Dana White compares the DWCS lightweight war to Miocic vs. Ngannou

Week four of this year's episode of Dana White's Contender Series brought some big surprises and one of the show's most memorable knockouts.

While it was Yuneisy Duben who made headlines with her one-punch knockout of Shannon Clark, the opening of the evening set the tone.

The first fight between Quillan Salkilld and Gauge Young was a high-class and extremely competitive three-round lightweight affair.

Although Salkilld took the win and his spot on the UFC roster, the UFC boss entered the Octagon after the fight to praise both men – something he rarely does.

Dana White says the blows between Salkilld and Young are comparable to Ngannou vs. Miocic 2

In his post-fight press conference, Dana White talked about how impressed he was with the fight from both men's perspective.

The opening bout of the card has delivered great fights and moments throughout Season 8 of the show, and this one was no different.

To emphasize how powerful and durable both men were, White described the impact of some of the punches they landed and took over the course of the 15 minutes.

He compared the sound of those punches to the fight between Francis Ngannou and Stipe Miocic in a rematch for the heavyweight title at UFC 260, which took place in a nearly empty UFC Apex due to restrictions on holding live events at the time.

“Both guys were 24 years old and you know, my thing was, no matter how the judges score this fight, no matter how it turns out, you both have a bright future in this sport. Both of them are tough, tough guys, versatile, no matter how the fight turns out. Head kicks, taking nasty head kicks, the body shots that both of them took, the punches. I mean, when they connected with some of those right hooks, it sounded like heavyweights. It reminded me of the night when Francis and Stipe fought here. When Francis and Stipe were hitting each other that night and you just thought, damn! Those two were throwing such punches at each other, it was a great fight.”

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