Dana White explains why UFC women’s roster won’t get a new weight division
Dana White recently spoke to the press following UFC Fight Night at the Meta APEX. White went over a few different topics during the briefing, including the potential for a new weight class for Women’s fighters.
White would say that the company does not want to bring in another weight class (like Atomweight) as the company believes it would “mess up” the other two divisions:
“It’s the same answer as the expansion of the men’s weights like [1]65 pounds. It just screws up the other two divisions” White noted. “If there was a need for it and we felt that it would work, we would have done it already. It’s not like anybody’s telling us, ‘Oh we never thought of that.'”
The reporter that asked the initial question about Women’s weight classes also added that “a lot of women would also go down in weight, at least atomweight… because 115 is big for the women” to which White would emphatically state “I don’t disagree.”
Dana White Interview
White would also discuss the use of AI in the revamped Meta APEX, saying that these plans have been in place for some time:
“Yeah, obviously the Meta AI rankings, and I have Meta coming in here and doing some workshops with my executives and senior staff and then eventually the fighters.” I think what you will see with AI, and we’re already playing with a lot of that stuff, is being able to know what’s the guy’s resting heart rate in the corner, what is it when he’s fighting, and the impact of the punches and things like that.”
The UFC recently introduced AI Rankings to their official site, which are listed as “META UFC Rankings” due to the MMA company working directly with Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta.
Jake is the Head of Audience Development at F4WOnline, having previously worked as a Combat Sports, Gaming and Pro Wrestling writer, successful Editor in Chief and Sports Coordinator. He has more than ten years of experience covering mixed martial arts, pro wrestling, football and gaming across a number of publications, starting at SEScoops in 2012.
He previously also worked for PROGRESS Wrestling as Head of Media as well as working on the social channels of the company.