The co-main event features Kayla Harrison defending the women’s bantamweight title against returning hall-of-famer Amanda Nunes.
American Harrison is fighting for the first time since neck and spinal surgery in January, while Brazil’s Nunes is coming out of retirement after leaving the sport and her glittering career behind in 2023.
Nunes is a former bantamweight and featherweight champion and is widely regarded as one of the best mixed martial artists of all time.
The pair used to be team-mates at American Top Team Gym before Nunes left in 2022, but got involved in a heated back and forth in the news conference.
“Look in my eyes. If you don’t respect that I can beat you on Saturday, you’re not supposed to be a champion,” said Nunes.
Harrison responded by saying: “I respect everyone, but fear no-one,” as the pair argued for almost two minutes.
White later had to guide Harrison away as the pair went face to face in an intense stare-down.
Earlier White criticised fighters Usman Nurmagomedov and Merab Dvalishvili for their part in a mass brawl in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday which led to 10 arrests.
A video of the incident appeared to show Russian Nurmagomedov slap Dvalishvili after approaching the Georgian from behind.
Fighting then broke out between the two and members of their teams in a hotel lobby, with Abu Dhabi police confirming the arrests.
White called the altercation “ridiculous” and “stupid”, and referred to the participants as “a bunch of idiots”.
Leave a Reply