What's up, guys? All right, let me start here. So, the attendance tonight was 19,357. It was sold out. January 31st, UFC 325, we're in Sydney, Australia, highest grossing indoor arena in the history of Australia.
328, Newark, New Jersey, highest grossing event in Prudential Center history. We hold number one, number two, and number six all time there.
July 11th, UFC 329, Las Vegas, Nevada, highest grossing event in UFC history. July 18th, Oklahoma City Fight Night, highest grossing event in Paycom Center history. Belgrade, highest grossing event in Belgrade Arena history. 330, Philadelphia, highest grossing event at Xfinity Arena.
August 29th, Fight Night Shanghai, highest grossing event in arena history, highest attendance in the history of the arena. Fight Night Paris, highest grossing event in arena history. Glendale, for Noche, highest grossing event in arena history, and tonight, $8.3 million gate, highest gate in the history of this arena.
The fight of the night was Alexandre Pantoja. Performance of the night go to Casey O'Neill and Arman. And then, Mob Land launched yesterday on Paramount Plus. If you haven't seen Mob Land, do yourself a favor. And I was saying this before we did a multi-billion dollar deal with these guys. One of the best shows on television. They did a Mob Land bonus tonight for 50 grand. That's going to Sean, and I'm going to match it for another 50, so he gets 100. Somebody said he's 600 grand in debt. We're knocking out 100 grand of 600. There you go. Congrats to him. Who's got the first question?
Dan in the front, right here. Let's start in the main event. Obviously everyone kind of assumes that it would probably be fight of the night when you put those two in the octagon together. What did you think of overall?
Yeah. I mean it was incredible. Yeah, I mean I always talk about our matchmaking, right? Menifield was a plus 250 underdog, Sean was a plus 11, you know, minus 2400 dog. Pimblett dog and, you know, these guys when matchmaking continues to just absolutely murder.
What do you think like Joshua Van seems to be a promoter's dream, right? Like he wants to fight all the time. He's incredibly action-packed. Fifth end of the fifth round, he's going for submissions on Pantoja. What do you think you have with Joshua?
The greatest thing ever for that division, too. You know, he brings a lot of flash and excitement and fun to the division. I mean that was a great fight. I mean I was sitting there. I was like, "Holy [__], it's the fifth round already." Yeah. That's fun when that happens in five-round fights.
Obviously Arman was a big superstar throughout the fight week. Had our I think the perfect performance that he needed in the co-main event. What did you make of his win and then, you know, calling for the title shot right away?
Yeah. And you know, I've been vocal that I wasn't crazy about, you know, some of the stuff that he done. But you know what? When you [__] up, then you come back and you do everything the right way. I mean he couldn't have had a better comeback after, you know, the things that he had done that I wasn't thrilled about. And then to go in and perform the way that he performed tonight, I mean at the end of that round, I was like, "Oh [__] man. He's in for a rough night." And then boom, the elbow. Incredible.
Did you have a chance to get Justin Gaethje's reaction? I know he was in attendance.
No. I haven't talked to him.
I know you're giving Sean the bonus and everything, but you know, you said it Gabe Steveson was minus 2500 at some point. Of all the outcomes you could have expected, was that even one that you could have thought of with Sean? Just one shot dead.
Anything is possible, man. Anything is possible when two guys get in there and start fighting. You know, you never know how a fight is. That's why people always ask me, "Oh, what do you think? Is this guy going to fight this guy after Saturday?" Let's see what happens on Saturday. I don't know. I don't know what the fight's going to look like. What's it like when people say, "Oh, this card sucks." [__] card hasn't happened yet. What do you mean it sucks? And if it sucks, I'll be the first one to say it sucks.
Fans online were very vocal and they weren't happy to see Gabe leave the octagon before Sean got his moment, his hand raised. Do you have any thoughts on that at all?
That Gabe ran out before the hands were raised. They thought he should have stuck around and been a...
Well, you know, when you're in that position, you know, obviously he had huge expectations on himself and I'm, you know, it happens. Forrest Griffin [__] ran out of the octagon when he won the fight. These things happen.
Finally for me, a big announcement of the MSG card, Josh Barnett, Ciryl Gane, Amanda, Kayla. What went into the thought of booking Ciryl and Josh as the main event for the undisputed title?
It's what makes sense. Yeah.
I guess what's next for Pantoja now then because he obviously doesn't have a fight lined up now.
For Pantoja. What can we expect as announcement for his next fight?
Dana, just talk to us about Tom Aspinall having to vacate the belt. I think there's this perception that like you don't like Tom or something like that, but to be clear...
...that you don't like Tom. I think there's a good with the Eddie Hearn relationship you have.
I like Tom. No, that's not the case. That's the furthest thing from the truth. And you know, this guy knows he's injured. He's going through stuff with the doctor. He knows it's going to be a while before he comes back. This is totally normal. I think because of what I might have said or what he might have responded to what I said after the thing, that people think that I don't like Tom. It's the furthest thing from the truth. Well, I have no reason to not like Tom. Tom's never done anything for me not to like him. I mean, if I don't like somebody, I'm pretty [__] honest about it. I mean, we're sitting here talking at the beginning of the press conference about Arman, you know, and Arman made mistakes, and he's made up for them. And look at the position he's in right now after tonight. I promise you this, if I did not like Tom, I would say it. And when guys sign with Eddie Hearn, and this is no [__], I'm not taking shots, we [__] crack up laughing. It's hilarious. So, no, I don't dislike Tom. And anybody else who wants to sign with Eddie Hearn as their [__] manager, fire away.
