UFC 329’s broadcast sparked criticism on Saturday night after undefeated boxer and new Zuffa Boxing signee Shakur Stevenson was incorrectly identified on air as Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams.
Stevenson was shown in the crowd during the July 11 event, but the on-screen graphic labeled him as the NBA player, continuing a pattern of celebrity identification errors on UFC shows.
At the post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White unloaded on the production mishap. “So, I tell you all the time, my production team is amazing,” White said, before outlining his frustration: “I just paid Shakur Stevenson a s—t load of money, and for some reason, we can’t figure this celebrity s—t out. They put him up as a f—king OKC NBA player. Are you f—king kidding me?”
White did not hold back on the broader issue either. “We are the absolute worst to ever do the celebrity thing. When we put celebrities up, we are the worst,” he said. “Oh no. We put up f—king graphics and put the wrong guy’s name on them. We win. We’re the worst ever to f—king do it.”
The misstep comes after a previous incident at UFC 306, where Terence Crawford was misidentified on the broadcast as Kendrick Lamar. The article notes that while UFC production quality is considered high overall, correctly identifying celebrity guests has been a recurring problem.
