- Dana White was happy to share the numbers UFC 292 generated
- The UFC president insisted that Sean O’Malley reached higher heights because of his talent
As expected, UFC president Dana White is pleased not only with Sean O’Malley’s title fight win over Aljamain Sterling but also with the UFC 292 numbers, which apparently broke an all-time gate record in Boston.
A record-breaking Event
Speaking to reporters in his post-fight presser, White confirmed that UFC 292 didn’t just break the all-time gate record at the Boston Garden. More importantly, it was also “the biggest bantamweight” title fight in UFC pay-per-view history. For the UFC boss, it was mostly because of O’Malley’s star power.
“We broke the all-time gate record here. Bruce Springsteen just played here and did $5 million. We did over $7 million,” White revealed. “The Boston Garden. The craziest f**king sports town on Earth… Other than their team that plays here, we’re the biggest thing that’s ever been here. So what does that tell you about O’Malley?”
“This is also the biggest bantamweight championship fight ever on pay-per-view, globally. It broke the record. Biggest bantamweight championship fight ever. I’m sure you saw the crowd at the end. O’Malley isn’t gonna be a star. He is a star.”
Sean can fight and there’s no “Dana White Privilege”
Despite O’Malley’s impressive run, some still insist that “Sugar” made it to the top because of the so-called “Dana White privilege.” According to White, nothing of the sort exists in the UFC, and O’Malley earned everything he has in his career.
“Listen. Dana White privilege: You don’t become No. 2 in the world without earning it, so… and I don’t pick that. You people do,” White pointed out. “Then he went in there and delivered tonight. There’s no such thing as Dana White privilege in this company.”
When asked about his reaction to O’Malley’s performance, White said:
“How do you even want me to answer that question? He knocked him out. In my head, when you think about the fight and you think about Sterling you say to yourself, ‘How does Sean beat this guy? ‘How does Sean stop the takedown? you know, he’s not going to be able to stop the takedown. Maybe he’ll do it a couple times but all night… Cejudo couldn’t. But you never know man, styles make fights and things happen in fights that you know you sometimes don’t expect and he got caught and he got stopped.”
O’Malley has yet to name a preferred title challenger but he is interested in a boxing match with WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis. On the other hand, Sterling believes he deserves to get an instant rematch with “Sugar.”
