Dana White ripped into his UFC broadcast team for mixing up boxing star Shakur Stevenson with an NBA player on Saturday night.
Stevenson was at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for Conor McGregor’s highly-anticipated return, which ended inside the first minute after the Irishman suffered a disastrous knee injury against Max Holloway.
The boxing world champion attended the UFC bout after signing a blockbuster deal with White’s Zuffa Boxing promotion this week, but when he was shown on the live broadcast Stevenson was confused for Oklahoma City Thunder’s Jalen Williams.
White was left seething with the embarrassing gaffe, taking aim at the production crew in his post-fight press conference.
‘I just paid Shakur Stevenson a s***load of money, and for some reason we can’t figure this celebrity s*** out,’ the UFC boss fumed. ‘They put him up as a f***ing OKC NBA player. Are you f***ing kidding me? It’s absolutely crazy.
‘We are the absolute worst to ever do the celebrity thing. When we put celebrities up, we are the worst. We put up f***ing graphics and put the wrong guy’s name on it.’
Dana White ripped into his UFC broadcast team for misidentifying boxer Shakur Stevenson
Stevenson (left) was wrongly named as Oklahoma City Thunder’s Jalen Williams (right)
Stevenson, who has claimed world titles in four weight classes, has become the latest high-profile name to join Zuffa Boxing this year, following the likes of Conor Benn and Jai Opetaia to the promotion.
After being unveiled as a Zuffa signing, the Newark fighter was in Sin City just hours later to watch McGregor’s UFC comeback fight against Holloway.
After five years away from the sport, the 37-year-old made his long-awaited return at a sold-out T-Mobile Arena – but there would be no fairytale ending for his die-hard fans who had made the journey to Vegas.
Instead, McGregor ended the fight with his very first action after sprinting out and throwing a kick that missed his rival – and injured his knee in the process.
As he landed, he buckled and fell to the ground, leaving the crowd stunned as he refused to get back to his feet after just 10 seconds of the main event.
Holloway seized his opportunity and began unleashing a barrage of punches on the clearly-injured Irishman, who battled through the pain to get back to his feet.
However, seconds later, he tried the same kick again, with the same result.
There was no dramatic finish, no signature knockout blow from Holloway – just a sobering scene as McGregor limped off and his team rushed to his side.
