There’s some good nostalgia to be found in Vegas this week, where Dana White seems to have rediscovered the joy of being a promotor. Maybe it’s because he was back at the old MGM Grand, walking those same halls to the Grand Garden Arena where for so many years the UFC did business. That venue, so full of memories, was at one point Dana’s CBGB.
Or maybe it’s because Dana seems so … I dunno, lively?
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Like, if you stuck a pin in him, he’d scream “ouch!” That kind of lively. He seems to genuinely “give a s***” about what’s going on this weekend, to borrow his own term, and why not? He’s commandeered Saturday by stacking a Noche UFC card out in Arizona on top of a big-time boxing event in Vegas. His UFC product will serve as a mammoth prelim for the boxing card, running back-to-back on Paramount+.
Dana met with the media on Thursday to discuss the latter, not unlike the unsanctioned UFC scrums he used to do. Very informal, as if barely on record. Confiding, like he’s filling you in on notions you might have the wrong idea about. Cutting, like a shrewd promoter.
Dana White has been front and center for Garcia vs. Benn week.
(Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy via Getty Images)
When he talked about Conor Benn (“probably the most professional fighter I’ve worked with in my entire career”) and Ryan Garcia (“that kid’s willing to fight anybody”), there was a familiar spark. It felt like a decade ago when he talked about Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo at UFC 194 (“It’s the perfect matchup, especially when you got two guys that are this good in the prime of their life!”).
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The thing is, he was back to speaking with absolute purpose. As if you’d be a fool to miss such a historic crossroads, like the one we’ve arrived at with Garcia and Benn. As if he were surrounded by fools in this boxing world, and it was his pleasure to crush them.
When asked how boxing had changed since Zuffa got involved, he shared an epiphany.
“I don’t know if there’s been any changes,” he said, “but I’ll tell you what’s changed with me is — and I’ve said this a million times, I didn’t realize how unsophisticated all these guys really are. They’re not good at what they do. And, I used to always think the fighters didn’t want to fight each other. All these guys want to fight each other. They all want to fight the best. We haven’t run into any boxers that’s like, ‘Yeah, no, we’re not ready for that fight yet. We want to pad our record to f***ing 27-0,’ and there is literally none of that.”
Oh yes, the old subtweets to the Frank Warrens, the Eddie Hearns, the Bob Arums and Oscar De La Hoyas. The wardens of boxing. This was vintage Dana. Loving life as the new bully on the block, here to strong-arm boxing into a better place. To make the fights people want to see.
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Here to act, if we may be so bold, as a savior to the sweet science.
That can mean a lot of things to a lot of people, but for years, Dana’s love for fighting — and his intolerance toward competition — was the ore beneath the surface. It was the campfire by which fans warmed their hands.
“This is what I love, as a fan first, and as a promoter, it’s the only thing I want to do, is put on fights that matter at the right time, in the right place,” he said.
He’s been ready for anything this week. An open book, as it were. When Hearn’s name was brought up, inevitably, Dana gently rolled out Eddie’s ineptitudes like so much cookie dough.
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“Quit whining, and crying, and spending 24 hours a day doing f***ing interviews and hurting the fight,” he said, in reference to Hearn standing in the way of all those Madison Square Garden plans for the already stagnated Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua bout.
“It’s getting the point where, it’s like, it makes people start to not give a s*** anymore. Like, ‘You know what, who gives a s***.’ That’s what’s starting to happen. I’m starting to feel that way, I know f***ing Turki [Alalshikh] is starting to feel that way, I know a lot of fans feel that way. I know it’s great content for you guys [in the media], but the fight would be better content.”
Wait, Dana is worried about apathy? The same fellow who didn’t know who was on his own card a few events ago in Serbia? No, somebody is feeling energized in the boxing gig. Reinvigorated. Full of piss and vinegar.
The gist is that Zuffa Boxing has perhaps awoken a sleeping giant.
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“We have a sold-out Noche UFC in Arizona, a sold-out boxing match in Las Vegas, both on the same night, on arguably the biggest combat sports weekend of the year … can I do three fights?” He asked. “Can I do four fights? Could we have a fight right now in the UK too? Can we have a fight in Australia? These are the things that fire me up and keep me wondering.”
Fired up? Wondering? Philosophizing that this weekend could be the “greatest in combat sports history?” This kind of hyperbole has been missing in recent times. What’s next, is he going to declare that the new objective is to find a way to get the whole world to tune in?
It turns out, it’s been on his mind.
“I always say this, what’s the ceiling on this business?” he said, perhaps somewhat rhetorically. “The ceiling is eight billion people. That’s the ceiling.”
Welcome back, Dana, even if it’s just for a weekend.
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