White: Stop the Money Fight talk, shut up and fight
“Conor brings in big gates, big pay-per-view numbers and everything else. Shut up if you don’t. If you’re not him, shut up.”
Amateur fighters fight for the love of the sport. Professionals, most of them, love what they do, but they fight for money, and the more the better. There is a developing trend in which champions angle for a fight not with the #1 contender but vs. the fighter likely to get the most pay per view buys.
It’s smart to want a Red Panty Night. When welterweight Tyron Woodley won the title, he immediately called out Georges St-Pierre or Nick Diaz. Middleweight champion Michael Bisping ended up with the GSP plum. A number of fans are not impressed. It’s the equivalent of the New England Patriots making the Super Bowl because they sell the most apparel. UFC president Dana said he, too, it getting tired of all the calls for a “Money Fight.”
I’m getting tired of the term ‘money fights,’ said White on Friday to FOX Sports, as transcribed by Mike Bohn for MMAjunkie. (They say), ‘I want the money fights. I want the money fights.’ What? are you all going to move down and fight Conor? Listen, there’s no bones about it: Conor is the guy. Conor brings in big gates, big pay-per-view numbers and everything else. Shut up if you don’t. If you’re not him, shut up.
Guys are talking about money fights, and I’m like, ‘You’re not a money fight.’ OK? You’re going to make whatever you’re going to make, and if you’re a good champion, your fight sells, and you’re going to do pay-per-views and be part of the pay-per-view. If you’re not that big pay-per-view star, shut up and fight.”
Despite White’s statement, any champion faced with the choice of the toughest fight for less money, or an easier fight for more money, is going to make the rational choice.