UFC president Dana White promised a big surprise for people who planned on illegally streaming UFC 257: Poirier vs. McGregor 2 on Saturday night. First, White promised illegal pay-per-view streamers would be “crying and begging” after Conor McGregor’s fight was over. Then, White claimed to already have one of the dastardly pirates in his crosshairs.
“All you have to do is turn it on Saturday, and we got you, f*****. I can’t wait. Turn it on Saturday, streamers, and see what happens,” White said during a pre-fight press conference on Thursday.
During his sit-down interview with BT Sport’s Adam Catterall, Dana White said, “And I told my people, ‘I want this guy.’ And guess what? We got him. We’re watching his house. We’re listening to his phone conversations. And when he puts up this, if he puts it up on Saturday, we got him. And we will arrest him. And I will prosecute him. I will not be nice. I will not give him any leniency whatsoever.”
Obviously, those kinds of threats led to tons of comedy from the streaming community on Saturday night.
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Best Reactions to Dana White’s Bold Promise
UFC middleweight Kevin Holland suggested White made good on his promise to stop at least one illegal streamer on Saturday night.
The biggest question: How would Holland know unless he was illegally streaming the fight?
Heard @danawhite whacked that stream. Sorry sukkkkas time to Annie up! #ufc247
UFC heavyweight Derrick Lewis kept the ball rolling.
Derrick Lewis: “Hey, me and Dana White wanna know… Who’s streaming tonight?” 😂 #UFC257 (via @Thebeast_ufc)
Another user claimed White hadn’t found his illegal stream for UFC 257…yet.
Dana White finding out I’m streaming these fights
Another Twitter user suggested White was going undercover to find the illegal streams.
Dana White going undercover like this tonight to catch those illegal streamers #ufc257
And still another Twitter user suggested there was one man who could stop White and save illegal streamers everywhere.
Only one man can stop Dana White #UFC257
More Reactions
But some streamers simply made fun of the idea that White somehow had the inside track on solving the illegal streaming problem that runs rampant in combat sports.
In fact, one screengrab suggests many of the illegal streamers had made memes on Saturday night to make fun of White about his thread.
Anyone else’s stream just have tons of memes on screen making fun of Dana white?
Some suggested White would be the only person upset by the end of the night.
Dana seeing all the illegal streams are still up #ufc257
A fight poster was even made for “White vs. Streamers”.
So far before the main card, streamers are winning 10-8 vs Dana white. There’s mentions that Dana white was conserving his energy to strike during the main card. One thing is for sure Dana White needs a finish to beat the streamers. #UFC257
It was suggested White would be unimpressed when he got on Twitter Saturday night to see all the memes.
Wait, is that White or Bernie Sanders?
ESPN+ PPV Feed Issues?
Still, some people suggested White had somehow accidentally corrupted the actual pay-per-view feed after reports began to surface on social media that some users were experiencing difficulties with their ESPN+ pay-per-view feed.
The streamer Dana shut down was ESPN+ womp womp
Obviously, people who legally bought UFC 257: Poirier vs. McGregor 2 through ESPN+ on Saturday night expected to be able to watch the fights.
Dana: Buy the fight legally
Also Dana:
#UFC257 #UFCFightIsland8
So legit users having trouble watching the fights didn’t go over well with many social media posters.
Dana White trying so hard to shut down the illegal steams, he’s shut down the whole ESPN app.
Had White’s anti-piracy team shut down the wrong feed?
Dana shut down the wrong servers
Finally, White might have actually hunted down at least one of the illegal streamers all by himself.
Dana is inside my house guys what the fuck HELP #UFC257
White might even have tried to lure others into the fray.
Regardless of how White’s bold anti-piracy plan worked out in the end, UFC 257: Poirier vs. McGregor 2 is still expected to be on the best selling UFC pay-per-view events of the year.
McGregor is the most popular fighter in UFC history, and UFC 257 was his first UFC fight in a full year.
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Dana White Gets Trolled by Illegal Streamers [LOOK]