UFC fans have been raging for months, calling out a lack of proper star power in UFC PPVs. And it’s not like the UFC doesn’t have a solution at hand right now. All Dana White needs to do is announce Islam Makhachev’s next lightweight title defense against Ilia Topuria. And more importantly, drag back heavyweight champion Jon Jones to sign off on a title unification bout with Tom Aspinall.
Both fights have far-reaching consequences for the landscape of the UFC as a whole. The lightweight title fight would essentially be a litmus test for Topuria, while for Makhachev, it will be an opportunity to finally test the waters at 170 lbs.
And as far as the heavyweight division is concerned, it would just be nice to not have it lie dormant in the hands of a champion of 786 days with only one title defense to his name.
Logic would dictate, the UFC boss would be scrambling along to get it done. Instead? Yes, there is an instead…
The MMA community has received a love letter to his bull. No, seriously—his actual bull. Nicknamed “Playmate,” he is apparently quite the looker, according to White.
White took to Instagram to share a video and photo of his new bull playmate, promoting his appearance at the upcoming PBR show. Naturally, White‘s social media followers were a bit miffed. One of them commented on the post saying, “Who cares about your cow. Announce the fight.”
White, who probably wouldn’t let god have the satisfaction of the last word, retorted with, “LMFAO!!!!! I’m NEVER announcing it. How handsome is that BULL!?!? SAY IT.”
The screenshot of this exchange was posted on Reddit, with more fans joining in to witness this ridiculous circus.
A Redditor asked everyone to calm down and took White’s side on the matter, saying, “A MFer can’t even enjoy his Bull in peace anymore. SMH.”
“I thought Jon was Dana’s handsome bull”- commented another, further pushing the ‘glazing’ allegations.
Another simply added, “Honestly, this is a very handsome bull.” Since this is Reddit, there is no way to be sure if this is sarcasm or if this fan really appreciates a good-looking bull.
UFC fans on Reddit pic.twitter.com/cNYqZsg5Jg
— MMAFanatic (@FanaticMma10) April 24, 2025
Amid these frustrations of fights not getting announced, rumours are circulating that White is intentionally delaying the announcement of these fights to get a better deal secured, as the UFC looks to move from its 7-year-old ESPN deal.
White provides an update on the UFC’s new home
As of April 15, the UFC’s exclusive negotiating window with ESPN officially closed, meaning the promotion was free to start talking with other networks about a potential new home starting in 2026.
Back in 2018, the UFC and ESPN struck a five-year, $1.5 billion deal, which was later extended in 2019 to include pay-per-view streaming rights.
Now, with that deal nearing its end, White has confirmed that the promotion was exploring new opportunities. “We’ll start talking to different people and see what’s out there,” he said at the UFC 314 post-fight press conference.
“We could even end up on multiple networks like other sports do”, he noted.
Dana White: Our rights deal is gonna be a big deal coming up here. And who knows? We could end up like the NBA and the NFL, where we end up on multiple channels instead of just one.pic.twitter.com/yw5jPibXas
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) July 26, 2024
Despite the shift, White had nothing but good things to say about ESPN, admitting their relationship had a rocky start but improved over time.
And when asked about the current format—42 events in 2024—he said it would depend on the new network’s needs. As for the rumored $1 billion-a-year target? Dana just smiled and said, “Sounds good to me.”
