Dana White was in a fiery mood at the post-event press conference, and while much of the night centered on Conor McGregor’s apparent ACL tear, it was a broadcast blunder that sent the UFC president over the edge.
White unloaded on his production team after they displayed a graphic identifying professional boxer Shakur Stevenson as an OKC NBA player during the telecast.
UFC broadcast mistook Shakur Stevenson for NBA player Jalen Williams 💀 pic.twitter.com/CAO5DHwVRY
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) July 12, 2026
“I just paid Shakur Stevenson a s**tload of money. And for some reason, we can’t figure this celebrity s**t out,” White told reporters. “They put him up as a f**king OKC NBA player. Are you kidding me? It’s just absolutely crazy.”
White, who had already addressed the matter backstage, made no effort to hide his frustration at the podium.
“I just had this f**king debate in the back with my guys while I was screaming at everybody back there,” he said. “And they said, ‘No, soccer’s worse. Soccer shows the people and they don’t put up any graphics.’ Oh, no. We put up f**king graphics AND PUT THE WRONG GUY’S name on it. We win. We’re the worst ever to f**king do it.”
The gaffe came on a night that was otherwise praised for its production quality. White had moments earlier called the overall show “flawless,” but circled back to the celebrity graphic situation when asked about the revamped tunnel walkouts for the main event.
“I think the entire show was flawless. It looked incredible on television,” White said. “Apparently, we just need to stop showing celebrities because we can’t figure that out after 25 years. We just can’t do it. It’s unbelievable. We can’t do it.”
The admission was not the kind that stayed buried in a lengthy press conference. White told the room directly that he had been screaming at his team backstage over it, which drew laughs from the assembled press, though his irritation appeared genuine throughout.
