The UFC 230 main event mystery has finally been solved. It is rare that broad, generalized terms such as “everybody” or “nobody” actually applies. But in this case, literally nobody expected the main event for the UFC’s return to Madison Square Garden to be Valentina Shevchenko taking on Sijara Eubanks for the vacant flyweight championship. Following the announcement, social media responded with incredulity as well as disappointment. So why did Dana White decide on Shevchenko/Eubanks for the UFC 230 main event?
“Well, listen, Eubanks, if she had made weight, she’d have been the champion or at least fight for the championship,” White told ESPN Tuesday. “And there’s no doubt that Valentina is the baddest girl around at 125 right now. So it was the fight to make. I’m just glad we could pull it off this soon.”
When asked why Eubanks is getting the shot at the title instead of Joanna Jedrzejczyk, who was originally scheduled to vie for the flyweight strap against Shevchenko, White attributed the decision to timing.
“As we moved it sooner, Joanna wasn’t ready,” White said. “Joanna wasn’t ready for that fight. Valentina doesn’t care. This girl will fight tomorrow. If we called her tomorrow, she’d fight tomorrow. And she wants to fight every month. So she absolutely made sense. And we made sure that Eubanks was on weight. So Sijara is close to weight, and Valentina’s a beast and wanted this fight, and it’s a fun fight.”
The question many fans are asking, though, isn’t so much why the fight was made, but specifically, why was it selected to headline the New York event over Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier? The reason, White explained, is because of a time-honored tradition of the UFC.
“We never…I wouldn’t say we never, maybe a couple of times in the history, the main event has not been a title fight. So we were still building that card, still making fights, and still needed a main event. So we got it done.”
Of course both Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier attempted to solve the title problem by creating a 165-pound division, where both fighters would be competing to become the inaugural champion of the division. Many fans were on board with this idea, but Dana White never even gave it a thought.
“Never even considered it,” White said. “It’s all just talk. I’ve never even considered it. First of all, you make 165 pounds, you’re gonna start pulling people from the 170-pound division. And you’re gonna see a lot of people from 170 and 155 that couldn’t win a title at 170 and 155 jumping to 165 to try to fight for a title there. It just doesn’t make sense.
“We have enough weight classes.”
What do you think of the UFC’s decision to make Valentina Shevchenko vs. Sijara Eubanks the headliner of UFC 230 over Nate Diaz vs. Dustin Poirier?
