From its dark days in the ’90s to establishing itself as the most valuable combat sports promotion, the UFC has come a long way. In fact, today, the status of the UFC in the sport of MMA is similar to the NBA in basketball and the NFL in football. And nobody can deny President Dana White’s role in this unprecedented rise in the fight business. But all things being considered, the promotion still faces stiff competition from the likes of ONE Championship of Singapore, KSW of Poland, and its fellow American promotions, Bellator and PFL.

In business, it’s a common practice to buy out the competition whenever possible to clear out the competition. And the fight business is no different. In the past, even the UFC has used this strategy to eliminate its rivals. So, if one of these competitors is available for sale, it makes perfect sense for the UFC to jump aboard. At least, that’s what most would assume. But it looks like Dana White has different plans.

Dana White not interested in acquiring Bellator FC

At the press conference of Dana White’s Contender Series, UFC President Dana White stated that he wasn’t interested in the purchase of Bellator FC. This statement came in response to a public question asking White’s opinion on PFL’s acquisition of Bellator. Further, White labeled the deal as a big mistake. In White’s own words: “Why, on God’s green [ __ ] Earth, would anybody buy Bellator? So when we were just talking about business and making the right moves and making the right decisions, there’s been lots of bad ones. Bellator would be one of the [ __ ] biggest.”

For those unaware, lately, rumors of Bellator’s acquisition by PFL have been floating in the MMA community. These rumors got even more heated after the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund invested $100 million in PFL through its new sports investment arm, SRJ Sports Investments. Although nothing is official yet, there are speculations that Bellator’s parent company, Paramount, will also acquire shares in PFL as part of this deal.

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This isn’t the first time an acquisition like this has been made in MMA. In fact, even the UFC itself has bought some of its competitors on previous occasions. Interestingly, one of these purchases, Strikeforce, was also helmed by Bellator’s current president, Scott Coker. Through these acquisitions, White and company didn’t just eliminate their competition but also added some big names to their roster. Considering this, White’s statements come off as a surprise, and it looks like fans are having none of this.

Fans react to Dana White labeling Bellator as a mistake

As soon as Dana White’s statement was out to the public, fans started to come out with their reactions. Unlike most of the time, the MMA community didn’t seem divided, with fans calling out Dana White over this statement. Some of the selected reactions are as follows:

Some users reminded Dana White of a similar statement he made years ago. Is he up to something?

C’mon Dana, you said the same thing about Strikeforce.

He said that right before buying Strikeforce.

And to one’s surprise, White’s new PowerSlap venture was a target.

Bellator over PowerSlap any day till the end of time.

Who on God’s green earth buys ‘slap fighting’ …whatever the f it’s called. But Dana bought that slap garbage.

Says the guy who runs a slap league.

Finally, there were also users who seemed to echo Dana White’s thoughts.

Yeah, I only watch to see old washed-up UFC fighters, tbh….

Cuz they have sick a*s fighters lol

Considering the UFC’s history of purchasing competition, White’s statement was doomed to garner criticism. And as expected, fans left no stone unturned to criticize the American. Nevertheless, what do you think about this? Should the UFC purchase Bellator? Let us know in the comments.

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