Dana White looked out at the crowd during Thursday’s UFC 333 press conference in Abu Dhabi and didn’t seem to know he was talking to one of the five best heavyweights on his own roster.
Alexander Volkov wasn’t seated on the dais. He got his turn at the mic from the audience, and White answered with the kind of line you’d use on a lost tourist. MMA Mania’s headline quoted him as saying “How can we help you?” A clip posted on X by Happy Punch has White asking, “What do you need, sir?” Whichever version you hear, the UFC CEO plainly didn’t have the name loaded.
Alexander Volkanovski fixed it. The reigning featherweight champion had already been trading playful banter with Volkov from the stage, and he told the room who was talking. Jesse Holland wrote for MMA Mania that White then tried to play it off. Spinnin Backfist posted the footage on X with a caption about White trying to figure out who Volkov is, which is about as kind as the internet got.
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The promotion had its own spin up within the hour. The UFC’s YouTube channel posted the exchange as a Short titled “Dana White acted like he didn’t recognize Volkov.” That’s one way to frame it.
Who White was talking to
Volkov, who goes by Drago, is 40-11 and has nearly 20 fights inside the Octagon. He’s 37, he’s ranked in the top 5 at 265 pounds, and he’s on the UFC 333 main card this weekend in Abu Dhabi. His opponent is fellow Russian Rizvan Kuniev, and the winner moves into the heavyweight title picture.
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That’s the résumé of a guy who has been on a lot of UFC posters. It’s also a résumé built at heavyweight, a division the boss should know by heart, since the big men sell more highlight reels than anybody.
Holland tied the moment to a recent run of White misfires. MMA Mania wrote that White appears “completely removed” from more than contract negotiations, and noted that a few weeks ago White was naming fights for a UFC headliner that never actually happened.
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My take: a 37-year-old with 40 pro wins and close to 20 UFC appearances shouldn’t need a featherweight to introduce him to the man who signs his checks. The fix is simple, though. Volkov beats Kuniev in Abu Dhabi this weekend, gets himself into a title conversation, and the next time he stands up at a press conference, White already knows the name before the mic gets to him.
