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Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images
Last night we discussed UFC president Dana White calling Floyd Mayweather racist for his comments about Jeremy Lin. It didn't take too long for Mayweather, or at least a Mayweather representative to fire back.
Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports with the words:
"He needs to shut the [expletive] up and mind his own business, stay in his own lane and keep on taking advantage of the UFC fighters, while underpaying them," Ellerbe told Yahoo! Sports after learning of White's rant. "If he keeps on running his mouth, we may decide to give a free seminar to all of the UFC fighters on how the pay-per-view revenue should be distributed. This is typical Dana, who is always prone to ignorant outbursts. He should be the last person to try to judge someone else."
After learning of Ellerbe's response, White sent a text to Yahoo! Sports directed to Ellerbe.
"Just for the record, shut the [expletive] up [because] I wasn't talking to you," White said by text. "I was talking to Floyd. We're doing something amazing. We're building a sport while you guys are destroying one. "
There's a lot going on here. Ellerbe falls into the trap of assuming that there is money to go around in the UFC to the point where pay-per-view revenue can be chopped up "Mayweather style." Meanwhile, Dana is insisting that Floyd, Golden Boy, Top Rank and Manny Pacquiao should all set aside promotional and personal interests to make the fight. This despite White's firm anti-co-promotion stance that led to the biggest fight in MMA not happening multiple times when they couldn't come to terms to bring Fedor Emelianenko into the UFC to face Randy Couture and then Brock Lesnar.
Look, this isn't to say that Dana was wrong to not co-promote with Fedor's management. But rather that I think Dana is appealing to the lack of crossover understanding between the sports. There is this idea that "oh man, if only Dana White was a boxing promoter! He'd fix everything!" while the reality is that if Dana were a boxing promoter, he'd promote exactly like Bob Arum or Oscar De La Hoya. Because that is the smart thing to do and that is the way the sport is structured. You look out for your own interests first, that's not particularly different from the reason that he wouldn't book one of his champions against a guy like Fedor (at the time thought to be the best fighter on the planet) because should they lose he has nothing to gain. It's just not as ugly in execution nor as long, drawn out and full of nonsense as the Floyd/Manny negotiations.
In the end this is just two guys who like to be the loudest voice in the room yelling things that don't particularly apply but do appeal to segments of their sport's fanbases.
0 recs | 35 comments
Mayweather spews out ignorant crap often. And yes Ellerbe is correct, Dana White is very prone to ignorant outburst. Dana White is one of the last people in combat sports that should publicly call people out about their issues, racist, sexist or otherwise. Who is Loretta Hunt for $2. I don’t think there’s anything more to it than these very public figures being very loose with their thoughts under a very social microscope.
All that crap about Top Rank, Golden Boy, etc. ruining boxing or boxing is dead really doesn’t matter. Personally I think a great boxing event helps MMA and vice-versa. Despite White’s criticism of Arum or De la Hoya, when was the last time we heard him state, “I’m not watching that ‘freakshow’, ‘farce’ or crap!” The Fertitas & White are still huge boxing fans and after years of promoting MMA events worldwide they still make it their business to watch the biggest stars of boxing compete . . . probably with the exception of the Klitschkos.
VeeisAnimated - February 22, 2012
what up Vee!? good points..
I feel like I walked into a bar with my girlfriend & saw my neighbor in there with his girlfriend! I won’t tell the wives back at Mania if you don’t!
Fat Daddy Doobs - February 22, 2012 via mobile
;)
VeeisAnimated - February 22, 2012
Do you know why fanposts are not working Scott?
I just wrote a lengthy masterpiece (joke) but when i went to “publish”, it just went blank.
How soul destroying is that? (slight exaggeration. :)
Matt Mosley - February 22, 2012
Shouldn't it be saved as unpublished?
Sweet science - February 22, 2012
Thanks for the advice but ni, nothing seems to be working, on my end at least.eitIt will let me type it out but not post.
i have tried saving it, and all that but no go.
I’ll try again later.
Matt Mosley - February 23, 2012
BINGO. Seriously, it’s freaking easy to make fights when you have just about ALL of the top fighters under your banner. But the minute you have one top performer doing his own thing, it becomes hard to “just make the fight”.
erod - February 22, 2012
Unrelated question – it’s “Povetkin-Huck” fight week at BLH? I hear some Argentine is fighting in St. Louis this week too.
