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Dana White: People who buy Floyd Mayweather’s 9/19 PPV are stupid

By Zach Arnold | September 18, 2009

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Some quotes from a recent interview Steve Cofield did with Dana White (video here):

UFC vs. boxing on PPV and buyrates: “Here’s the reality, here’s the reality. Let’s say Floyd does a million buys out there… there’s a million stupid fucking people out there. All right? That has nothing to say, that doesn’t mean, oh God, boxing’s better and bigger than the UFC, that’s not true. The reality is, the UFC is bigger than boxing and the WWE combined. The funny thing about the Floyd Mayweather thing is he runs around and he says, you know, money money is all he’s talking about, you know, they’re paying me [unintelligible], you’re fucking paying him that! You the fans are paying him that money! You talk about how much you fucking hate him and you don’t like the way he fights and you don’t want to see him run around in circles and you’re the ones giving him that money.”

On Mayweather’s comments about HBO and Steward as “Uncle Tom”: “Listen, I heard the numbers that Mandalay put out but I was hearing that thing wasn’t selling jack shit, they weren’t selling anything. And you better believe, you better believe if there’s fans in there, they’re all going to be Mexican, you know what I mean, it’s all going to be people supporting him, Marquez, and not Floyd.”

Arum calls MMA fans stupid, is Dana doing the same to boxing fans? “No no, I’m not taking a shot at (boxing) fans. I’m a fan! I’m a fan! I’m not here going, those guys that watch boxing are… yeah, I am a boxing fan, but I’m talking about reality, as a boxing fan the fight that I want to see is Pacquiao and Mayweather. Is there anybody that will fucking disagree with that? That’s the fight people want to see. That’s also a big money fight, but it’s the same bullshit that you got in boxing right now, in that interview with Arum Arum’s saying, man, this fight’s not going to happen because he doesn’t fucking like Floyd, he doesn’t want to deal with Floyd and he doesn’t want to negotiate with Floyd. See, I’m different than that. My opinion is, my fucking job is to make these fights. Dude, there’s plenty of fucking people that I don’t like that we put fights on with. It’s not up to me whether I like ’em or dislike ’em, it’s up to what the fans want to see. You know? I don’t think Fedor’s the best fucking heavyweight, he’s definitely not anywhere in the Top 10 in the fucking pound-for-pound, but if you fucking guys want to see that fight then I want to see that fight and I did everything I could to try to make it happen. You know, you’re not going to hear me fucking say, ‘yeah, we’re not going to go after Fedor, we’re not going to try, probably not going to happen’, I want it to happen, I want to see it, to be honest as a fan I want to see it if he can beat Brock, so…

But yeah my point is as a boxing fan, the way that we when I was putting this whole thing together is I used to so many times I’d be so fucking pumped up for the fights, man, it’s Saturday night, call your buddies, come over to the house, you know you put down your 55, 60 bucks, you go lay your bets, whatever you do, all the exciting shit that you do the week of a fight, you’re reading all the fucking articles, all the stories on stuff that’s happening and then you sit down and watch you the fight, and at the end of the fight you go, MOTHERFUCKER! That sucked! He fucking didn’t fight again! The fight sucked, you thought it was going to be great, and the last one for me was Floyd and Oscar, you know I was so pumped up for tha fight, they talk about all the shit they’re going to do to each other and they avoid fighting so that they can move to the next one and make another fucking 77 million dollars. That’s where the fight business went, you know, and that’s what’s wrong with boxing.”

If you are one of the many ‘stupid’ people who want to watch the Mayweather/Marquez fight and want to watch it at a local movie theater instead, here’s the PR on that sent out by the indefatigable Gillian Grefé:

NCM Fathom, in association with Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions, will bring live world championship boxing to the big screen in high definition for the first time ever with the showing of the highly anticipated 12-round welterweight fight between six-time world champion in five weight divisions Floyd “Money” Mayweather and five-time world champion in three weight divisions Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez and televised undercard on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 8:30 p.m. ET/ 5:30 p.m. PT in select movie theaters nationwide.

Tickets for Mayweather vs. Marquez: “Number One/Numero Uno” Fight LIVE are available at participating theater box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com. For a complete list of theater locations and prices, please visit www.FathomEvents.com (theaters and participants are subject to change).

