There have been some fighters who have crossed over to other MMA promotions for fights even though it doesn’t happen often enough. But UFC president Dana White is not a fan of cross-promotion. He mentioned it while making an appearance on UFC rising star Paddy Pimblett’s podcast.
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White totally shut down the idea of fighters crossing over from one promotion to another. He believes that UFC is the top-tier MMA organization and the best fighters already fighting in the promotion. The 53-year-old promoter said, “If somebody’s really that good, and they’re in another promotion, they’re going to be here, anyway.”
The UFC boss was not interested in cross-promotional stuff because he had envisioned growing the UFC as his main goal. This organization has stood the test of time and grown exponentially. While other promotions came and went. But as of recent times, Bellator has been able to grow over the years and has a stacked roster of fighters. They recently put up their first-ever cross-promotional event with Rizin FF on 31st December 2022, in Japan. It received a positive response from the fans.
Is there another reason behind Dana White not being interested in crossover events?
Former UFC official John McCarthy has shared his opinion on the UFC President’s disinterest in crossover events. He touched on this topic with former UFC fighter Josh Thomson in the ‘Weighing In‘ podcast. He reiterated Dana White’s previous attempt at a crossover event with Pride when they double-crossed White and didn’t send their fighter over to the UFC.
McCarthy said, “He [Dana White] tried. He did it, you know, with Pride [organization]. Back, you know, with Chuck Liddell and Ricco Rodriguez and stuff like that…and he didn’t get anything in return, you know. They said, ‘Oh, we’re going to send Sakuraba [Kazushi Sakuraba], but they [Pride] never did, so he [Dana White] said, ‘I got burned. I will not allow someone to burn me again.'”
McCarthy doesn’t believe that despite the Rizin and Bellator collaboration, Dana White is going to start preparing for such kind of events. He is of the belief that UFC has nothing to gain from such events, but it will help the other promotions gain exposure from UFC’s audience. McCarthy also believes that UFC may not have the best fighters, but it is the biggest promotion in MMA.
Scott Coker, the CEO of Bellator MMA, had stated earlier about his openness to the idea of promoting a crossover event with the UFC. But he has also claimed that the way UFC does its business, it cannot support the concept of a cross-promotional event. What are your thoughts? Drop your comments below.
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Vineet Nandwana