White: Usman and Masvidal acted like ‘neanderthals’ at Super Bowl

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UFC president Dana White didn’t enjoy the heated altercation between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal at the Super Bowl Radio Row late last month.

UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman got into a heated altercation with Jorge Masvidal at the Super Bowl Radio Row in late January. While it did draw attention, others like Leon Edwards questioned the authenticity of the said encounter.

Whether it was planned as Edwards claimed or not, UFC president Dana White didn’t like what he saw.

“I don’t love it,” White said in a recent interview on the Will Cain Show (via MMA Junkie). “People think because I’m a promoter I’m like, ‘Cha-ching. That’s great for us.’ But it’s not great for us. We’re here at the Super Bowl – Radio Row at the Super Bowl, the NFL – and these two are acting like neanderthals.”

What concerns White is how it could be bothersome for those who aren’t that familiar with MMA and such occurrences that come with the sport sometimes.

“The problem is for the people who (are) in here and the media, it scares (non-MMA) people like this,” he said. “That’s a scary thing when that goes down. If they touch each other, now the police get involved. We’re regulated by the government. Now, the athletic commissions are getting involved (if they touch each other).

“Those two are going to fight in Las Vegas in ‘International Fight Week’ for 25 minutes,” White continued. “They can do whatever they want to each other. That fight’s happening. You don’t have to do it here at Radio Row at the Super Bowl.”

Usman and Masvidal will headline what is expected to be UFC 252. If “Gamebred” ends up with the win, White says his first title defense will likely take place in Miami.