At UFC 305, Dana White was nowhere to be found. He is hardly away when the card has two big fighters going at it in the main event, but it was one such rare occasion in Perth, Australia. And those hoping for him to address the judge controversy during the night were left waiting. In fact, many were left baffled when another UFC executive took his place during the post-fight presser.

Dana White missing out on UFC events for some reason or the other is nothing new. But whenever there’s a huge fight like the Israel Adesanya vs Dricus du Plessis at UFC 305, the UFC CEO is ever-present from the pre-event press conferences to weigh-ins and doing all he can to promote the card. But this time, as ‘The Last Stylebender’ made his highly anticipated return, Dana White was away in New York City, attending the Fanatics Fest.

Fanatics Fest brought together high-profile athletes like Tom Brady and Kevin Durant, and A-List celebs like rapper Jay Z. The fest has also seen many pro wrestlers show up as well. Apart from that, popular social media personalities IShowSpeed and Adin Ross were also present, and it appears White was hanging out with them. The Fanatics Fest, that ran from August 16-18, overlapped with UFC 305 which took place on August 18, meaning it would have been near impossible for White to show up in Australia all the way from New York. But who took his place in his absence?

Executive Vice President and head of International and Content, David Shaw took White’s place at the UFC 305 post-fight presser. He announced that the PPV earned a $5.4 million gate with 14,152 people in attendance. However, Shaw was immediately thrown at the deep end when he had to address a controversy during the night.

UFC 305 saw Du Plessis beat Adesanya in the fourth round via submission. But the real drama was served earlier in the night during the Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs Tai Tuivasa fight. The Surnimese fighter dominated Tuivasa, leaving little doubt as to who came out on top. But after the end of the third round, when the scores were read out, one of the judges, Howie Booth awarded the fight to Tuivasa, while the other two judges scored in favor of Rozenstruik. This led to a split decision win for Rozenstruik, but Booth’s 30-27 to Tuivasa raised a lot of eyebrows, and in effect, led to a bitter end for the judge.  

Booth was pulled from the show, where he was scheduled to judge the co-main event between Kai Kara-France and Steve Erceg. David Shaw had to address the matter to the press later after the announcement was made.

Shaw said, “I guess someone made the call that the performance was probably not worth keeping them [Booth] involved for the rest of the night… It’s good checks and balances, everybody needs to be held to a high standard.” However, given that Shaw’s appearance is rare, some fans seemed to have a bit of trouble identifying him. A user shared a screenshot of the press conference on Reddit, speculating the reason behind Dana White’s appearances. By the look of their reactions, they don’t seem too happy about the UFC CEO snubbing UFC 305.

Dana White refs IShowSpeed tapping out Adin Ross as fans question CEO’s absence

The Fanatics Fest saw White referee an impromptu grappling contest between IShowSpeed and Adin Ross. Battling inside the octagon set up in Javits Center, Speed brought Ross down with a rear-naked choke before making him submit, with Dana White looking over. While White was having a blast, David Shaw was handling a pretty tricky issue back in Perth. However, some fans were having a hard time remembering him.

“Who is he tho?” a fan asked about Shaw. This question kept popping up in a post on Reddit, with another fan wondering, “Is this the guy who is going to replace Dana white?”  Despite not being a popular face, Shaw has been with UFC since 2010. He has worked in various roles for the MMA promotion having started off as its Senior Director of Business and Sports Development for Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

He then moved to the rank of VP of commercial pay-per-view development in 2013. Shaw also held the post of UFC’s VP of contention 2016, before moving into his current role. This isn’t the first time he has replaced White at a UFC post-fight press conference.

Last year, on February 12, he showed up to talk to the media after UFC 284 while Dana White was away. Also, this isn’t the first time White has been absent from a UFC event. Earlier this year, he skipped the UFC Vegas 85, to attend a DAZN Boxing event, featuring Conor Ben and Peter Dobson in the main event.

Meanwhile, a fan pointed out where White is currently at. “Dude is at fanatics fanfest,” they wrote. Later, many clips of White having fun with IShowSpeed and Adin Ross. “Been hanging out with Adin Ross and IShowSpeed as a 55-year-old man,” was the reaction of one fan, and we can assume they aren’t happy about it.

In addition to that, fans also mentioned that Dana White had not been seen in Australia during this entire fight week, and for some reason, a fan hilariously mentioned that he might be with Jon Jones, who’s his favorite fighter. “Dana’s been missing all week. He wasn’t at the weigh ins or the press conference. Someone check Jones’ house,” that fan stated.

What do you think could be the reason for Dana White’s UFC 305 absence? Let us know in the comments section.