Norma Dumont! pic.twitter.com/xdVRfg6D6P
— Alex Davis (@Alexdavismma)
September 11, 2022
The real cause of the backstage melee that forced Dana White to
cancel the UFC
279 pre-fight press conference last week may have come from an
unlikely source.
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According to long-tenured manager Alex Davis, a discussion between
Darren
Till and another Englishman triggered the incident.
“I was informed backstage that what started the fight was a
discussion about the death of Queen Elizabeth between Darren Till
and another British guy,” Davis told Sherdog.com. “As you know,
some people in England support the Royal Family and others hate
them and that was the cause. Till and this other British guy
started the fight and eventually it spread.”
Davis was in Las Vegas with Norma
Dumont, who earned a dominant unanimous victory against
Danyelle
Wolf in a featherweight bout at UFC 279. Thanks to that
triumph, the manager believes Dumont could be in line to face
Irene
Aldana in a featherweight title eliminator bout next. Aldana
normally competes at bantamweight but knocked out Macy
Chiasson in a 140-pound catchweight clash on this past
Saturday’s card.
“There were rumors this division could be finished, but I don’t
think so,” Davis said. “I see a great chance of Norma facing Irene
at [UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro]. That would be the most fair to
decide who would face Amanda [Nunes] next.”
Davis also represents PFL finalist Larissa
Pacheco, who will square off against Kayla
Harrison for a third time for the promotion’s lightweight
championship in November. He expects Pacheco to be a completely
different fighter this time around.
“I love Kayla. She is like a family member to me,” Davis said. “But
she has never faced a real test in MMA and this time Pacheco will
bring her a totally different fight.”
Davis added that Pacheco has made a few key changes that should
make a difference in her performance come fight night.
“She did the first camp in Belem. Now she is doing the whole camp
at ATT Atlanta supported by Roan
Carneiro and training with many D-1 wrestlers,” Davis said.
“Besides that, she totally changed her diet. I have no doubt
Kayla will have her first real test.”
Davis also discussed how Thiago
Santos’ move from the UFC to Professional Fighters League came
to pass.
“He was doing the last fight of his contract, coming from four
defeats in five fights. Even with all his fights against top
contenders being very close, we were aware that the UFC has a lot
of fighters in the light heavyweight division now and the
negotiation wouldn’t be easy, so I asked the UFC to let me
negotiate with other organizations,” Davis said. “They gave me that
authorization and PFL loved to have him, so everything was
perfect.
“Thiago went from ugly duckling in the UFC to golden egg hen in
PFL. Thiago is really motivated now and I have no doubt he will get
that one million dollar prize in the light heavyweight division in
2023.”