The Boxer Rebellion - February 22, 2012
Tempest in a Beer Mug
BoxAnne - February 22, 2012
Not a tea drinker?
DrRck - February 22, 2012
coffee for me, beer for most UFCers.
BoxAnne - February 22, 2012
Where do us tea+wine+coffee drinkers go (except to the grave, that is)?
DrRck - February 22, 2012
Boxing matches, live, tv, and online. Till death us do part.
BoxAnne - February 22, 2012
Looks like nobody gets out of here alive.
DrRck - February 22, 2012
stereotype there just a lil maybe?
Elstriko - February 22, 2012 via Android app
Seriously.
We also like bourbon.
pdl - February 22, 2012
I'm partial to tequila some times my self.
maybe a good canadian
Elstriko - February 23, 2012 via Android app
Floyd has a fight coming up?
Insert racist, cash money millionaire, drama with his estranged dad/uncle/dog walker diatribes and interviews.
PBF’s attempts to hype fights are so played out, trivial and predictable the 20th time around, no one even cares.
theworldsoldestsport - February 22, 2012
I wouldnt consider myself a fan of Dana White but I dont have an issue with anything that he said to Floyd Mayweather – I do, have an issue with the way Ellerbe responded.
Floyd Mayweather Jr made racist public comments so he is going to hear peoples responses. I dont think he said anything that wasnt true. Ellerbe on the other hands, goes off topic regarding the subject of racist comments and starts talking about money/pay per views – which most people can see is his way to deflecting the conversation.
Dana White 1, Floyd/Ellerbe 0
jerranamo - February 22, 2012
I agree.
cylee1180 - February 22, 2012
I don’t think Dana White can say anything with all the crap he has said. This is the guy who made a slur against gays and cussed out a female reporter amongst other things. Every now and then he just likes to make headlines. This is one of those times.
Craig111 - February 22, 2012
[Expletive] May[expletive]weather [expletive] should [expletive] his [expletive] for [expletive expletive] Lin’s [expletive].
If [expletive] Eller[expletive]bee thinks that his [expletive] organization is [expletive] better than [expletive] UF[expletive]C, he can [expletive] look down his [expletive] pants for a [expletive] better [expletive] business model than I [expletive] got. I got his [expletive] business model right [expletive] here.
I [expletive] think [expletiveexpletiveexpletive …]
DrRck - February 22, 2012
Hahaha
I hope for your sake you copy and pasted the expleteive… I would have gone mad trying to type that over and over… and over and over and over … :) See what I did
Sweet science - February 22, 2012
I wrote every damned one of them myself. It was a work of craftmanship.
DrRck - February 23, 2012
You got the Fedor/Couture Situation Totally Wrong
Hey Brent, you know as well as I do that Fedor/Couture wasn’t about risking a loss – Randy has lost plenty of times and wasn’t seen as an unbeatable champion. And as you know, MMA losses and Boxing losses are seen completely differently by the fans.
Beyond that, co-promotion with M-1 wasn’t an actual co-promotion. M-1 was barely a real company at the time and had nothing to offer but Fedor, it would have been a UFC event with M-1’s name added in and their logos everywhere. They would have had to give M-1 50 percent of the revenue from what would probably be their biggest PPV of all time and all they would have gotten out of it was Fedor, and they may even have been forced to feature other M-1 fighters, who were all nobodies at the time. That is hardly equivalent to a modern boxing co-promotion.
I’m sure I didn’t teach you anything there since you’re a freakin’ MMA journalist, so don’t go bending facts to fit your points, it kills credibility.
YoungDonDraper - February 22, 2012
You’ve got much of this wrong. I wouldn’t worry about Scott. Seriously.
