As is usually the case, UFC president Dana White told us his true feelings about Top Rank Boxing promoter Bob Arum.
Arum recently made headlines before WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford’s impressive TKO win over Kell Brook this past weekend when he claimed he had lost money promoting the American.
“I could build a house in Beverly Hills on the money I’ve lost on him in the last three fights,” Arum said (via The Athletic). “A beautiful home. Nobody questions Crawford’s innate, tremendous ability. By beating a naturally bigger guy (in Brook), decisively, that’s a big statement that he’s making.
“The question is, ‘Does it pay the bills?’ Look, you can have the greatest opera singer in the world. If the fans don’t support it, you’re out of business.”
Arum’s comments clearly indicate he feels the fighter should play a part in promoting himself in addition to the promoter.
White: You Guys Would Murder Me If I Said That
White, on the other hand, clearly disagrees.
When made aware of Arum’s comments, the UFC head honcho unloaded on Arum with a passionate and somewhat aggressive rant.
“Can you imagine if I said that?,” White asked during the post-fight press conference of the Contender Series on Tuesday. “Are you f*cking kidding me? You guys would murder me if I said that. I’d never hear the end of that. That’s what you do! That’s not his f*cking problem, that’s your problem! His problem isn’t to figure out how you make money.
“You f*cking signed a deal with this kid. Your job is to promote him. You made a deal. All these kids that I sign and if you look at all the kids that we signed — our roster is very inflated right now. We have a very big roster right now, the biggest we’ve ever had in the history of the company. I have to pay these kids. How I pay them is not their f*cking problem — it’s my f*cking problem.
“And this guy wants to go — imagine me saying, ‘oh, I gotta pay Conor McGregor f*cking this much money. I could’ve bought a house in Beverly Hills.’ Shut the f*ck up, you f*cking scumbag. Pay your f*cking fighter what you owe him. That’s your job. Bob Arum is a piece of f*ckin sh*t. Good night, everybody.”
This will likely not be the last time White speaks of his good friend Arum. But it’s nice to see things still remain cordial between the pair.