How good do you think Joshua Van is, right? For to be 24 years old and to be on the run that he's in and beat Pantoja, who's one of the best in that division's history. How good is this kid potentially going to be? Because he hasn't been training that long.
Well, if you look at the... I agree. And if you look at how the fight ended with that freak injury, which sucks. It's a shitty way to win and a shitty way to lose. Then he goes out and defends it. And I mean, he just keeps looking more and more confident. Well, how about the takedown defense? Unbelievable. How about the escape from the mount? He was in the full mount in the first... I mean, the kid looks incredible. He looks better every time he fights. And you know, that's what it takes to be a long reigning champion. You have to look better every time you come out, especially against a guy like Pantoja.
Thank you.
Dana, over here. Jason Tucker, Asian Armenian Sports News. I remember how excited you were for UFC 311 for the crowd. Talk to me about how the crowd impressed you this time around with it just being filled.
Was I impressed that the crowd was filled? Did you just hear the list of [__] that I read off at the beginning of this press conference?
I wouldn't say that I love when the crowd is filled. I love... You know, when the main card started, there was sort of a weird vibe and energy. And then after that first knockout, the place went crazy and the rest of the night was electric and awesome. And yeah, but to come into Staples Crypto Arena and break the all-time record. And Madison Square Garden, we're eight of the top 10. And you know, it's been an incredible year for us and yeah. Yeah, it doesn't suck. I love it.
Arman wasn't the only Armenian fighting. Also, Edmen Shahbazyan got a big win. What do you just get your reaction to him winning? And do you see more ranked opponents and possibly a title shot in the future?
Well, it was definitely a good night for the Armenians. I don't know. I've always liked him. He's a tough guy. Hits hard. And he's a good kid. I'd love to see him do great things.
Dana, in the end, Arman Tsarukyan did walk out with the streamer. People also had some thoughts about his walkout music. I know sometimes you don't like when fighters bring in all the extracurriculars. What was your reaction to how Arman walked out tonight?
[clears throat] I don't like walking out with extracurriculars.
Yeah, like the dance thing and when people maybe get distracted.
That doesn't mean [__] I have a sort of a... You know, I'm a fan, too. And I have my thing that I like about certain guys and whatever. But yeah, it's all good. Listen, Arman... You look like an idiot sitting up here saying that Arman has done anything wrong since the [__] that he did wrong. I mean, he's completely flipped everything, turned it around, and he could not be in a better position than he's in right now.
I want to ask about Alexandre Pantoja. Obviously, he was very dominant leading to the injury. Obviously, he's still got a lot of fight left in him. As the promoter, where do you go with him because he's already fought so many of the top guys already?
Listen, he's going to go home. He's going to heal up and call us and when he's ready to fight, we'll see what's out there and what's next for him.
Final question as part of the media from Los Angeles, it has been a minute since the UFC was here the last time. Did LA show out and can we expect the UFC to come back sooner?
I yeah, I don't know. We'll see. There's still a lot of places to go, a lot of places we haven't been in a while and since the day we bought this company in January of 2001, the Southern California and Hawaii have been like the hotbed for mixed martial arts and it still is. So. Yes, we will always return to California.
I don't know when though. I haven't even [__] left yet.
Dana, you mentioned that Arman Tsarukyan is in the best spot that he could possibly be. Less than 1 month or about 1 month from now, he's scheduled to wrestle Dillon Danis and both of those guys are pretty chaotic. I mean, is that one you let these guys go and wrestle given the position that Arman is in? Would you hope that he would rethink that or are you pretty comfortable with it?
I mean, wrestling is what he does. I don't know. I don't know. I'm not even thinking about that.
What are your thoughts on us being one win away from a Josh Barnett UFC heavyweight title reign? Do you have any thoughts on that?
Oh, I got a lot of thoughts on that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Lots and lots.
Would you like to share them with us at all?
Oh, I'm sure they're the same thoughts that you're all having. Yeah. I doubt we're that different. Yeah.
I just one follow-up on that. You know, you made the fight, of course, but and you said it's the fight that makes sense. You made the fight that makes sense. Because of who he is, is there any additional conversation as to, you know, is this the guy that we want headlining Madison Square Garden? Did that happen or was it really just as simple as making the fight?
Well, I mean, I don't police what people say and any of that [__]. And if you keep winning, I say it all the time, I don't have to like you for you to thrive here and you to do well and be successful. Many people that I do not like have done very well here. So, you know, I'm not saying that I don't like Joshua Oquendo. I literally don't [__] like anything Joshua Oquendo says. So, and that's not going to change unless he changes, which I don't see happening. So, I'm going to have to deal with that. That's a me issue. And I'm sure your issue.
Yeah, over here. You briefly touched on it when you just made your way out of the stage, but Patricio Pitbull had an amazing performance tonight. Kind of reminded a lot of people of that vintage Bellator Pitbull that, you know, we all fell in love with. Do you feel that same way?
You briefly touched on it when you just made your way to the stage, but Patricio Pitbull had an amazing performance tonight. Kind of reminded a lot of people of the vintage Bellator Pitbull that we all fell in love with. Do you feel the same way? Do I think he had a great performance tonight?
