Farid Basharat says he never turned down a fight after Dana White comments

The unbeaten bantamweight says he fought on a torn elbow ligament and against an opponent who missed weight by 10 pounds, and that UFC staff will back him up.

By Combat Sports UK Staff · Published Sun 18 Oct, 23:06 UK · AI-assisted reporting

Farid Basharat in his video responding to Dana White — Image: Farid Basharat

Farid Basharat has answered Dana White's suggestion that there was "definitely a reason" the UFC did not re-sign him, saying he never turned down a fight and was never difficult to deal with.

In a video posted on Sunday, the unbeaten bantamweight said White "kind of alluded to maybe I was turning down fights, or maybe I was difficult to deal with". He replied: "I've said it many times already, I definitely didn't turn nobody down."

Basharat pointed to his 2024 fight in Abu Dhabi, when he said his opponent missed weight by 10 pounds and he went ahead anyway, calling it the largest weight disparity in UFC history as far as he knew. "My Contender Series fight, I had a torn MCL in my elbow, still went ahead with the fight. My last fight was injured," he said. "These are facts you can ask your UFC staff, you can ask the nutrition team, you can ask the physio team."

On whether he was hard to work with, he said: "Speak to your staff, ask anybody about me. There was no issues with me in any way, shape or form." He added that he made the video "just to kind of almost clear my name".

He also pushed back on the idea that his fights lacked action. "Every single one of my last three opponents, I've rocked or hurt," he said.

At the UFC Edmonton post-fight press conference, White said: "If you're 16-0 with seven wins in the UFC and don't get re-signed, there's definitely a reason." He did not give a reason specific to Basharat.

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Farid Basharat