This is the first boxing match widely shown in movie theaters since Sugar Ray Leonard’s victory over Roberto “Fists of Stone” Duran in the famous “No Mas” fight on Nov. 25, 1980. Providing an up-close and personal, high-definition experience, fans will get a ringside view of every jab and hook from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Seeing the event at your local movie theater is the ultimate virtual experience and the next best thing to being there. To see the event trailer, visit www.FathomEvents.com.

For a complete list of theater locations, prices and to purchase tickets, please visit www.FathomEvents.com. (theaters and participants are subject to change). Tickets are also available at participating theater box offices.

Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 29 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

29 Responses to “Dana White: People who buy Floyd Mayweather’s 9/19 PPV are stupid”

  1. 45 Huddle says:

    I would go to the movie theater to watch the boxing event IF I knew they would have a streamlined telecast without much downtime and a reasonable end time.

    Being on the East Coast…. I don’t want to be sitting in a movie theater seat from 8:30pm to 1am. I don’t care if it only costs $12.50 per ticket….

    Now, if HBO Boxing would run their PPV’s more like the UFC’s…. I would be there in a heartbeat….

  2. liger05 says:

    For someone who doesn’t see PBF as a threat Dana White is real desperate to discredit PBF. The comments on Fedor are absurd.

    I wish White would stop banging the drum about PBF should be fighting Pacman. FFS PBF hasn’t fought in 2 years. It would be stupid for him to fight Pacman 1st.

    There really isn’t a problem with PBF fighting JMM who is a very good fighter and Pacman fighting Cotto. Cotto is a very good fighter and that is a very difficult fight for Pacman.

    Dana White talks like PBF and Pacman are avoiding each other by taking these fights when it isn’t the case. If everything goes to plan you have 2 big fights before year end and then a huge mega fight next year. What the fcuk is the problem with that. I really don’t get where White is coming from here. If the fights were made because PBF and Pacman couldn’t get a deal done I would fully understand but this didn’t happen.

    Oh and Dana White cant seriously take Arum’s comments seriously. If PBF wins then Arum will be the 1st to try and make Pacman v PBF or Cotto v PBF. Both are his fighters and he will do his best to get the deal done regardless of his personal thoughts on PBF. Arum aint stupid and no way can Dana honestly believe Arum will do his best to avoid a Pacman v PBF fight. Get real!!

  3. Ivan Trembow says:

    The fact that I am interested in seeing both the UFC event and the Mayweather-Marquez event is apparently yet another reason that I’m stupid.

    In all seriousness, Dana White’s previous comments about Juan Manuel Marquez (ie, Floyd Mayweather vs. Whats-His-Name) are just as much of a joke as if a boxing promoter referred to Georges St. Pierre or Lyoto Machida as “Whats-His-Name.” GSP, Machida, and Marquez are all universally regarded as being among the best fighters in their sport. Of course, Bob Arum is just as disrespectful.

  4. A. Taveras says:

    White’s head is getting too big from his success. You want to know why boxing is ‘bigger’ than MMA? Grown people don’t look at me like I’m an alien when they hear I follow boxing.

    I haven’t decided which I’m ordering but informal poll of my circle (including hardcore and casuals) is leaning towards Mayweather.

  5. Jeremy (not that Jeremy) says:

    I don’t have an opinion on the quality of this match, since I’ve only heard of one of these fighters.

    However, my experience with live digital hi-def broadcasts in theaters has been extremely good. I highly recommend it, if you can’t be there live.

  6. RunSilent says:

    Just for the record Dana apologized for the Marquez diss.

  7. Mr.Roadblock says:

    Marquez isn’t going to allow Floyd to run in circles tomorrow night. Ironically, I think this will be the fight that defines Floyd. I think Marquez is going to make Floyd fight by feeding him a steady diet of jabs. I think Marquez wins, but Floyd could dig deep and show how good he really is and win it late.

    I hate the back and forth going on between Dana and Bob Arum right now.

    I wish Dana would have said this: “Floyd stole people’s money the last two times he fought. Fans should save their $60 and wait to watch the fight on HBO next week if it is good. If Floyd puts on a show then he deserves money for the fight with Pacquiao or Cotto. But knowing Floyd he’ll probably avoid those two with some phony hand injury. Floyd isn’t fighting Marquez Saturday to show he’s a great boxer. He’s fighting for the IRS. If he cared about boxing or you the fans this fight would be on free HBO. Because in the past two years you fans have paid $120 each to watch him work hard for about 4 minutes against Hatton. Every UFC PPV gives you guaranteed good action. Sometimes our main events don’t turn out as good as I’d like, but we always have a bunch of exciting fights on the show. No one ever gets cheated.”

