‘That wasn’t a f***ing boxing match’: Dana White blasts Floyd Mayweather’s exhibition fight against YouTuber Logan Paul after the Miami bout went the distance and hits out at the ‘dummies’ who paid to watch it
- UFC president Dana White teared into Floyd Mayweather’s fight vs Logan Paul
- He said it ‘wasn’t a boxing match’ and said anyone who paid to see it was ‘stupid’
- The exhibition was ‘so far away’ from a fight the UFC would make, White insists
- White has previously been heavily critical of YouTube star Paul and brother Jake
UFC president Dana White has given a scathing review of Floyd Mayweather’s exhibition bout against YouTube star Logan Paul, saying it wasn’t a boxing match’.
Hall of famer and undefeated icon Mayweather will reportedly take home around $100million (£71m) following the eight-round contest against the internet star, but it has generated plenty of criticism after the legendary boxer failed to knock his opponent out.
Some angry fans believe the fight was ‘fixed’ after claiming the 44-year-old deliberately stopped Paul from collapsing to the canvas in order to extend the fight – despite landing a flurry of punches.
UFC president Dana White was damning of Floyd Mayweather’s fight against Logan Paul
White claimed the exhibition against the YouTube star ‘wasn’t a f***ing boxing match’
The PPV event cost as much as $50 (£35) to watch it in the US and around £17 in the UK, but many boxing enthusiasts complained they didn’t get value for money and accused the two fighters of ‘hugging’ for most of the evening.
And White was damning of those opting to pay for the fight, insisting the exhibition was ‘so far away’ from anything he would set up in the UFC.
‘That wasn’t a f***ing boxing match,’ he told UFC Arabia.
‘Like I said before, there’s always going to be a market for that kind of stuff. There’s always going to be people that are willing to put down $50 to watch that kind of stuff. That’s so far away [from what we do].
Boxing fans heavily criticised the contest after Mayweather failed to secure a stoppage
‘Think about this — imagine if Kim Kardashian wanted to fight Amanda Nunes. How big do you think that fight would be? It would be huge. It would be the biggest [event] but give me a f***ing break.’
White – who has previously been highly criticial of Paul and his fellow YouTuber and brother Jake for both stepping into the ropes – believes glamourous exhibition fights create a lot of publicity and hype but always deliver disappointment.
‘It’s exactly what boxing has always been,’ he added. ‘You create this energy around a fight where you’re like, “oh this [is exciting]” and then you watch it and then you turn the TV off and go, “I just wasted another evening, I should have went out and did something else”.
‘I don’t ever want people feeling like that when they turn the TV off watching some of our fights.’
White says the fight was ‘so far away’ from anything he would organise in the UFC
He gave full credit to Mayweather and Paul, who is set to make around, $26m (£14m) from the fight, for generating a lucrative pay packet, saying the boxers ‘deserve’ the money from fans who were ‘stupid’ for ordering it.
‘I’m not trying to s*** on these other guys,’ White continued. ‘Listen, if you’ve got people that are stupid enough to spend that kind of money, you deserve to take those dummies’ money. They deserve it.
‘The guys who went out and fought and got you to pay $50, they deserve your money. You’re stupid.’
White has recently engaged in a feud with Logan’s brother Paul after his own venture into boxing and famously ‘bet a million dollars’ he would suffer defeat against former wrestler Ben Askren, before the YouTuber pulled off a stoppage win.
Last month he vowed ‘never to do business’ with YouTube fighters by offering them UFC stars and told the likes of Paul to find other ‘goofballs’ to face.
He has previously been hugely criticial of Paul and his brother Jake (pictured) after venturing into boxing despite their lack of experience
‘I would never do business with those guys, just no,’ White said, speaking to ESPN. ‘No, this is not what we do. I’m not gonna f*****g loan them a guy for f****g what? There’s no way. You got plenty of f*****g goofballs out there that you can muster up to get in there and play these games that these guys are playing. Yeah, I’m not your guy.’
After he stunned Askren, White questioned the legitimacy of the stoppage and admitted he was waiting for Paul’s ’15 minutes’ to be up.
‘Listen, you cannot deny the fact that this kid has inserted himself into the conversation with real guys,’ he added. ‘This guy has got three fights, and I gotta tell you that I don’t know if I truly believe the Ben Askren thing.
‘Let’s see how long it takes before this kid’s 15 minutes are up, but they are being smart. They are keeping him away from anybody that could actually really do damage. I don’t know. The Ben Askren thing still blows my mind.’