SUMMARY
- Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva clashed in the co-main for the UFC title, which ended in a unanimous decision win for Pennington.
- In the post-fight press conference, Dana White was questioned about the fight between Movsar Evloev and Arnold Allen.
In the aftermath of UFC 297, the MMA community has much to discuss, with a banger main event ending in a debatable split decision win and a sub-par co-main event many fans found not up to the standard of a title fight. Women bantamweights Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva clashed in the co-main for the UFC title, which ended in a unanimous decision win for Pennington.
The title was vacated earlier by former champion Amanda Nunes, who announced her retirement immediately after defending her title at UFC 289. Fans expected the title fight to be a banger, considering the caliber of the UFC fighters involved. They were left disappointed as both the bantamweights didn’t seem to engage much, causing the viewers to lose interest.
Dana White calls Movsar Evloev vs. Arnold Allen “the least fun fight anyone has ever seen” pic.twitter.com/6NFAxqJMnH
— Casual MMA (@casualmmainc) January 21, 2024
The UFC president, Dana White, was questioned on the same, which he denied sharing; instead, he was vocal in stating that the opening match of the UFC 297 main card was rather boring and unengaging. This was a bout between featherweights Movsar Evloev and Arnold Allen, which Evloev won via unanimous decision after three rounds.
White stated in the post-fight press conference, “That was the least fun fight anyone has ever seen so, I mean he doesn’t have much to complain about, you know who lost that fight? The fans”. Calling out the undefeated Russian fighter for his win. And labeling it as unfair for the fans to witness the bout.
Fans react to Dana White and UFC 297 co-main event
The social media fans were quick to defend the fight between Movsar Evloev and Arnold Allen calling it a more technical than a slugfest. They were also blunt in stating that it was better than the co-main event which didn’t deliver to the expectations. One user commented “Was he on his phone during 7/8 Neil Magny fight & the whole Co-Main Event?”. Stating it to be better than other main card fights.
Another shared, “I loved it I love seeing fighters use their technical ability and fight iq”. Appreciating the battle and considering it to involve technical skills and fighting intelligence. Others continued to call out White’s hypocrisy over the co-main stating “He’s saying this was the most boring fight, but Pennington vs Bueno Silva legit just happened”.
Many considered Movsar Evloev and Arnold Allen to be quite intense battles. Also, an illegal knee by Evloev considerably affected the course of the bout. Both fighters put up a great battle all in to open the main card of UFC 297, as per the MMA community and professionals.