Dana White on 'educated' Mexico City crowd: 'I didn't f-cking disagree with one boo'

MEXICO CITY – “You better prepare when you come into this town because this is no f-cking joke. This is a hard place to fight.”

Those were the words of UFC President Dana White following Saturday’s UFC 188 pay-per-view event at Mexico City Arena in Mexico.

Some called it a tough crowd – one that was quick to cheer in-cage heroics, and one that was equally quick to boo the lulls in action. However, White instead called it an “educated” crowd.

“When they were booing, they deserved to boo,” White said after the sold-out event, which drew an announced attendance of 21,036, making it the first UFC show to draw 20,000-plus since January, when UFC on FOX 14 took place at Tele2 Arena in Stockholm. “I didn’t f-cking disagree with one boo that happened tonight. Then they were booing, (the fighters) deserved to get booed, and I thought it was a very educated crowd – a huge moment for us, a huge moment for me because I’ve been waiting so long to get into Mexico.”

UFC 188 was just the UFC’s second show in Mexico. The first, UFC 180, took place in November and drew an estimated 21,000 fans at the same Mexico City arena.

According to White, it won’t be the organization’s last trip to Mexico. The organization already has a trip to Monterrey planned, likely to be UFC Fight Night 80, on Nov. 21. And Mexico City is likely to be back on the schedule in 2016.

“There wasn’t one single seat left in this arena,” he said. “This thing completely sold out. … This isn’t going to be our last show in Mexico City.”

For complete coverage of UFC 188, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.