Dana White thinks Bob Arum is a greedy, fat pig that takes and takes from boxing and gives nothing back. "He's a complete douche bag," according to the UFC President.
The feeling is mutual. Arum, although not as intense and aggressive in his delivery, has long professed his disdain for White and the business practices he runs with his mixed martial arts organization.
Big surprise from both guys, right?
What does come as somewhat of a surprise, though, is boxing promoter Lou DiBella coming out in support of White in a recent interview with ESPN.com.
It's simple, really. Boxing is not what it used to be and according to DiBella, White is correct in his assertion that Arum is to blame for the sad state of the "sweet science."
"I agree with a lot of what [Dana White] said. There's no question that when Don [King] and Bob [Arum] dominated this business for literally generations, that not a lot was invested back in the business. Frankly, Bob Arum admitted as much at his Hall of Fame induction. And the sport is in worse condition today than it's ever been."
White, having come up through the world of combat sports in boxing, knows a thing or two about it, so his flinging around insults carries at least a little weight.
The fact that he's built an empire with the UFC once he moved over to promoting mixed martial arts means he's a savvy business man that should be regarded as such and respected for.
Even if Bob Arum doesn't thinks so.
As DiBella believes, you can't argue with facts. The UFC is growing and boxing is dying. One of the biggest reasons for that is the way White treats his company and the employees within it.
In short, fight or go home.
"If a guy fights in retreat, Dana's not putting him on again. He has an advantage because [UFC] is a monopoly. But that aside, you have to know what people find entertaining. If you move backward, and I don't care if a writer says he's a good fighter, the public doesn't want to see him. Boxing has lost sight of the fact that it's a subset of the entertainment business. And Dana has not forgotten that."
Manny Pacquiao is an outstanding boxer, probably the best on the planet at his chosen craft. But his fight with Shane Mosley recently was rather anticlimactic due to the fact that Mosley was reluctant to engage.
And that right there is an issue plaguing the sport. It's also the one thing White does so much better than promoters like Arum ... he figures out a way to get his fighters to put on exciting fights, which is what you, the viewer, ultimately want.
Thanks to the UFC striking a deal with FOX, we could very well be inching closer and closer to a world in which combat coverage is dedicated mostly to MMA with boxing getting just a passing mention.
If that happens, White and DiBella know who they think everyone should point the finger at.
Get the latest gear
