Derek Chisora Says Dana White Operates Like a Slave Owner
Derek Chisora said Dana White is not his cup of tea and accused the UFC chief of operating like a slave owner. The comments came in a Fight Hub TV interview after the Tyson Fury–Anthony Joshua press conference in London, and Chisora did not name a fighter he said had been turned away.
“You know why he’s not my cup of tea, to be honest with you, because the way he operates is just, he operates like a slave owner, man, you know,” Chisora said. He then described what he sees as the problem with White’s platform. “Fighters wanna fight on his platform, he tells them, you’re not good enough for me, so go away.”
Chisora framed the rejection as a dead end for the fighter who hears it. “What’s the, what’s a fighter gonna do?” he said. “What’s he gonna do after that? That’s not right, you know.”
He also argued that one poor night should not decide whether a fighter gets another chance.
“Everybody wants to fight, they might not be good on that night, but they can be better next night,” Chisora said. “So his way of operating is just bullish, and then I don’t like it.”
The interview landed while White was already attached to the Fury–Joshua promotion. White was not at the London press conference. He later said he had been at Dana White’s Contender Series on Tuesday and had to travel for the card, and he said the UFC is producing the show as well as promoting it.
Chisora’s complaint was aimed at how White chooses who fights on his platform, not at a specific purse or contract. He offered no name, date, or division in the clip. Fight Hub TV’s own caption on the video read “DANA OPERATES LIKE SLAVE OWNER,” which tracks the comparison Chisora spoke on camera.
The platform in question now includes more than the UFC. White co-founded Zuffa Boxing, and the Fury–Joshua fight is the heavyweight show the promotion has been building toward. Chisora, a veteran who has shared a ring with Fury three times, was speaking as a boxer watching that operation from outside it.
Nothing in the available interview shows a response from White. The “slave owner” line is Chisora’s characterization, not a finding, and the clip does not include a fighter confirming that White used the words Chisora put in his mouth. White’s public line on the Fury–Joshua show has been about travel, production, and the card, not about this interview.
Chisora closed on the same point he opened with. He does not like the way White operates, and he thinks a fighter who is told to go away has nowhere obvious to take that rejection. Whether White answers the comparison, or whether any boxer steps forward with the example Chisora left unnamed, is the part of the story that had not happened when the clip went out.
