Dana White has dismissed suggestions that fans could see a greater crossover between WWE and UFC.
On April 3rd it was announced that WWE had secured a deal with Endeavor which will see the sports entertainment giant merge with UFC.
The multibillion-dollar merger will see the creation of a new publicly listed company with Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel taking the same role, and Vince McMahon named Executive Chairman. The company will be 51% owned by Endeavor and 49% owned by WWE.
The news of the merger led to speculation from fans that there could now be a greater crossover between WWE and UFC. MMA stars moving to professional wrestling is nothing new, with Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey finding success in both arenas in the modern era.
However, speaking during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, UFC President Dana White warned fans against expecting large-scale changes.
“Not really. It wouldn’t happen any more than it has, regardless of the relationship. When you have people who were interested in becoming professional wrestlers, it was something that I was never really against anyway. If that’s what they wanted to do and they felt like their career was winding down and they were talented enough to do it, and the WWE was actually interested in them, I never had a problem with that.
But when you talk about guys coming over here in the UFC, Brock is definitely a one of one. He wrestled at a high level collegiate, he’s a big dude, he’s agile for being as big as he is, and he came over here and he won the title. There’s not gonna be any of that type of crossover.”
Dana White Scoffs At Comments From “Dummies” Online
Continuing on, White laughed at bizarre fan rumours that UFC could become pre-determined like WWE.
“Then you have all the dummies online, ‘Oh, now this is all gonna be fake, too.’ We’re sanctioned by the athletic commissions in every state, you morons. The government oversees us. They got the judges, they got the referees, and you can gamble on this. Nothing is gonna change. It’s exactly the same. The parent company can deliver a lot of things to both businesses. If you’re a guy like Ari, and we’re going into re-negotiations with arenas, Ari has the UFC, the WWE, PBR, and lots of other things. Also when you talk about re-negotiating television rights, this company is an absolute powerhouse now.”
White was speaking ahead of UFC 287 which is set to take place on April 8th. The card will be headlined by the huge rematch between Alex Pereira (c) and Israel Adesanya for the Middleweight Title. The pair previously met at UFC 281 where Pereira won the gold with a 5th-round knockout.
H/t to Fightful