UFC CEO Dana White does not sound too thrilled about potential crossover with WWE now that the two combat sports giants are under Endeavor’s TKO.
As noted on Tuesday, White joined Endeavor, WWE and UFC executives at the New York Stock Exchange to officially launch the new company. He told Sports Business Journal that he was looking forward to seeing what the new company is able to accomplish over the next few years. He also said he does not foresee any changes to his day-to-day life.
“It really doesn’t change a thing for me or my staff,” White said on Tuesday. “We have a pretty well-oiled machine, and we’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing.”
Later in the day, UFC Senior EVP & COO Lawrence Epstein spoke with ESPN and revealed one of the longterm goals for TKO.
“Where we want to get is where every UFC fan is a WWE fan and every WWE fan is a UFC fan,” Epstein said.
MMA Junkie and other media asked White about Epstein’s aforementioned statement after shooting Dana White’s Contender Series on Tuesday night in Las Vegas. White called this “one of the dumbest statements of all time.”
“I don’t know why he said that,” White said. “I don’t even know what to say to that. No, there’s no – there’s some crossover. Some people like WWE, some people like UFC, some like both. I don’t think there’s ever gonna be a day where we turn every UFC fan into a WWE fan or every WWE fan into a UFC fan.”
White acknowledged that there is some crossover, as we’ve seen with names like Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey, but he just never sees that crossover reaching the level Epstein envisions.
“What’s beautiful about the synergy between these two fanbases is they are very completely opposite,” White said. “There’s very little crossover. Maybe he was misquoted. I hope that’s the case, because I could not disagree with him more.”
FULL COVERAGE OF ENDEAVOR MERGING WWE AND UFC TO CREATE TKO GROUP HOLDINGS:
– TKO’s Longterm Plans for WWE and UFC, Products to Change?, UFC’s Interest In WWE, More
– Triple H and Others Receive Significant Bonus Pay Following WWE – UFC Merger
– Nick Khan on CM Punk Possibly Returning to WWE
– Dana White on Partnering with WWE, If His Daily Work Will Change with Merger
– Mood at WWE HQ Today, TKO Stock Update, Video of TKO Officials at the NYSE, New TKO Website, More
– Nick Khan’s Internal Memo to WWE Employees on TKO Launch Revealed
– Nick Khan Talks WWE TV Deals, UFC Executive on Endeavor’s Role In the Negotiations
– Big WWE – UFC Display at the New York Stock Exchange, Final WWE Stock Price
– Official Announcement on WWE and UFC Becoming TKO Under Endeavor, Vince McMahon Comments
Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for more.
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