Has MMA surpassed Boxing? This is a question that might be haunting many fans and even veterans especially now that Dana White is planning to get into the boxing scene. He recently looked back upon his ambitions with Zuffa Boxing that collapsed in 2017. After years of waiting and planning, the UFC CEO is reportedly making a second move into the world of boxing.  And now during an Essentially Sports exclusive interview with Andrew Whitelaw, former UFC star Matt Brown spoke about the UFC’s monopoly under Dana White and whether UFC is bigger than boxing. He pointed out how UFC and boxing were two different fields with distinct aspects.

Brown did not shy away from mentioning the monopoly of Dana White and the UFC that sometimes hurts the fighters but he also mentioned how the audience was more interested in combat sports now. When we asked him whether MMA has surpassed boxing he said, “I mean, when you look at the biggest fights, then no. If you look at the majority of fights, then yes. I like the eyeballs being on combat sports period. But I also appreciate the respect a lot more. You know the purity of the sport too. So that’s a tough one.”

Brown’s take is simple. When it comes to big fights, boxing is bigger. Whether it’s a question of spectacle or paycheck, it’s miles ahead of the competition. However, MMA, and the UFC in particular have more entertaining fights and fighters in general, at least according to ‘The Immortal.’

The welterweight legend then spoke about boxing and said that he loved seeing Jake Paul fight. When we speak of Jake Paul, we have to bring in Mike Tyson without a doubt. The boxing GOAT had recently spoken about Dana White’s contribution to boxing and said, “Dana White is going to be the best thing to happen to boxing.” Coming back to the Essentially Sports exclusive interview with Brown, he mentioned his love for watching boxing matches.

‘The Immortal’ said, “You know I like the entertainment like Jake Paul he’s entertaining. You know I watch his fights. You know it’s not that I want to. You know the only thing that I don’t like about it is the average person thinks like they are watching some kind of high-level right? That’s why I like Muay Thai. You know like I love the purity.”

It did seem like Brown did not want to differentiate between MMA and boxing and give one promotion more priority than the other. Brown likes the purity of combat sports more than the entertainment and when it comes to the audience, he likes the audience’s attention on combat sports overall. So, what does he not like?

What does Matt Brown not like about crossovers in combat sports?

Of course, Matt Brown is not commenting on the combat sports scene for the first time but do you know what he dislikes? Brown claimed that he did not appreciate the crossover of entertainment and quality. He said, “ I also am not watching it like specifically for entertainment right, I can go watch WWE for entertainment you know, I can watch Jake Paul for entertainment.”

The only thing the UFC legend wishes is that the world knew the separation of quality combat sports and the same sports for entertainment. But hope keeps us going and can change a lot of things. Although Brown claimed that people might never know the difference, the world of MMA is changing every day and it still lies to witness better fights and more quality ones.

Dana White has mentioned his plans to incorporate unconventional elements into the new venture of boxing. Along with that ‘Iron’ Mike seems to be confident in the CEO’s abilities, along with Teddy Atlas. So now we would like to hear your thoughts on this EssentiallySports exclusive interview. You can also watch the full episode and more with ES Fancast.