Dana White handed out contracts to every winner from the latest episode of his Contender Series.
Among the five fighters signed was former NFL player Josh Hokit, who had caught the UFC boss’ attention earlier in the year by showing up at a press conference with custom championship belts.
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But Louis Lee Scott’s deal came as a bit of a surprise. Even though he looked sharp during his third-round TKO win over Kaushik Saikumar, he still found himself in hot water with Dana White before stepping into the cage.
Louis Lee Scott wasn’t supposed to miss weight
Scott’s performance inside the octagon may have been convincing, but it was what happened outside of it that nearly cost him. The Englishman missed weight by 0.5lbs on Monday, something that rarely goes unpunished in Dana White’s eyes.
In fact, it’s considered one of the worst mistakes a fighter can make ahead of such an important opportunity. Speaking after Tuesday’s event, White didn’t hold back: “I told him when I talked to him after his fight… You know how I feel about missing weight.”
Dana White still gave Scott a contract
Despite starting off on the wrong foot and going into his fight as an underdog, Louis Lee Scott managed to turn things around against Kaushik Saikumar.
The featherweight showed off some solid striking and eventually overwhelmed Saikumar with volume in Round 3. It was enough to sway Dana White, who explained why he decided to overlook the weight issue this time around.
“He came out there and put on a show tonight. I liked what I saw from both guys tonight,” said White. “Kaushik is talented and tough too so these two should do well moving forward.”
Louis Lee Scott gets a break from Dana White after DWCS weight miss
Louis Lee Scott missed the bantamweight limit by half a pound at Monday’s weigh-in, which is typically something Dana White doesn’t let slide.
Usually, missing weight is enough to ruin a fighter’s chances with the UFC boss, but in this case, White was so impressed by Scott’s performance that he decided to make an exception.
“Scott, I literally got to see everything from you,” White said. “As we were going to that last round, I didn’t think there was going to be a finish.
“I’m like, ‘Even though there’s not a finish, I’ve literally seen everything this guy can do.’ Striking, submission defence, conditioning and then I got to see the killer instinct. Great combo to finish the fight.
“When you come here and you don’t make weight it is one of the worst things that you could possibly do. It’s almost a guarantee that you are not gonna make it into the UFC.
“But after that performance I’m going to let the half-a-pound go. Welcome. Get over here.”
Josh Hokit calls out UFC heavyweights after debut win
Josh Hokit, a former NFL player, secured a second-round TKO over Guilherme Uriel and didn’t hold back in his comments about the division afterward.
Hokit criticised the heavyweight landscape, calling it filled with “overweight fat guys” during a post-fight interview that quickly drew attention.
The Contender Series winner followed up by saying English should be required to compete in the UFC.
“I feel like that should be a criteria, you speak English, and then you can be in the UFC,” he said. “That’s how I would run it.”
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