Fans react to Dana White criticizing reporter over question at UFC Belgrade pre-fight press conference

Dana White has time and again earned widespread praise for his contributions toward better promoting the sport of MMA, having turned the UFC mixed martial arts organization into a multi-billion-dollar global brand. 

Nevertheless, some critics of the UFC CEO and president argue that he shares a tumultuous bond with the media.

On that note, fight fans have now reacted to a notable incident from the UFC Belgrade pre-fight press conference that transpired a few hours ago, wherein White sounded off on a reporter. 

Dana White criticizes reporter over UFC Belgrade question during the pre-fight press conference

Dana White has been known to spearhead the UFC's promotional activities for well over two decades. Nevertheless, the American combat sports promoter and entrepreneur has gotten involved in other ventures as well in recent years. 

He founded Power Slap, a professional slap fighting organization, and routinely promotes that, sometimes in conjunction with UFC content. Additionally, the UFC-affiliated Zuffa Boxing, which organized its first event earlier this year, also takes up some of his time and efforts. 

As such, some of his detractors have accused him of being rather disinterested in promoting the UFC as fiercely as he used to back in the day. A few critics have even gone as far as alleging that he doesn't familiarize himself with some of the matchups and fighters on certain UFC cards. 

Speaking of which, the 57-year-old, during the UFC Belgrade pre-fight press conference, was asked about which fights on the UFC Belgrade card he's looking forward to the most. 

White responded by criticizing the reporter by stating, "That is a sh**y question, my friend." The reporter replied, "Yeah. I know." 

Additionally, White then said, "Listen. Obviously, everybody's always excited about the main event. I'm just hoping, you know, I want a few holy sh** moments on Saturday night. So, hopefully, we get a few of those." 

Their interaction appeared to end cordially, with both thanking one another. 

Watch Dana White sound off on the reporter before answering the question below (*comments at the 17:30-minute mark of the video): 

Fight fans react to Dana White's sounding off on the reporter ahead of the first UFC event in Serbia

The UFC Belgrade event is scheduled to be headlined by a highly anticipated welterweight clash between striking extraordinaires, Daniel Rodriguez and Uros Medic. It'll transpire at the Belgrade Arena in the city of Belgrade in Serbia on August 1. 

Fight fans soon chimed in with their responses to Dana White's sharp criticism of the aforementioned reporter. Taking to the press conference video's comments section on the UFC's official YouTube channel, one netizen wrote: 

"Dana had no clue who was even fighting when they asked him which fight was he most excited about."

Another netizen noted, "Dana has clearly checked out." Some conjectured that White was quite angry on the day, while an observer pointed out the timestamp of the moment from the video and added, "Haha noooo he didn't know who was fighting on the card." 

A fan insinuated that White was a better spokesperson before the UFC's sale from the Fertitta brothers to Endeavor (now known as the WME Group) in 2016, which also saw White sell a significant amount of his stake. 

Furthermore, a few fans similarly expressed their disapproval of how White spoke at UFC events. A netizen wrote, "Dana needs to retire, doing more bad than good." 

Check out the screenshots of a few fan reactions to Dana White's criticism of the reporter at the UFC Belgrade press conference below: