Access media should have done better at UFC 286 post-fight press conference

or UFC media corps must ask itself if it serves the UFC or journalism because it’s increasingly unclear

One of the first things a reporter of any kind learns is the concept of the 5 Ws. Those Ws are “who, what, when, where, and why.” That last W, why, was the one the members of the UFC transcription service failed to dig into when UFC president Dana White informed them that Colby Covington would get the next shot at UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards.

White attempted to justify his post-UFC 286 remarks by telling the UFC access media that Covington “deserved” the next title shot because he did the job he was (hopefully) paid for by flying to London and making weight as a backup fighter for the card’s main event between Edwards and former champ Kamaru Usman. However, anyone familiar with the other members of the UFC roster who served the same role in 2023 should have raised an eyebrow at White’s remarks and then raised their hand and asked, “why does Covington deserve a title shot when the UFC did not afford other fighters the same opportunity?”

That’s not ancient history. It’s the recent past. Since the start of 2023, Alexandre Pantoja and Sergei Pavlovich made weight as UFC pay-per-view card title fight backups. Pantoja, who is the No. 2 fighter in the official flyweight rankings, did so at UFC 283, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in January. He was the backup for the 125-pound title fight between champ Brandon Moreno and challenger Deiveson Figueiredo. Meanwhile, Pavlovich, who is the No. 3 heavyweight in the official UFC heavyweight rankings, served as the backup for the March 5 UFC 285 title fight for the vacant heavyweight crown. Jon Jones won that title in Las Vegas by submitting Ciryl Gane.

That question went unasked. To which I would inquire, “why?”

This isn’t hard-hitting investigative journalism I’m talking about. On the contrary, this is probably the first thing an aspiring reporter learns — you can build a solid story around who, what, where, when, and why. 

But is that what the UFC access media is there to do? Are they there to do journalism of even the most basic kind? Or are they there to do what the UFC expects: to record what White and the other UFC executives tell them and offer no resistance to that narrative, no matter how outlandish it may be?

And speaking of why. Why did Justin Gaethje and Kamaru Usman walk on and off the dais following UFC 286 without being asked about their visit to Chechnya?