It has come to the point where we know the main event for UFC 318, but it’s still crickets about UFC 317. Yes, the International Fight Week is set to culminate in the PPV event on June 29, but the fights are yet to be announced. Needless to say, this delay has caused quite a bit of restless chaos in the fighting community. And all fingers are pointing to Dana White. But things began to stir up with even more agitation as the UFC head honcho opted to announce bull-riding events instead of IFW fights.
We know pretty well how heartbroken the UFC CEO was when his prized bull, Twisted Steel, passed away back in early January. But now, White has brought in another bull to replace him. Taking to Instagram, White announced in his iconic style, “I got a new bull. His name is Playmate. He is bad— and he is super violent. So last week, he bucked at the PBR, and the rider never made it out of the chute with him. He knocked a guy out in the chute. And I’m excited to announce that Playmate has been selected for the PBR world final, starting May 8th, in Fort Worth, Texas. So you can go check him out live at the PBR, or watch it live on RidePass.”
In the caption, the UFC bossman pointed out that his new bull has already appeared in 12 events. And out of those 12, the riders could stay on top of Playmate only once. No doubt, the bull had attracted quite some attention. But the MMA realm was frustrated. After all, we still don’t know if we’d get to see Ilia Topuria vs. Islam Makhachev, or Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall at the International Fight Week. And as time passed, the restlessness kept on rising.
Last week, the community was abuzz with Dricus Du Plessis vs Khamzat Chimaev reportedly being off the IFW card. The rumors were that Topuria vs. Makhachev and the middleweight title fight would headline the event. But, as it turns out, Chimaev vs. Du Plessis was never on the cards for UFC 317, and Du Plessis is not injured. That fight is in the works and will happen at a later date, which brings us back to Topuria vs. Makhachav.
There is one logical explanation for the delay. The UFC is waiting to see who comes out on top at UFC 315 on May 10. If Belal Muhammad retains the welterweight title, Islam Makhachev might stay at lightweight and fight Topuria at UFC 317. If not, he vacates and moves up to fight Jack Della Maddalena. Either way, what has been seemingly confirmed is that Topuria is one-half of the main event at IFW. And Charles Oliveira is waiting on the sidelines to step in for a vacant title fight, if Islam moves up. There is just one too many moving parts to this equation, so the fans’ frustration is understandable.
As soon as Dana White shared the news about Playmate on the social media platform, the fighting community boiled with rage and took over the comments section. Let’s see what they had to say.
Dana White becomes the center of fans’ rage as they demand for UFC 317 announcement
The comments section was indeed filled with a singular emotion. The fighting community wanted nothing but an announcement about UFC 317. On top of that, most of the enraged fans refused to accept White’s PBR announcement. One of the fans wrote, “Please we don’t care about this bull. The only bull going on is people trying to set their plans for UFC 317 depending on who is fighting and what is gonna go down. ANNOUNCE THE DAMN CARD!” Another fan added, “Dana pink announce 317. Who gives a s— abt yr bull.”
The disappointment in the fighting realm was clearly visible when a fan commented, “Dang it I thought it was 317.” What made it worse was the fact that White promoted Playmate’s next big event in the war room – the place where he makes and announces fights from. Nevertheless, calls kept mounting against the UFC head honcho. One comment read, “Promoting some bull that we don’t care but won’t announce your fights For a ppv that’s less then 6 weeks away.” Another fan wrote, “You should finally announce the next fights, instead of messing around with cows .”
However, the fighting realm did have a theory. Maybe the UFC CEO was intentionally making the fans wait for IFW news. Weighing in on this, one of the fans commented, “Dana just trolling us at this point.” Another fan added, “Yeah dana just trolling with 317 at this point .” Of course, it might be true because this tactic not only raises the intrigue around the International Fight Week, but also has the potential to boost the gate and PPV sales. A fan reflected on this and wrote, “You’re just edging us on purpose at this point, aren’t you?”
What are your thoughts on the delay in UFC 317 announcement? Is it really a strategy by the UFC? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
The post UFC 317: Angry Demands Made to Dana White as Agitated Fans Reject CEO’s Important Announcement appeared first on EssentiallySports.
