As mentioned Wednesday on FIGHT SPORTS, Dana White in an interview with The Wall Street Journal claimed that he is interested in expanding the sport of boxing under the UFC’s promotional umbrella. White also spoke on his belief that boxing is killing itself by not caring about the future and “trying to get every dime they can out of you” at every event. They’re accusations that some in the boxing community don’t take kindly to.
Top Rank CEO and founder Bob Arum, who has had a very public feud with the UFC head over the years, recently spoke with NYFights. In the course of that interview, Arum’s response to those claims by saying the UFC don’t actually invest in their sport because they are lining their own pockets and not paying fighters adequately.
“You have to understand, UFC is a monopoly. The money they earn on a fight because they pay their athletes 20 percent of the gross, we pay around 80 percent, what they say they’re investing back in the business, they’re investing in themselves. They put money in their pockets! That’s not investing in anything. In boxing, there are a large number of promoters, and when a promoter has a successful event and there’s a profit he earns, he puts it back in the company. What the f**k is White talking about? White is speaking from desperation now, he’s the spokesperson for what could be a failing business!”
While there may be some merit to Arum’s claims with the last two pay-per-view events for the UFC barely drawing over 100,000 buys and utilizing more “super fights” such as Georges St-Pierre out of retirement to fight Michael Bisping. Arum thinks White and the UFC are starting to get desperate for revenue sources.
“My thoughts are that UFC is desperate. Their numbers are way off, they have no marquee star. Look at their PPV numbers. They barely break 100,000 homes on their shows. They’re having trouble getting renewal on their contract with FOX. They have to do something. One of things they may try and fall back on and try and acquire a boxing presence. About a year ago, I was approached by someone repping UFC, they wanted to buy Top Rank.”