UFC President Dana White

By FCF Stafff

Bob Arum has been critical of the UFC and Dana White in the past, and following recent comments from the latter about boxing, the promoter has claimed that the UFC is “desperate”.

In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, White argued that boxing promoters try to gouge fans financially, and he also relayed that the UFC might consider promoting boxing bouts in the future.

In a follow up interview with NY Fights, Arum countered by claiming the UFC is a “monopoly”, and that the promotion only pays fighters 20% of revenues, where in boxing, promoters allocate 80% of revenues to athletes.

In addition, Arum also said this (quote via MMA Fighting):

“My thoughts are that UFC is desperate. Their numbers are way off, they have no marquee star. Look at their PPV numbers. They barely break 100,000 homes on their shows. They’re having trouble getting renewal on their contract with FOX. They have to do something. One of things they may try and fall back on and try and acquire a boxing presence. About a year ago, I was approached by someone repping UFC, they wanted to buy Top Rank.”

The UFC’s next event is scheduled for this Saturday in Sao Paulo, Brazil.