Dana White gave a coy response to questions about the UFC potentially signing Patricio Freire.
‘Pitbull’ recently became the hottest free agent in MMA after publically parting ways with the PFL.
The former two-weight Bellator champion has since expressed his desire to sign with MMA’s premier promotion.
Freire has even called out Alexander Volkanovski, but it’s currently unclear if Dana White wants to add him to his stacked featherweight roster.
Dana White wants to sign another ex-Bellator star
Dana White fielded questions from the media in the aftermath of UFC 311 on Saturday night.
Naturally, ‘Pitbull’ came up, but the UFC boss didn’t seem overly excited about the Brazilian superstar.
“I don’t know,” White replied when asked if he wants to sign Freire.
“I’ll talk to the boys and we’ll see where we’re at.”
White spoke with much more certainty when Aaron Pico, who has also recently left Bellator/PFL, was mentioned.
In December, Pico’s agent announced that his contract and the matching period were expiring in January, making him a free agent
White added: “I definitely know the boys are interested in him.”
Dana White names new pound-for-pound #1
White spent the majority of 2024 blasting the UFC rankings panel for overlooking heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who has fought just twice in five years, in favor of Islam Makhachev.
However, the MMA mogul finally admitted that Khabib Nurmagomedov’s teammate is the best fighter currently on his roster after watching him quickly submit Renato Moicano in the UFC 311 main event.
“Yeah, I’ll give it to him,” White said when asked if he believes Makhachev is the P4P number one during his post-fight press conference. “Are you happy? Is everybody happy now?”
He added: “Islam was willing to fight anybody, he stayed active, and he went out tonight and performed.
“Don’t be d***’s. I just admitted I’m giving it to [Makhachev], he’s the pound-for-pound.”