For two decades, Dana White’s UFC has been the top MMA promotion, with no competition able to challenge it. The UFC president helped transform it into a stage that other MMA leagues do not even consider direct competition. In many ways, White built a monopoly in the market. Still, a former company executive believes Jake Paul and Eddie Hearn could challenge that dominance.

Nakisa Bidarian, the former UFC CFO and the co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions with Jake Paul, is all set to take their first leap into MMA. On May 16, they are going to conduct a Netflix event featuring Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano. Because of that crucial step, Bidarian believes Dana White and Co. could be challenged by their new league.

Former UFC executive Nakisa Bidarian contests Dana White’s UFC monopoly

“I’ll say it to you guys, it all depends on how this event really does,” Bidarian told the media at Rousey vs Carano pre-fight presser. “If this event does well and if we see there’s a very good demand for this and him and I sit down and see there’s a real opportunity to do this successfully, in a strategic way that is not losing a tons of money well, definitely go after it.

And I think the UFC would love that, cause they are getting sued left, right, and center for being a monopoly, right? So, they are probably like, yeah, ‘Let these idiots do it’… everything that they say they don’t do, they do,” he added.

When it comes to the UFC’s monopoly, the promotion has faced several lawsuits over the years. They managed to settle one for $375 million. However, two others emerged, both challenging the promotion’s market tactics and issues regarding fighter pay, post 2014. So, as more diverse endeavors such as MVP’s upcoming MMA events enter the market, fighters may finally have another place to go other than the UFC.

Recently, Dana White turned heads by claiming that fighter pay has gone up since they acquired the promotion in 2001. The statement, in its literal meaning, could be true. However, Bidarian pointed out some contradictions in White’s claims as he referenced TKO COO Mark Shapiro’s comments about the company’s 40% profit margins and the share going to fighters that he made during the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference.

“I think, look, Mark Shapiro was on an earnings call, and he said, ‘Oh, fighter pay is very important to us, but so are our margins.’ Right? Exact words: ‘We’re gonna protect these margins.’ So, you can sit up there and say, ‘Oh, don’t worry, the fighter pay is doing fine. It’s gonna continue to grow up.’ But if the margin is 40%, which is unheard of in any industry, let alone sport, it’s just not a fair equation, right?

I think the fighters, more and more, will start to see that. And I think Eddie Hearn coming in as an agitator is funny in many ways, but also powerful, because there has never been a sophisticated manager at his level running a billion-dollar promotional business that understands the inside and outside of the fighters’ contracts the way he does.”

After Eddie Hearn’s entry, who has been vocal about the UFC fighter pay situation, especially regarding his client Tom Aspinall, the issue gained even more attention. Although the veteran boxing promoter has only just entered the game, time will tell how he plans to challenge the UFC under Dana White’s leadership, which has built a multi-billion-dollar generating machine.

Now, as the UFC has been receiving some pushback, Ronda Rousey has also spoken out, openly criticizing the promotion for not treating its fighters right.

Ronda Rousey calls out White’s promotion over the fighters’ pay issue

When it comes to fighters making it big in the UFC, Ronda Rousey has been a stark example. The former bantamweight queen generated both fame and fortune while fighting in Dana White’s promotion. But as the promotion has significantly transformed during her nine years away, Rousey now feels that the place where she built her career no longer does justice to the current fighters. And while stating her case, ‘Rowdy’ also had Valentina Shevchenko in her crossfire.

“It used to be that the UFC was the best place that you could come in combat sports to make a living and be paid fairly,” Rousey said during the pre-fight presser. “Now, it’s one of the worst places to go. It’s why so many of their top athletes are going to find pay elsewhere. It’s why their champions, like Valentina [Shevchenko], are selling pictures of their t–ies on OnlyFans.

“These people, a lot of them at the ground level, they can’t even support their families and are living at poverty-level fighting full-time. This company just got $7.7 billion! There is no reason why they can’t afford to pay their athletes at least a living wage,” she added.

It seems Ronda Rousey, Jake Paul, and Eddie Hearn have all been moving toward the same goal, which is providing competition to the UFC. That being said, can they actually bring change to the game? Let us know in the comments section below.