It took UFC President Dana White less than a decade to take a dying mixed martial arts promotion and turn it into such an uber-successful organization that an entire industry has risen up around them.
And it is one reason White has been voted alongside such names as Steve Jobs and Barack Obama by readers of AskMen as one of the Top 49 Most Influential Men for the last three years in a row.
Since its inception, people have always naturally wanted to compare mixed martial arts to boxing. White himself comes from a boxing background and is a huge fan of the “sweet science”, but all one has to do is look at the recent Bernard Hopkins-Chad Dawson and the Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz debacles to realize the sport has some serious problems.
What if boxing had its own version of “Dana White” to come in and help turn the struggling sport around? Here is how White told AskMen he would fix the boxing industry:
“They need the same exact model that the UFC built. Basically we’re a league, and we say who fights who. The current boxing model would be like the NFL’s Patriots not wanting to play the Colts because they don’t like them or because the money isn’t right and 50 other excuses. Imagine if that were to happen in the NFL or Major League Baseball? That’s how boxing needs to be fixed. It needs to be the same model as the UFC — the money is spread out and more people would make money.”
Dana’s a bit of a tool. He keeps talking about how the money in boxing isn’t evenly spread out. That’s a load of bollix. Boxers get paid way more across the board. I was a 6-1 pro boxer and I was already getting paid a grand per fight. That’s on par with some of the lower guys in the UFC. Under card boxers get paid more than some of the UFC’s top draws.
“the money is spread out and more people would make money.”
Yes, more as in whoever the lucky promoter is would make a killing. Dana likes to compare the UFC to MLB and the NFL, but he damn sure doesn’t want a UFC fighter’s union (which would be the equivalent of MLBPA and NFLPA).
[…] UFC President Dana White explains how he would fix the boxing industryPro MMA NowWhite himself comes from a boxing background and is a huge fan of the “sweet science”, but all one has to do is look at the recent Bernard Hopkins-Chad Dawson and the Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz debacles to realize the sport has some serious problems … […]
[…] UFC President Dana White explains how he would fix the boxing industryPro MMA NowIt took UFC President Dana White less than a decade to take a dying mixed martial arts promotion and turn it into such an uber-successful organization that an entire industry has risen up around them. And it is one reason White has been voted alongside … […]
@Sinnerman…it isn’t spread out in boxing…who else is making Pacman and Mayweather money in boxing? Also…there’s nobody with 7 fights in the UFC making a thousand dollars…it’s actually quite a bit more nowadays…
Dana has said many times if the fighters wanted they could have a union, its up to them. Also almost every fighter gets a bonus that isnt released to the public. The fighers in the UFC make more then what we read online
Kelvin- It’s quite spread out in boxing actually. Just because Manny and Mayweather make more than everyone else doesn’t mean there aren’t guys out there making a hell of a lot money: Both Klitschko’s, David Haye, Victor Ortiz, Saul Alverez, Amir Khan, Jean Pascal, Mikkel Kessler, Lucian Bute, Andre Ward, Carl Froch, Andre Berto, Juan Manuel Marquez, Miguel Cotto, and Kelly Pavlik (until his brief retirement) all make close to 7 figures (if not more) per fight. And a lot of that is off of HBO revenue, not PPV buys. Take the top guys in the UFC and compare them to the top draws in boxing (outside of PBF and Manny), and you would still see the boxers making more.
Chris- That’s very true, it is on the fighters to make that stand. Dana saying one thing to media members, and Zuffa’s policies behind closed doors is a completely different animal though.
Fighters do make “back room bonuses” (that’s actually pretty common knowledge online), however that still doesn’t mean they are making anywhere close to a fair percentage of the profits from events and merchandising.
@Edub Dude when has Dana compared the UFC to the NFL or MLB…lol??? MLB or NFL is not part of the fight game…haha. He hasnt even compared WWE or boxing to MMA/UFC…lol. WTF..I hate it when people hate on Dana, especially whens hes done so much for the UFC & MMA in general. U cant say the same for boxing & the boxing promoters. Personally I think the top level boxers&professional athletes in general get paid too much.The UFC is keeping it real,but I think MMA fighters should get paid the most cause they are the most well conditioned athletes in sports&train/work the hardest.They also get alot of damage fighting in the octagon. But they shouldnt make that much money like the top boxers like Manny or Mayweather.
I’m sorry but if your post was supposed to be some “gotcha”, then you need to do a lot (like a shit load) more research:
“Edub Dude when has Dana compared the UFC to the NFL or MLB…lol???”
-I would say easily over 50 times in the media just in the past year. The fact that’s your starter doesn’t bode well for the rest of your rant.
-He’s compared the UFC to boxing in one way or another possible over 1000 times since 2005. He strayed away from comparing the UFC to WWE until about 2007-2008 when their relationship got better. He now has nothing but glowing things to say about Vince McMahon and what he has done in the business.
-It’s fine that you think boxers get paid too much, that’s your opinion. However, from an athletes perspective, they are on a hell of a lot better business model than MMA is right now. (If a fighter’s union is put in place where there is equal profit sharing between promoter and fighter it would be a different story)
-The UFC is keeping it real, however they are also keeping a shitload of the profits (which has something to do with why they are a billion dollar company now). There’s nothing wrong with that from my perspective. I love watching the fights. However there is going to come a point when somebody like Jon Jones comes away from a fight thinking “why did I just get paid a million dollars, when the event did 500,000 ppv buys?”.
Dana’s being modest-he knows he’s sitting on a goldmine with the potential to grow MMA many fold.Mainstream t.v,possible Olympic status,New York,massive support in Brazil,Canada,Japan,U.K,Australia,Ireland,Arabian partnership,many more markets to capture,etc.
The brand carries itself.
There is endless streams of talent coming through via school,college and top level wrestling,kickboxing and even boxing as well as other martial arts.
Boxing has died as an amateur sport worldwide with most schools having dropped it from sports agendas.
The redemption for Boxing has to start with the fighters and new talent.The great Klitschkos need someone to defeat either of them convincingly (especially Vitali) to convince everyone that boxing,in its most prestigious division,is not about being the tallest guy with the big reach,strong jab and big right hand.A young Tyson or Riddick Bowe type might fit the bill for starters.
Danas results speak for themselves.
MMA really can provide good entertainment..all mixed martial artists are really good..