Dana White has provided more context to the reaction he gave to Farid Basharat being cut.

After going 7-0 in the UFC, Basharat has received a lot of backing following the news that the promotion chose to not offer him a new contract.

Fans were left speculating on why this had happened due to White suggesting there was a reason Basharat wasn’t re-signed without stating what it is.

The UFC president explained during fight week in Abu Dhabi why he didn’t intend to create this narrative around the bantamweight fighter in particular.

How can the UFC justify releasing 16-0 bantamweight Farid Basharat?

Dana White says he wasn’t specifically addressing Farid Basharat in recent comments

Farid Basharat has been critical of the UFC since finding out when everyone else did that he wasn’t going to get a new contract.

Since this news, he has spoken about how he never turned down fights and therefore doesn’t understand Dana White saying, “there’s definitely a reason” why he wasn’t re-signed.

“Let me be clear: Farid Basharat did not turn down a fight,” Ali Abdelaziz, his manager, recently wrote on X. “In 2024, he fought an opponent who was 10 pounds overweight. He’s always been a company guy and accepted every opponent offered to him. The company decided not to re-sign him, for whatever reason.”

During the UFC 333 press conference in Abu Dhabi, White said that he had seen some of the things that have been said over the past week.

He went on to add context to his original comments on Basharat’s departure, stating that the meaning behind his words was mistaken.

“What I would like to clarify — I saw the kid on Instagram last week” White said. “When I was talking about why some guys get released, or their contracts don’t get renewed, I was just saying in general. I wasn’t pointing him out, specifically.”

He brought this up after being asked whether Movsar Evloev is at risk of being cut due to not producing a finish in ten consecutive UFC wins.

Farid Basharat and his brother seemingly lost their UFC spots due to their styles

While Dana White didn’t clarify this, it seems likely that a lack of finishes is why Farid Basharat wasn’t re-signed.

All but one of his seven UFC wins were by decision and Basharat himself recently told Demetrious Johnson on his podcast that the promotion told him last year that they aren’t fans of his style.

Farid’s brother, Javid Basharat, wasn’t re-signed earlier this year for similar reasons.

He went 4-2-1 in the Octagon, with his losses coming to Aiemann Zahabi and Ricky Simon, but only produced wins via the scorecards.