White taking lead role in Strikeforce negotiations with Showtime
Dana White has taken the negotiating reigns with Showtime. The UFC president on Wednesday met with executives from the premium…
Dana White has taken the negotiating reigns with Showtime.
The UFC president on Wednesday met with executives from the premium cable channel to resume talks on the future of a broadcast partnership Zuffa, LLC assumed with the purchase of Strikeforce.
Previously, UFC executive Lorenzo Fertitta had spearheaded negotiations. But with the recent exodus of Ken Hershman from Showtime to HBO, White reversed his stance on getting involved in the process.
“I think it went really well,” he said today.
Although he didn’t elaborate much on the result of the talks, White said Showtime wants to stay in the MMA business. Without Hershman in the picture, he said, his outlook has brightened considerably on the partnership.
“Because he’s an idiot, and the rest of the guys aren’t,” White said.
White didn’t say whether the renewal, which comes about in late February of next year, is going to happen. He did say, however, that UFC programming will not be on Showtime. He also isn’t sure whether Hershman will be replaced with an executive to spearhead the channel’s current MMA operations.
“I don’t know what their plans are, but I had a great meeting with them,” White said. “I met with all of them. The whole crew over there. It went very well, and we’ll see how it progresses.”