UFC’s Dana White Mocks PFL’s Acquisition Of Bellator
Dana White has mocked the PFL’s recent decision to buy Bellator, dismissing any chances that it poses a severe threat to the UFC.
After months of speculation over the future of Bellator, Donn Davis (PFL chairman) announced the merger. The aim was to ensure that the biggest fights were made with champions from both rosters having the chance to compete with each other.
And given that the PFL had also received over $100 million in investment from the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund from SRJ Sports Investments, the PFL was on track to provide a credible alternative to the UFC. And yet, White dismissed the chances of the merger posing any problems for them.
White On The PFL
“It’s f***ing hilarious, but good for them. I wish them all the luck in the world. I’ve covered this before; you must’ve not heard it. One sh*tty organization that sells no tickets and nobody watches buys another sh*tty organization that sells no tickets and nobody watches. It sounds like a f*cking winner to me, boy. Right? Woo! Go, guys,” White said
The comments were in response to Davis’ claims that the PFL would be a major rival to the UFC. Their recent signings had shown that they were serious about expanding into the MMA sphere. Francis Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion, left White to crossover to sign a deal with the PFL, which allowed him to box Tyson Fury.
In addition, Jake Paul, Amanda Serrano, and Claressa Shields were also big names from the combat sports world who did a similar thing. And to top things off, Davis indicated that he was willing to offer Nate Diaz $15 million in order to fight Jake Paul under MMA rules. Those moves would suggest that the PFL does have some serious pulling power when it comes to signings. In response, Davis had this to say.
PFL On White
“He didn’t comment on the PFL for four years because he wasn’t worried. He’s commented on the PFL a lot the last six months. You’re worried. What specifically worried him about Bellator is the metrics we put on the press release. Thirty percent of that roster ranked in the top 25 per Fight Matrix rankings. This is not Dana gets to rank his own guys, Donn’s ranking his own guys. There’s only one group that ranks all fighters, Fight Matrix, independently. Thirty percent of the UFC roster is top 25-ranked and now our combined company of PFL and Bellator, thirty percent. The same,” Davis stated
Nevertheless, White has shown that he is not willing to work with the PFL under any circumstances. The CEO of the UFC shut down any chances of doing a co-promotion with the PFL in order to make a fight between Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones. In addition, White was clear that the PFL was not capable of producing live gates of a high nature to justify that. And that ultimately showed the difference between the two organizations.
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