Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum believes UFC President Dana White is venturing into the world of boxing in order to save his company.
And by moving forward with the idea of staging boxing events, Arum feels White is openly admitting that boxing is more popular than mixed martial arts.
Last August, White's biggest company superstar, Conor McGregor, made his professional boxing debut against the comebacking five division champion Floyd Mayweather, who won the contest with a tenth round TKO at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The UFC co-promoted the August pay-per-view event with Mayweather Promotions.
Both McGregor and Mayweather made a fortune from the fight, with 4 million pay-per-view buys - revenue numbers that created a frenzy as several top boxing names have called out McGregor.
During the course of this year, White and the UFC brass are going to enter the world of boxing with their "Zuffa Boxing" brand - which is going to be run under the same ownership umbrella as UFC.
According to Arum, the UFC's decline is the sole reason for White's interest in boxing.
"By coming in the business, he is really admitting that boxing is the more popular sport,” Arum told TMZ. “And in order to keep his company alive, he has to go into the boxing business."
Last month, White issued a warning to Arum. He expects to make big waves in the boxing industry, and feels that eventually he will be the one on top looking down at Arum.
“You’ll see, Bob,” White said. “We’ll see at the end. Bob’s the same guy who said the UFC would never work, and the UFC was loosing ‘oodles’ of money, whatever the f*** ‘oodles of money’ means. Look at what we’ve done and look at where we are. I mean, come on. At the end of the day, we’ll see who stands where when the smoke clears and the dust settles.
“I’ll give it to him, though. For a f***ing 95-year-old dude, this guy’s pretty feisty, man. I’ll give it to him. I’ll give him that.”
White doesn't need boxing. The success of the UFC is proof of that. But, after seeing what kind of money Floyd/Conor generated, he wants in on more cash.
Dana White is no Dummy... You take your Super Star Conor McGregor into Boxing and ratchet that up to attract other boxers...
You can do both Boxing and MMA.... I just don't want to see mixed cards.... Boxing has more potential for massive fights.
A lot of boxer's contracts have "restraint of trade" type provisions in them that courts would find illegal... There's nothing wrong with White offering Vasyl Lomachenko and Mikey Garcia fabulous money to fight each other and advertising his offer in the media so that it's tough to turn down... Something like 12 million each because he would still make a fortune.
There nothing wrong with White scoping out a major stadium for the summer that holds over 100,000 and offering Joshua and Wilder 25 million each to fight... I'm also certain fans would love to see Errol Spence vs Terence Crawford.
White should talk it up in the media about fights he'd like to make and fights fans would love to see, because nobody makes them... If fans see a maverick who's actually making the fights they want to see they'll go apeshitt... He'll be the new Tex Rickard or Mike Jacobs because Boxing has mostly been in the hands of crooks since the 1940's.
But if Dana White is just another crook it wouldn't be cool.... You make other people rich when you when you die so I don't know what all the underhanded bullcrap is all about.... Why not enjoy life instead of enjoying screwing people?? .... Jim Norris screwed a million people and died with 3 Billion dollars in the equivalent of today's money... He's was in his 50's and in poor health the last few years of his life... and so many boxing people couldn't be happier when he died.
WTF difference does it make if you have 200 million or 5 billion when you die??? .... It stays here....You go elsewhere.
WTF difference does it make if you have 200 million or 5 billion when you die??? .... It stays here....You go elsewhere.
No truer words were spoken.
You know I don't agree with you most of the time but I do like you... others might want to fight and argue with you but no matter how much I disagree with some of your opinions. I respect that you stick to your guns.
The UFC doesn't need boxing. What this move is though is dollar signs and a new challenge for Dana.
The UFC tried to reach too high (become the biggest sport in the world) but it did lead them to that $4B sale, which is, at least for a long time, will be the biggest (if not over-valued) that it will be.
The UFC will be able to continue to compete with boxing, but (with the exception of Floyd-Connor) it will not be able to generate the kind of spectacle that a DLH, Pacman, Tyson, Floyd fight can/did.
If it's happy with it's place in the sporting world, it will thrive. Can it overtake the truly elite boxing events? I don't think so. I think it's reached it's peak.
MMA will grow in fits and starts but will take a long time to get going .... Boxing has been around for 100's of years and is more attractive to athletes worldwide.... It's an Olympic sport and the amateur competition is massive on a global scale.
The commitment to learn: Wrestling... Jiu Jitsu... Muay Thai... Boxing... Hundreds of submission holds and Ground and Pound technique is too much for most guys... A boxer can hold down a day job and spend 2 hours a day in a Boxing Gym... An MMA fighter has to spend a lot more time and have many more coaches... That's tough.
He's a Jack of all combat sports and a Master of none.
Everything Arum says should be seen as an opportunity to increase his own credibility/cashflow. Not saying there arent a few grains of truth mixed in, but I welcome White's entry into boxing as a positive. He can add a lot to the game and the two sports are NOT mutually exclusive as some claim.
