Want a 165 Division in The UFC? Dana White Says You’ll Need to Wait Seven Years…

Plenty of fighters and fans have called for the UFC to add a 165-pound division, and to date, Dana White’s shot down the idea. Well, is the UFC President softening on that stance? Nope. No he’s not.

There’s been talk about adding a 165-pound division for some time now, and big name fighters like Kevin Lee, Ben Askren and Conor McGregor have called for the division to be created. In fact, at one point last fall, Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier claimed they were going to fight for a 165 title.

White has said he’s not interested in making it happen. In a recent interview with Barstool Sports’ Robbie Fox, the UFC President said this about the 165 bracket (quote via MMA Mania):

”Not in the next seven years, that I promise. “I’m here for seven more years, when I go they can make a 180, 165, 122, whatever they wanna do when I’m gone, they can do. It ain’t happening while I’m here. What’s the appeal in it?”

”A lot of guys who know they can’t win at either 170 or 155 that would all jump ship. If you look at our 170 and 155 division, they’re stacked. You’ve got Usman, Woodley, Covington, Wonderboy, RDA, Masvidal, Askren, Till, Ponzinibbio, Lawler, Edwards. That’s 170. Lightweights at 155 you got Khabib, Conor, Tony, Poirier, Iaquinta, Kevin Lee who’s moving over to welterweight to make it even better, Edson Barboza, Gaethje, Pettis now is over in the welterweight division which makes it even better. Cerrone, Felder, Gillespie, Diaz.”

So, if you’re hoping to see 165 division, it’s not looking good. Although, let’s remember that White at one juncture said women would never fight in the UFC.