The UFC and Dana White have managed to stake their claim in the combat sports landscape over the last two decades. Though boxing has been the most popular sport over the last 50 years, MMA has been growing at an incredible pace, the sport of boxing unfortunately has been on a decline, according to some. People debate that the decline is due to the sport not having notable stars as they did in the past, while some blame the 17 weight classes and 5 different titles in boxing. However, there might just be a savior to help kick-start the sport of boxing.
Saudi Advisor Turki Alalshikh has been on a mission to make some of the biggest fights in boxing in the Middle East. This has gained the admiration of the UFC CEO who had some good words to share for Alalshikh.
Dana White has praise for Turki Alalshikh
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During a recent episode of the Pound4Pound podcast, UFC CEO, Dana White along with former UFC champs, Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo talked about what was ruining the sport of boxing. But during that discussion, the Saudi Advisor caught some praise from the 54-year-old.
During the podcast, White stated, “Turki Alalshikh, so this guy now has unlimited amounts of money. He’s trying to make the best possible fights that you that you could make. It’s gonna be interesting to see what he does over the next several years.” Alalshikh put on two of the biggest fights in boxing over the last 5 years such as Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou.
However, Dana White still thinks that despite having “unlimited amount of money” there are some fights that still can’t be made. This, as White claims, is because of the “boxing mentality”, where ducking fights is a norm. The UFC CEO threw a little shade at the sport by stating, “The amount of money that these guys are throwing at this thing, and they’re still having trouble making some of these fights.”
One boxing matchup that White seems to completely dislike is the one that has made rounds all over the feeds of fight fans, Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson. Here is what the UFC CEO had to say about the matchup.
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UFC CEO mocks Jake Paul for his matchup against Mike Tyson
UFC CEO Dana White, being a close friend of Mike Tyson, is in an uncomfortable spot talking about the matchup between Jake Paul and the former heavyweight champion. However, he doesn’t seem shy to take jabs at “The Problem Child”.
Dana White, later on in the Pound4Pound podcast took a jab at Jake Paul. He stated, “Jake Paul did fight a kid his age and he lost. I just saw this thing on the internet yesterday and I reposted it where it says if he beats Mike Tyson, he’s going to fight Clint Eastwood next who’s 93 years old.”
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Do you agree with Dana White’s take on the whole boxing scene? Let us know if you have some differing thoughts on the take in the comments section below.