Vancouver – The UFC women’s featherweight division may have ended at UFC 289 when Amanda Nunes announced her retirement inside the octagon following her victory over Irene Aldana on Saturday night.
“The answer is probably yes. I mean I don’t make these decisions right after a fight. (Amanda Nunes) told me when she walked over to the side of the cage that she was retiring,” UFC president Dana White told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.
“I don’t know, but it makes sense.”
It’s a move that would make sense with the featherweight division having little to no roster at this point, and many featherweight fights are fought by bantamweights.
Something else that White weighed in on involves UFC 291 and the main event between Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier for the BMF title. Gaethje had mentioned that the BMF belt being involved was the UFC helping fighters out.
“My true assessment when Masvidal and Diaz fought for it was that this is stupid, and I still think it is stupid, but to the fans who think it is stupid, it is another opportunity to gain Pay-Per-View points,” Gaethje told Cageside Press in an exclusive interview.
“This belt is a championship in the eyes of the UFC, and when you are a champion in the eyes of the UFC, you get paid differently. The UFC is throwing a bone, and we always ask them to throw bones, and they never do, so for that, I am grateful.”
White explained that the BMF belt made sense for the main event of UFC 291, and ultimately it’s a fun thing to do.
“Well you guys know how this whole thing started. We had that Masvidal-Diaz fight that made sense. It was fun. Then we’re in the matchmaking room again and we started talking about this fight and it made sense again. It’s fun with both of these guys,” White told Cageside Press.
“Listen, they’re a main event on a PPV card and I’m sure they’re both going to do very well.”
Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Dana White above.
