UFC CEO Dana White had a hilarious response to his own chief operating officer’s comments following UFC’s Tuesday merger with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
UFC senior executive vice president and chief operating officer Lawrence Epstein touted the two sporting giants’ crossover potential in an interview with ESPN, saying “Where we want to get is where every UFC fan is a WWE fan and every WWE fan is a UFC fan.”
But White, once the President of UFC and now the CEO in the post-merger structure, was less than impressed with Epstein’s assessment.
“Lawrence, I love you … one of the dumbest statements of all time,” White told reporters during a press conference.
CEO of UFC Dana White was asked about UFC senior executive vice president Lawrence Epstein’s idea of wanting WWE fans to become UFC fans — UFC fans to become WWE fans.
Calls it one of the dumbest statements of all time and explains why he disagrees. pic.twitter.com/yaH0IlmU2e
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) September 13, 2023
“Yeah, I don’t know why he said that. I don’t even know what to say to that. No. There’s no … there’s some crossover. Some people like WWE, some people like UFC, some people like both. I don’t think there’s ever going to be a day where we turn every UFC fan into a WWE fan or every WWE fan [into a UFC fan],” the fight boss said. (RELATED: ‘No One Gives A Sh*t!’: Dana White Flames Reporter For Asking Him Ridiculous ‘Racial Undertones’ Question)
White noted the vast differences in the fanbases, saying that “What’s beautiful about the synergy between these two fanbases is they are very, completely opposite. You know, there’s very little crossover.”
White concluded the presser by expressing hope that his C-suite partner was taken out of context. “Maybe he was misquoted. I hope that’s the case, because I could not disagree more,” White said decisively.