UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell will appear on the cover of ESPN The Magazine — one of the largest and most-read sports publications in the nation, according to the Boston Herald.
The "Iceman" edition, which is dated May 21, comes directly on the heels of professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s appearance on the front page.
And of course, UFC President Dana White was more than willing to share his two cents in the article about the super fight that wasn't so super between Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya.
Here's a snip:
"I'm not bashing boxing, I love it. But all these people have destroyed this sport, I'm just being honest. A lot of guys want to act like it's not. They got something like 2 million (pay-per-view) buys, they did a $20 million gate. Imagine what they could have done with an undercard and if they had done it the right way. That was their biggest mistake.... Saturday night is what pisses everyone off. It's crazy. It just drives people further from boxing. You get one fight for 55 bucks. One fight for a $2,500 ticket. You get people all excited for the buildup and then the fight ends up sucking. Both guys try to outpoint the other and win a decision. In the UFC, we give you eight or nine fights, they're all good, and the guys are fighting their asses off trying to finish it. There's tons of energy."
Unfortunately, an article about a UFC fighter gracing the cover of a major sports magazine has to turn into another mixed martial arts vs. boxing debate.
I can only hope that the feature, which was written by Allison Glock, doesn't travel down that same over-beaten path.
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