Getty Dana White
Dana White responded to a boxing challenge concerning Jake Paul, and the UFC president shared that he has no interest in meeting the YouTuber inside a ring.
During a recent GQ Sports YouTube video, White was asked by a fan if he’d ever consider boxing “The Problem Child,” someone he’s verbally sparred back and forth with through interviews and social media.
And in short, the aging UFC president said that would never happen. “You guys realize I’m 53 years old now, right?” White said via Insider.
White then pointed to the time he had signed a deal to box former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz. The match ultimately didn’t go down, however, as “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” pulled out of the contest.
“When I was gonna fight Tito I was 37,” the UFC president continued. “I’m 53.”
“Come talk to me when you f****** idiots are 53 years old and tell me if you wanna fight some 20-year-old kid. I promise you, you do not.”
White was also asked by a fight fan how good of a boxer he was back in the day, and the UFC president laughed: “Obviously not very good or I wouldn’t be a promoter.”
Paul Recently Took Aim Again at White for UFC Fighter Pay
During the same GQ interview, White defended the money fighters make as contracted UFC athletes. And he said that if someone wants to pay combatants more, they could open up their own fight promotion.
“If you don’t like it, there’s a simple solution to this problem,” White said via MMA Junkie. “Go start your own MMA organization – no barrier to entry. Knock yourself out. Pay (fighters) whatever you want to pay them. It’s been done before. How’s it worked out for other guys? Not well. Mind your business.”
White also said that fighters “get paid what they’re supposed to get paid.”
Paul, who has been vocal about his stance of wanting to see the UFC increase fighter pay and benefits, chimed in via Twitter on Friday.
“No major sports organization pays its athletes as poorly as Dana White & UFC,” Paul tweeted. “If u don’t see that then you are one of Dana’s sheeps.
“They keep talking about selling out 21 events in a row but never talking about raising fighter pay, giving them healthcare & fair revenue split.”
Others Responded to White for His GQ Fighter Pay Comments as Well
Others in the combat sports community called out the UFC president for his comments on fighter pay as well.
Longtime MMA writer Ben Fowlkes tweeted: “Totally bro. Boxing has been so totally destroyed that the dream of damn near every UFC champ is to get popular enough to go do boxing. The sport that, again, has been destroyed.”
“Simple way to test this,” MMA journalist John S. Nash tweeted. “Give me permission to shop around Jones-Ngannou. If I can get them more than what the UFC is offering then it doesn’t seem like they are getting paid “what they are supposed to.”
“A lot of replies that this is unfair because these guys were made by the UFC,” Nash continued. “But is that because the UFC promoting is so good that they made you want to watch them or is it because the fighters could demonstrate how good they are only in the UFC which has a lock on top fighters?”