UFC plays second fiddle to Stanley Cup
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Almost exactly a year ago, a group of reporters crowded around Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana…
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Almost exactly a year ago, a group of reporters crowded around Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White prior to UFC 115. One of them asked White if he felt the day would when mixed martial arts would ever be as big as hockey.
Hockey! White shrieked, before laughing.
The implication was clear. In White’s mind, MMA, and particularly the UFC’s brand of it, had long since surpassed hockey in terms of relevance with the general public.
Fast forward a year and White is back in Vancouver, promoting UFC 131 on Saturday at Rogers Arena, with a lot more respect for hockey, particularly Canadians’ passion for the sport. Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Arena between the Boston Bruins and the hometown Vancouver Canucks is Friday night and the UFC was not the big story in town, as it was a year earlier.
A Boston-area native, the usually outspoken White was asked at the UFC 131 prefight news conference whether he was rooting for the Bruins. White demurred and didn’t answer, a rarity for him.