Dana White seems to think he rules the MMA world by himself.
Following the successful UFC 300 event with a crowd of 20,067 fans, the UFC’s CEO basked in the glory until the moment someone mentioned “Bellator.” The evening was dedicated to celebrating a phenomenal night of fights. The Bellator mention surfaced while discussing a potential UFC event in Hawaii, which was nixed due to logistical challenges for the promotion’s team.
When reminded about Bellator’s past event in Hawaii, White dismissed it with a joke, suggesting that the organization, now under PFL ownership, might resort to hosting matches in parking lots. White also brought up PFL’s recent show in Las Vegas last Friday, claiming he only found out about it at the last minute.
“Did you know ‘PFL-ator’ was here on Friday?” White quipped, blending the names Bellator and PFL. “Did anyone even know about it? I didn’t until Friday.”
The PFL 2 event featured headline fights in the light heavyweight and lightweight divisions at The Theater at Virgin Hotels.
Despite White’s claims that he wasn’t attempting to belittle the tournament, he couldn’t resist mentioning PFL’s promotional tactic of offering ‘buy two tickets, get two free’ deals to boost ticket sales.
“They were selling buy two tickets, get two free,” White remarked. “I’m not criticizing them; it’s a fact. They put out an email saying buy two, get two free. If you advertise like that, you’re bound to have a tough week. There were more people in my dressing room tonight than at their event.”
In fairness, PFL is indeed running a “Buy 2 Tickets, Get 2 Free” promotion for their upcoming event in Chicago on April 19th, not for the recent Las Vegas show. This offer was included in their promotional email.
The upcoming April 19 event will take place at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.
White couldn’t help but draw attention to the challenges faced by PFL in ticket sales, questioning whether the promotion is equipped to offer such deals for all their events. In contrast, UFC 300 did not encounter similar hurdles, boasting a gate revenue of $16.5 million, the third-highest in the company’s history.
