September 23, 2024 6:00 pm ET
Teddy Atlas welcomes Dana White to boxing.
The UFC CEO has by no means minced his phrases in relation to his emotions about how corrupt he thinks the boxing mannequin is. After dancing across the concept of “Zuffa Boxing” for years, White finally decided to commit to his involvement in the sport.
Atlas thinks White’s presence would solely add worth to what Turki Alalshikh has already constructed.
“I say come on in – come on in, we want you,” Atlas advised Submission Radio. “Turki Alalshikh has helped boxing tremendously by making fights the promoters couldn’t make. They didn’t need to make (them) as a result of they didn’t personal each side. They didn’t management each side, so the followers suffered, didn’t get the fights they needed. The game suffered. This sport was getting much less and fewer related. This sport is the longest sport within the historical past of sports activities. They discover drawings of fellows throwing punches on caves two thousand years in the past. This sport shouldn’t be irrelevant, but it surely was changing into that due to the promoters with the networks, with their sugar daddies.
“They have been simply making the fights to maintain their guys undefeated, to get to the following huge combat – non-competitive fights, and each occasionally they threw you a bone. It wasn’t sufficient. The followers have been ravenous. Then Turki Alalshikh got here alongside from Saudi (Arabia) with the cash, and within the final 12 months he made fights that the game wants. Dana White does that. He’s been doing that endlessly over on the UFC. Yeah, I do know it’s one man in cost and other people name him a dictator. Hear, if a dictator ain’t chopping heads off and he’s getting issues completed, generally perhaps we may study a bit of one thing. We may use guidelines on this (boxing) world proper now. We may use a route on this world proper now. He’d make the fights that you just’d have to make.” Atlas additionally defended fighter pay within the UFC, and the fixed critique White has gotten from the likes of Jake Paul.
“Yeah folks will say, ‘What are folks going to receives a commission?’ UFC, he created a hell of a model, and it wasn’t a sophisticated system: Make the fights that individuals need to see, and the model will develop as a result of the followers will develop it,” Atlas mentioned. “Folks say they don’t receives a commission. It’s trickling down. The celebrities are being born, They’re making the larger cash. Identical factor in boxing, however then it begins to trickle down. Sure, I would like everybody paid, however once you construct one thing, there’s extra to offer then. Then it should trickle down, then it should go to all the opposite fighters on the totem pole.
“The underside line is, the model will probably be stronger. The model of boxing has turn into stronger due to Turki Alalshikh making these fights. It is going to turn into stronger in a extra unfold out approach if perhaps the 2 of them be a part of collectively. If Dana White brings his mannequin into boxing, to have the infrastructure, to have enforcement of guidelines, to have the form of fights that individuals need, that individuals have solely been getting within the final 12 months. If he brings that, and he would convey that, Teddy would say, ‘Hey Dana, come on on this approach. Welcome. Welcome.’”
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