    I’m with Alan, Ivan and A.Taveras on this one. I think all four of us grew up on boxing. Probably watching it with dad and grandpa. I’ve never met A.Taveras but we’re both New York guys. We’d go to the barber shop and talk fights, we’d talk fights with the kids growing up who loved the fights, we you get into the workplace you meet some guys who like fights. It’s a real fraternity. I walked in a bodega in Sunset Park a couple years ago and they had on the Telefutura Friday night fights. Me and the two guys working there got into one of the fights and sat there drinking Coronas talking boxing in Spanish and English for an hour. That’s boxing fans for you. MMA is getting like that now. Why is one fan base stupid. They’re not. I’ve gotten dozens of boxing fans into MMA over the years. It’s combat sports.

    Yeah Floyd is screwy and boxing has huge flaws. But you know what, nothing gets me more excited than a big time boxing match. That said, I love Vitor so much I’ll be watching UFC tomorrow and will catch the boxing on replay.

  8. Chuck says:

    I’m watching Mayweather Marquez. It is being shown at the Cinemark theater in Moosic, Pa, so maybe I will do that. Oddly enough Fathom is also showing the Eureka 7 anime movie (again, also at Cinemark) next Thursday. Some odd choices to say the least.

    In other news, Cung Le vacated the Strikeforce middleweight title. Jake Shields will fight Jason “Mayhem” Miller on the November 7 card for the vacant title. Good fight to make.

  9. Alan Conceicao says:

    I’m watching Mayweater/Marquez. Its the better card, it has fighters I care more about, etc etc etc. I mean, I think the main event is not particularly competitive but with Floyd having weight problems, man, who knows.

    I will say only one thing in defense of UFC 103: Franklin/Belfort is a fight that does not happen if the UFC doesn’t decide to run 12 PPVs a year. Just doesn’t make sense otherwise. And if it is anything like Franklin’s other 2009 fights, it should be plenty entertaining. However, I won’t be suckered in by “Vitor’s Back!” talk. Been there. Done that. Have a whole closet full of imagined t-shirts to remind me where that always ends up.

  10. Wolverine says:

    LMFAO at Mayweather weight problems.

    He obviously didn’t have any problems, he chosed not to cut additional two pounds in order not to have problems. This fight is a joke.

  11. 45 Huddle says:

    Mayweather lost $600,000 for not making the weight…. $300,000 per pound. It was likely money well lost.

    Dana White speaks the truth now….. Anybody who purchases that PPV is stupid. Too much of a size difference….

  12. liger05 says:

    Like Pacman v Oscar was too much of a difference?

    There was always going to be a size difference at JMM is not a welterweight. Floyd weighing in at 144lbs would still be the naturally bigger man.

  13. Detective Roadblock says:

    The size doesn’t mean anything. Marquez should handle Floyds power no problem. Floyd is a scared little bully. That’s why he fights the way he does. Remember him crying to Roger about how he can’t get bu Oscars jab in the 4th round of that fight? Marquez is going to break him with the jab. If he fights like he did in the Pacquiao fights he will beat Floyd.

  14. Wolverine says:

    liger05

    ODH made contracted weight, which many people believe affected his performance.

  15. Fluyid says:

    I’d watch the Mayweather vs. Marquez fight over UFC 103 if I didn’t have to be at the UFC show for work. 🙁

  16. liger05 says:

    Wolverine you are correct. The point im making is before the fight we all expected Oscar to be the much bigger and stronger fighter but it was still an interesting fight as the interest was in the smaller quicker pacman and what he could possibly achieve. PBF hitting the scales at 146lbs makes no difference to how I saw the fight before the weigh in. I expect PBF to weigh in at a maximum of 150lbs tonight. The extra strength PBF will posess is not the deciding factor in this fight. What matters is if JMM can pop that jab and always keep Mayweather off balance.

  17. Chuck says:

    The fight is a quagmire for both guys. If Mayweather wins then people will claim it’s because he fought a guy who was much smaller than he is. If Marquez wins then people will claim it’s because Mayweather took too much of a long layoff. Should be a good fight though.

