“Forget they even happened…” Dana White refuses to award ‘boring performance of the night’ award to Derrick Lewis and Jailton Almeida

Jailton Almeida faced Derrick Lewis in the main event of UFC Fight Night, Sao Paulo, on November 4. He won the fight comfortably by taking Lewis down round after round and controlling him on the ground. However, fight fans weren’t pleased with his performance and criticized him for not finishing the fight. Now, Dana White agreed on the same and requested the fans to forget it.

In a new segment of Q&A on the threads app, UFC CEO Dana White answered questions from the fans. As such, he answered a question about awarding boring fights of the night, referencing the Almeida-Lewis fight. Here is what Dana White said:

I don't disagree with you. No! No, I will not award anybody for boring fights of the night. What we try to do with those kind of fights is forget they even happened. So, do me that favor, and forget you watched that fight.

Dana White via Threads

The UFC CEO liked good scraps and awarded many performance bonuses to his fighters at every event. As such, he was disappointed with the display of Jailton Almeida vs. Derrick Lewis. Originally, Almeida was scheduled to face Curtis Blaydes, but he pulled out due to an injury. Maybe that fight would’ve turned out better, as Blaydes had better skills on the ground than Lewis.

Jailton Almeida was undefeated in the UFC with seven straight wins. Although his fight with Derrick Lewis was sloppy, he dominated the fight and even broke the record for the highest control time in the UFC. Now, he called out the #1 heavyweight contender Ciryl Gane for his next fight.

Jailton Almeida persistently calls out Ciryl Gane for his next fight

Jailton Almeida put on a dominating performance against Derrick Lewis to rack up his win streak in the UFC to seven. As he said earlier, he wanted to fight against Ciryl Gane next. As such, with a win in his next fight, he was looking to fight for the title soon. Now, when news broke that ‘Bon Gamin’ would return in March 2024, Almeida jumped in to claim the opponent’s spot.

Ciryl Gane’s coach, Fernand Lopez, stated the French fighter would fight in March 2024. As such, Jailton Almeida wanted to face him. Earlier, he had called out ‘Bon Gamin’ in his post-fight interview. Since then, he has remained vocal on X calling for the fight.

On the other hand, Gane ignored Almeida and called out the newly crowned interim champion, Tom Aspinall. However, even Aspinall mentioned that the Frenchman should face ‘Malhadinho’ next.

Ciryl Gane won his previous fight against Sergey Spivak in an epic fashion in September. Being the number one contender, he wanted to face only the top fighters of his division. So, he ignored Jailton Almeida, who is on a six-fight winning streak. However, Gane should note that a win over Almeida could land him the next title shot.

In case you missed it:

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• “Athletic Commission goes cr*zy,” Dana White explains why he’s hesitant to sign Dillon Danis to the UFC

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