Dana White: Only haters & absolute morons think UFC is a monopoly
The Las Vegas banch of the Culinary Union has for years engaged in a thus far fruitless struggle to uinionize…
The Las Vegas banch of the Culinary Union has for years engaged in a thus far fruitless struggle to uinionize the Station Casino hotel and casino chain. In an attempt to pressure the owners of Station, brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, the casino has gone after another property of theirs, the UFC, an organization that otherwise has noting more to do with a culinary union than everyone on staff eats food.
Steps taken by the union to sabotage the UFC include recently calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether UFC parent comapny Zuffa acts like a monopoly in mixed martial arts.
During the UFC 137 pre fight press conference, UFC President Dana White reacted to the monopoly charge during a question and answer session.
Joe Gugelman, Pro MMA Now: If you don’t see Bellator as an immediate, successful competitor right away, what role do you see them playing in mixed martial arts?
Dana White: There’s tons of shows out there. There’s tons of shows that happen all over the world. They’re another one of those.
Let me tell you what Viacom’s sitting on: They’re sitting on $5 billion in cash. They’ve got the platform, the money, the network. We’ll see what happens.
I guess it’s always fun for you guys and for the fans to say, “Oh, a competitor. They’ve got a new competitor.” It just doesn’t work like that. I’ve been saying that for 10 years; it’s not the way it works.
Most of these guys that everybody thought were competitors were $30 (million) to $40 million in the hole when they ended up going away.
Sergio Non, USA TODAY: Would their success help insulate you from accusations of being a monopoly?
DFW: This is not a monopoly. It’s the dumbest thing ever said.
SN: But people call you that.
DFW: They can call us whatever. People call me a lot of things; doesn’t mean I’m all of them (laughs). But yes, we’re far from a monopoly. If you guys could really know that story too.
SN: But do organizations like Bellator prove that you’re not?
DFW: You guys tell me. If we’re a monopoly — Viacom now owns a mixed martial arts organization. They’re sitting on $5 billion in cash. What does that make us? Now we’re the mom-and-pops. Right? Seriously, I can tell you this: the UFC has been tremendously successful; we’re not sitting on $5 billion in f—— cash.
Kevin Iole, Yahoo Sports: There’s no similarity to Microsoft and Apple a couple of years ago? Microsoft was ruled a monopoly by the European Union.
DFW: We’re not making computer chips over here, ok? So dude, the monopoly thing is so ridiculous. It’s ridiculous.
If you ever thought there was any kind of argument whatsoever that we were — Viacom is now in the business.
Even before we were doing it, Fox was involved. Fox has been involved in mixed martial arts before. You know Bellator was on Fox, right? Bellator was on ESPN. Weren’t they on NBC too? They were on NBC. And now they’re on Spike!
The difference is, now Spike owns it. Spike owns that company now. Viacom owns Spike. Sitting on $5 billion in cash.
Seriously, you have to be a moron — an absolute moron — to say that this thing is a monopoly. Or just out to get us and just hate us and want to say it. So you’re one of the two: You’re either a hater or a moron.
KI: I don’t think that’s true, but…
DFW: It’s absolutely true. It’s a fact. It’s a fact.
Dude, you can talk to a zillion lawyers that deal with monopolies and stuff like this. It’s a joke. It’s an absolute joke.