Dana White Clarifies 5 Round Non-Title Fight Scenarios; Addresses Mayhem vs. Bisping Fight

UFC President Dana White

Starting soon every main event in the UFC will be a 5 round fight regardless of whether a title is on the line or not.

There are still a few rules around the new policy that could affect fighters.

According to UFC President Dana White if a main event fighter is injured and someone steps up to take their place, they will be expected to fight a 5 round fight even if it is on short notice. That isn’t much different than someone stepping to accept a title bout on short notice, but it also applies to the new non-title fights as well.

The biggest clarification that White made late Saturday night however is if a situation arose similar to UFC 130.

When the main event championship bout between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard was dropped from the card when both fighters suffered injuries, and Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and Matt Hamill were bumped to the main event, they would not have been expected to go 5 rounds under the new rules.

“That doesn’t happen, that won’t happen,” White said about an entire fight being moved to a main event and being forced to fight 5 rounds. “Guys who have bout agreements for 5 round fights, will fight five round fights.”

One other interesting clarification that was made was regarding the upcoming fight between TUF 14 coaches Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller and Michael Bisping.

While the two coaches are already filming the newest season with the lighter weight class fighters, White isn’t sure that they will square off in a five round fight.

As a matter of fact, Mayhem vs. Bisping won’t likely be the main event during the TUF 14 finale show.

“We’ll see, I don’t know,” White answered when asked if Bisping vs. Miller would fall under the new five round rule. “I don’t think they’ll be the main event, you know what I mean? I don’t think they’ll be the main event.”

For season 13 of the reality show, the fight between eventual champion Tony Ferguson and challenger Ramsey Nijem actually headlined the show. The other major fight between Anthony Pettis and Clay Guida ended up as the co-main event on the show.

It’s likely that the same scenario will exist for TUF 14 with the finale fight from the reality show competitors taking the top slot as the main event while Miller vs. Bisping will be the co-main event on the card.

Damon Martin is the lead staff writer and radio host for MMAWeekly.com.
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