Dana White clarified his comments about Farid Basharat.
Last week, despite a 7-0 record in the promotion and a spot in the UFC bantamweight rankings, Basharat was removed from the UFC roster after his contract was not renewed with the promotion. When asked about the situation a few days later, White alluded to issues with Basharat outside the cage, saying that “there’s definitely a reason” when something like this happens.
Basharat responded by refuting White’s statement about turning down fights or being difficult to work with, and at the UFC 333 press conference on Thursday, White felt the need to clarify his statement when asked if Movsar Evloev — who is 10-0 in the promotion and fighting Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight title on Saturday — needed to be concerned for his job, too.
“I’m glad you asked me that question. What I would like to clarify — I saw the kid on Instagram last week,” White said. “When I was talking about why some guys get released, or their contracts don’t get renewed, I was just saying in general. I wasn’t pointing him out, specifically.”
Some fans, and Basharat himself, believe that the “reason” Basharat was not re-signed with the UFC is a growing focus on action fighters. Six of Basharat’s seven UFC wins came by decision, and with Evloev currently 10 for 10 with wins by decision, some believed Evloev could be in a precarious position. But White dispelled those fears.
“No, I can’t promise anything,” White said. “But he’s in a pretty good spot right now. He’s still here, and he’s fighting this weekend. He’s fighting for the title. I don’t think you need to worry about him at all.”