UFC president Dana White has stunned sports fans by describing Australia as a small country – when it's close to the same size as the continental USA.

White made the strange comments in the aftermath of the UFC 329 event, where Conor McGregor's highly touted comeback fight ended in a controversial first-round loss to Max Holloway. 

The 56-year-old was asked about Hawaii's contribution to the UFC when he praised Australia for being a haven for successful fighting talent, despite its size. 

'When we first went over to Australia, you think about how small it is, and nobody over there could do mixed martial arts,' White said.

'Now it's like a hotbed of top 10 world champions and hall of fame fighters.'

White also appeared to compare the geographical size of Australia to that of Hawaii in a comment that shocked fans.

'(It's the) same when you think about how small Hawaii is, and how many incredibly talented people have come out of Hawaii,' White said. 

Hawaii has a total land area of approximately 6423 square miles, or 16,635 square kilometres, and a population of just under 1.5 million citizens.

In contrast, the total area of Australia is almost three million square miles, or 7.68 million square kilometres, with a population of approximately 27.8 million.

Fans took to social media to express their disbelief at White's take.

'It's 465 times larger than Hawaii,' one wrote on X.

'Australia in terms of population is 20 times bigger than Hawaii. It is 270 times bigger in area,' another added.

'Yeah we only have a population 20x that of Hawaii,' read another comment.

White was right about Australia producing a lot of fighting talent. 

UFC world champions across a number of divisions including Robert Whittaker, Alexander Volkanovski and Jack Della Maddalena all hail from Down Under.

On the other side, Hawaii has produced two title holders in B.J. Penn and Max Holloway.