2025 as 'things aren't looking good' for the PFL
12/08/2024 09:02 AM
The UFC is the cream of the MMA crop, but that isn't to say that rival promotions aren't hosting enormous events with world-class athletes; if only those athletes actually got to fight on a regular basis.
Over the past few weeks, several massive names from PFL-Bellator have come out to slam the promotion and ask to be released from their contracts – UFC CEO Dana White, with a wry smile, responds.
Dana White teases new fighter acquisitions as 'things aren't looking good' in PFL
Earlier this week, Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull demanded that the PFL release him from his current fight contract, citing a lack of interest from the promotion in keeping him active.
Pitbull was then joined on his lifeboat by bantamweight champion Patchy Mix, who took to X to request: "If you are not gonna have me fight then just please release me from contract."
When asked about the potential free agents who could be hitting the market in 2025, Dana White would tease that the promotion would be open to recruiting some new talent – adding that he isn't surprised at the situation as a whole.
"Listen, for the last couple of months, we've been talking a lot about the PFL… They're canceling a lot of shows, I know that a lot of guys that are supposed to fight aren't fighting, and I mean, you guys know what the f*** is going on.
"When you see that start to happen, you’re running out of money, things aren’t looking good. You’re going to have people that want to jump ship."
With Pitbull and Mix being 37 years old and 31 years old respectively, neither fighter can afford the luxury of sitting out and competing just once per year – especially the bantamweight star, who is only just entering his fighting prime.
"These guys want to fight, and you have a very limited time of opportunity when you're a professional athlete and even less when you're a [professional] fighter," acknowledged White.
"I'm sure you are going to see a lot of that, we'll see how this plays out over the next several months going into 2025."
Dana White on working with RIZIN to bring more fighters like Asakura to the UFC
Whilst White would only hint that the UFC would be open to recruiting former Bellator and PFL stars, he was far more candid when it came to the talent-rich roster of RIZIN – the organization where Kai Asakura previously competed.
White was watching UFC 310 alongside RIZIN President Nobuyuki Sakakibara and at the post-fight press conference, was asked whether the UFC would bring across more fighters from the Japanese promotion.
"Yeah, you know we did tonight [with Asakura], he had a good performance, I would love to do it [again]. You know, we were just talking in my room and he's saying now that in Japan, all of these young guys now want to be the first one to win a world title in the UFC.
“That's exciting and you know, there's such a rich history of MMA in Japan and some of the best days of my life were with our rivalry with Pride – that was a really fun time in my life, and his too… So, the answer is yes, to all that, and I'd love to do a Fight Night there [in Japan] too."
Sakakibara himself would take to social media to note that whilst Asakura failed to get the job done in his UFC debut, we're now back on track to see a UFC Fight Night: Japan later down the line.
"Kai was unable to fulfill his promise this time, but I hope he will fulfill the promise he made to us and the RIZIN fans to become UFC champion and return to Japan! We hope he will hold his head up high and move forward immediately. We will continue to support Kai as always!"
If you could recruit any of the other PFL or Bellator stars to the UFC, who would be on your list?