  18. urbanraida says:

    Hey, what if Cotto tried this trick with Pacman?

    I think there’s a possibility that Arum may actually drop dead.

  19. 45 Huddle says:

    Wolverine is correct. If Floyd got down those extra few pounds, it could affect his performance, which is the entire point of that weight limit due to the size difference.

    Well, I’m listening to Dana White and not ordering the Boxing PPV!!! In Dana We Trust!!!

    Actually, I’m not ordering either PPV. This will be the 1st UFC I haven’t ordered (minus going to UFC 101) since UFC 50. I won’t be getting back to my place until like 11pm, so I can’t see ordering it late.

    Is it wrong to steal 1 UFC PPV after purchasing like 50 in a row? And after purchasing all the event DVD’s too? Hopefully Dana forgives me!!!

  20. Chuck says:

    Eh, I’m sure it will be shown on November 7th to counter-act the Strikeforce card, so there you go.

  21. Ivan Trembow says:

    If there’s anyone who can beat Mayweather at his own game and out-box him, it’s Marquez.

  22. MK says:

    Marquez will give a valiant effort and give Floyd as much trouble as he has had since the first Castillo fight. That is until the championship rounds when Floyd KOs JMM.

    Mayweather will be to big and strong, and he has never had a problem in engaging smaller fighters. Also, its clear that he has grown to be a legit (in weight) welterweight.

    Marquez’s new offensive style is due in part because he has slowed down a little and in both the Casamayor and Diaz fight he was taking some big shots.

    Mayweather by TKO in the 11th round.

  23. David M says:

    I am much more interested in the boxing than mma tonite. Love him or hate him, Floyd is an amazing talent and a very compelling personality. Marquez is super-tough, fast, game, hard-nosed and an excellent counter-puncher. This should be a great fight.

    I can’t get excited about seeing Vitor fight in a main event–I watched his fight vs Hendo the other day, and Vitor really looked like he didn’t care about winning or losing, that all he cared about was not getting seriously hurt. He doesn’t have the heart of a champion, whereas Marquez and Mayweather do. A 3 round main event is also shit. Dana is a damn fool for saying that only title fights can be 5 rounds. I hope everyone buys the boxing tonite because the UFC doesn’t deserve 45 dollars for a mediocre 3 round main event that will almost certainly end without a finish. There will be more punches landed in 1 round of Floyd-Marquez than in the entire Vitor-Franklin fight.

  24. Alan Conceicao says:

    Good opener for the PPV. I bet on Lock because I’ve seen Cruz before and was never impressed with him (he was getting murdered on Shobox until his Colombian opponent gassed earlier this year) and Lock was a more than 2-1 dog. Drops him twice with some good action throughout before ending it in round 5.

  25. Alan Conceicao says:

    Katsidis/Escobedo lived up to the hope for it. Escobedo survived a serious attack from Katsidis and returned fire, but just looked to be worn down as the fight went on while Katsidis (broken jaw and all) just kept throwing. Odd scorecards, but the right guy won. Katsidis has a lot of really good fights at 135: the returning Rolando Reyes would be good. Antonio Demarco and him would be exciting. Edwin Valero and Katsidis would be insane.

  26. Alan Conceicao says:

    So, if any man has disappointed more than Belfort, its Rocky Juarez. And again, he disappoints. Just as the fight seems to pass into the night with John having run a clinic, John is nearly KOed with a right hand and barely hangs onto survive.

  27. liger05 says:

    PBF looking razor sharp.

  28. Alan Conceicao says:

    As expected and then some. Marquez lands 12% of punches, PBF with 59%. Amazing stuff. Hopefully we get to see him in with someone dangerous next.

  29. liger05 says:

    Great fight from PBF. People can talk about the weight difference but this was simply about speed and skills. The way he avoids getting hit is something else.

    Sugar Shane and Hopkins wrecked PBF’s interview. I feel sorry for Sugar Shane. A great win of Margarito and he is stuck without a huge fight. Pacman would not fight Shane as Roach wouldnt allow it.

    If cotto wins he cant really fight Shane as he beat him already.

    For the good of Boxing I want PBF v the winner out of cotto and Pacman. That makes the most sense. Boxing has been accused of the best fighters avoiding each other and if PBF doesnt face the winner of that fight it will look real bad. Everyone wants PBF v Pacman but Cotto can win that fight and either v PBF would be great for me.

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