Farid Basharat Says Dana White's Exit Comments 'Did Damage' to Him

Farid Basharat left the UFC with a flawless 7-0 promotional run, a 16-0 overall record and a No. 14 bantamweight ranking — and no new contract. That part he's made peace with. What stings is how the door closed behind him.

The problem started when Dana White addressed the exit publicly, suggesting that a fighter who goes 16-0 with seven UFC wins and doesn't get re-signed must have a reason behind it. White floated the usual suspects: guys who are difficult to deal with, who turn down fights, who make matchmakers' lives harder. Basharat says none of that applies to him, and he's frustrated that the vague framing landed as fact in the court of public opinion.

Basharat told MMA Fighting that White's reach is the real issue. When White says something, people treat it as gospel, and suddenly fans are repeating that Basharat ducked opponents or was a headache for staff. He called both suggestions ridiculous and denied either ever happened.

He's Not Blaming Dana

Interestingly, Basharat isn't aiming his frustration at White personally. His read is that White isn't involved in day-to-day contract talks anymore and was speaking in broad strokes about a situation he doesn't actually know the details of. Basharat pointed back to his Contender Series run, where White praised him before signing him — and noted he's only sharpened his game and climbed to tougher matchups since. In his telling, whatever decision was made came from the people below the top of the org chart.

On paper, the release is hard to parse. Basharat's 16-0 record leans heavily on his grappling, with six submissions and just one knockout, and his most recent win was a decision over John Garza. Undefeated, ranked, and still improving usually reads as a keeper, not a cut.

As for what's next, Basharat says his manager has him in conversations with every major organization, though nothing is close to signed. He's in no hurry anyway — he's recovering from recent surgery and happy to take his time.

The UFC door isn't fully shut, either. Basharat admitted the promotion has always been the dream and that it'd be hard to say no, but he's wary of what kind of reception he'd get after everything that's played out. He says he wasn't in the organization's good books before this, and he can't imagine he's climbed the list since. His bottom line: he'll keep the option open, but he doesn't need the UFC to build a career worth watching.