Dana White spared no prisoners when talking to reporters about boxing‘s prominent figures shortly after Zuffa Boxing 03 finished Feb. 15 at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas.
Though TKO Group’s boxing organization, Zuffa, has been influenced by Nick Khan, with fighters from Tom Loeffler’s 360 Promotions, and with matchmaking nous from Rian Scalia and Charles Bosecker, White remains the face of the company and handles the media after each event.
Shortly after a Knockout of the Year contender, and Efe Ajagba’s return to winning ways by finishing Charles Martin in the fourth round, White talked about his presence in boxing and the ways in which he believes various people have contributed to the sport’s downfall, which, he hinted, has allowed him to operate at a higher level than them.
“This is like beating up babies,” the UFC boss said. “I feel l came in and I’m beating up babies.”
“I expected more. I expected push-back. I expected them to be more game … they’re all way out of their league.”
White name-checked three industry figures in particular, all of whom have talked about Zuffa’s business in recent weeks and months, including the WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman, Golden Boy Promotions founder Oscar de la Hoya, and Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn.
“I haven’t said anything about Eddie Hearn. Me and de la Hoya are what we are. The WBC don’t stop talking. We know de la Hoya is mentally ill, talking all this s***, his place is in foreclosure, he’s suing his fighters to try and stay with them … has he done a Clapback Thursday recently? I’d love to see it.”
He continued: “We’re in our third event here and in 18 territories around the world, Paramount in the United States. It’s going to keep getting bigger, more and more. UFC BJJ is in 9 territories. This is what we do. These guys are all feeling it.”
On the WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman, White said, “he’s the greatest PR guy for how f***** up boxing is of all time — it’s incredible.”
And, in a zinger he reserved for Hearn, White said: “Eddie works for his dad. He’s never come in with any kind of vision.”
He said: “Hearn and his dad have a lot of money. It’s not like they can’t compete. They can’t compete because they don’t know how to compete. There’s no vision there. I don’t know how else to explain it, other than that. I’m sitting here my third fight in, I’m right or wrong. At the end of this year judge us by what we’ve done.”