Luke Thomas - February 22, 2012
not that i’m gonna pretend to be some kind of expert on mma but this is how i see things. it seems to me that these situations are completely different. i would imagine if ufc’s champion were to lose a fight to someone from a low level other company, it would destroy the reputation of the franchise and the championship. in boxing on the other hand, this is different as multi-promotional fights are common place and such a loss would only negatively impact the boxer, not irrepairably though, and not the promotional company as a whole. mayweather and pacquioa in particular is an even more isolated case where from this fight it would seem neither would lose much credibility or reputation from losing the fight bar some kind of bizarre happenings. also with both boxers not really having much time or fights left in them any more even if somehow they did lose ppv buyability, it would not i would assume outweigh the mega fight that mayweather pacquioa would make
sparky_mufc - February 22, 2012
Well you’re right that if a UFC Champ lost to a fighter from another organization it would do damage to the guy that lost, and it would elevate the other organization. The UFC is bigger than any of its fighters, though, so I don’t know that it would significantly damage the company unless it was Georges St Pierre, their most bankable fighter.
However, the situation mentioned in the post is different – Fedor wasn’t just a champion from another organization, he was an unstoppable legend. He fought in the Pride organization when they had all the best guys in the world, and he was undefeated (aside from a BS situation early in his career where he got a loss on a weird technicality; everyone accepted him as undefeated), he had beaten many of the UFC’s top guys, and most people ranked him as the #1 fighter in the heavyweight division. He also wasn’t active in a particular league, he’d take one-off fights here and there, but he was contracted to a company called M-1, which was the equivalent of Amir Khan Promotions or one of those BS boxing shell companies.
YoungDonDraper - February 22, 2012
you forget when the few times when they did co promote...
Chuck Liddell had lost the title to Couture & participated in the Pride GP. When he got brutalized by Rampage it was devestating to UFC as he had just recently been champ. Also cost Dana some money in a personal side bet too…not $20 either, I’m talking mortgage money! And he had been invited previously but UFC wouldn’t let him bcuz they didn’t want their champ losing. Copromotion in MMA is more difficult bcuz its more akin to copromotion between 2 LEAGUES. The NFL never would’ve been asked to copromote with the XFL would they? One league always stands to lose prestige=fans=MONEY! That’s why that’s harder. Copromotion in boxing is different bcuz of the structure. They different weight classes sets it up so that they HAVE to do a deal just to get the whole stable of fighters some work. League sports like MMA have room to do business internally.
Fat Daddy Doobs - February 22, 2012 via mobile
Valid points, but I gotta say, Leonard Ellerbe is one of the biggest piles of f*** in boxing, in sports, and basically in life. For him to accuse anyone of taking advantage of a fighter and stealing money is purty laughable. He’s nothing but Floyd’s sycophantic crony and what exactly he does to earn his income utterly mystifies me. So as far as who has actually done something in life to get where they are, I have to go with Dana.
JFoley - February 22, 2012
Mystifies you?
Ellerbe is Ceo of MayweatherPromotions, handling affairs with GB and FLoyds advisor/handler.
Yes you are right! he does absolutley nothing.
Also how long how you been watching boxing?
The fact that you would honestly call a annoying but mostly poweless guy, the biggest pile of sh1t in boxing is laughable.
Ever heard of Don King? Bob Arum?
Mohammedini Hussein - February 22, 2012
To answer your questions, been watching boxing on and off for about 20 years and you’re probably right. There are worse people in the sport than the relatively harmless Ellerbe.
CEO of Mayweather promotions??? Now, that’s laughable. Floyd’s advisor/handler? Gimme a break.
And I didn’t call him a pile of shit, called him a pile of fuck. Maybe it was a bit extreme and distasteful, but you know what? That’s my opinion. I’m sorry if you were offended.
JFoley - February 22, 2012
Regardless of the charades, Floyd’s comments are indefensible. Boxing fans jumping on Dana White like a hungry dog on a steak are only speaking defensively b/c it’s “us” vs. “them.” Objectively, Floyd was wrong is saying what he did, Ellerbe was wrong in blindly defending Floyd’s comments and attacking White about an issue that was non-related… thus changing the subject from Floyd’s racist banter to a rivalry of sports vs. sports or business model vs. business model. And Floyd is a racist.
cylee1180 - February 22, 2012
He responded to White, just not what White said. The same old “Go away, we make more money.” argument.
lightmartyr - February 22, 2012
Ellerbe never addressed the 'racist' nature of Floyd's remarks
Which as his spokesperson and chief bottle washer he should have done.
pakinpower - February 22, 2012
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