Dana White surprised a lot of people on Tuesday when he chose not to sign Jonas Bilharinho after his big wheel kick knockout victory. The knockout was the first of its kind on the show.
Many assumed that Jonas Bilharinho would be receiving a contract because of the way he finished the fight. Dana White's show signs prospects based on how entertaining they are on the show.
“I literally looked at Mick and Sean and said, ‘I was 100 percent not interested until right now. Now I don’t know what I am,'” Dana White told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at the UFC Apex. “Now I’m confused because obviously, you saw the kid has speed, he has hands, he’s a talented guy. The spinning kick was a spectacular finish, plus you can tell he’s fighting a guy who has a great chin because he took some big shots in there and even the spinning wheel kick didn’t knock him out, but it hurt him and had him on crazy legs.
“The kid’s stock went up tonight. He’s 9-1, maybe one of these other organizations pick him up, which we talked about before, they’re not very bright so they probably won’t. He’ll pick up a couple of fights in LFA or one of those type of shows, and we’ll take a look at him again. He definitely – landing that kick tonight put him in a good spot. He’s a free agent right now, he can do what he wants, and we’ll look at him again.”
It's good to hear from Dana White that Jonas Bilharinho will still have an opportunity to sign with the UFC in the future. It's a frustrating situation for a fighter looking to break out into the UFC.
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