Dana White opted against meeting the media after UFC 315, meaning the main event for International Fight Week remains a mystery.
Fans can, of course, connect the dots given the massive amount of clues dropped in recent days surrounding the likes of Ilia Topuria, Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira. However, with White no-showing the UFC 315 press conference last night, official plans are still up in the air.
Executive David Shaw made an appearance to speak on behalf of the promotion following the event. However, he isn’t at liberty to announce major events and seemed unsure of what exactly was happening at next month’s showcase event in Las Vegas.
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Dana White no-shows UFC 315 post-fight press conference
While he was in attendance for fight night and did speak with the press throughout the week, Dana White chose not to show up to speak to the press after UFC 315. Instead, he sent Senior Vice President, International and Content David Shaw to represent the company.
It has long been expected that should Jack Della Maddalena beat Belal Muhammad to win the belt, that lightweight champion Islam Makhachev would move up to come for a second belt. This would mean that former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria faces Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 for an interim title.
Makhachev wouldn’t have come up to fight Muhammad, with whom he is a close friend and training partner. But he seems keen on the move up to welterweight, already telling Della Maddalena that he is coming for his belt.
David Shaw opts against making UFC 317 International Fight Week announcement
With White not showing up, David Shaw tackled the baying press pack in Montreal. He was inevitably asked about the potential of an International Fight Week announcement, and kept his cards close to his chest.
He quoted the UFC boss’ infamous line about waiting until matchmaking meetings while avoiding the question in general. “I don’t,” he replied when asked by MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn if he had an announcement in his pocket for International Fight Week.
“I can give you the standard ‘you’ve got to wait until Tuesday’ but listen Dana talked about it in the press conference on Thursday. There were a few different scenarios that he laid out, I don’t know what the decision is but I suspect you’ll hear more this week.”