Sanctioned or non-sanctioned, when the President of the UFC has his own State of the Union Address regarding anything pertaining to the sport of mixed martial arts, everyone listens. Whether because it’s important regards to the UFC, whether he has an ax to grind with a competitor or former employee, or because he’s just a natural livewire and you’d better be ready for it, they listen. White’s recent barb is with rival promotion, Bellator MMA and their commander in chief, Scott Coker.
.@DanaWhite responded to "cute" @ScottCoker's claim of light heavyweight division superiority. 😶
Full #UFCVegas7 interview: https://t.co/rJj70yZMtE pic.twitter.com/tcX71ZEoEJ
— MMA Junkie (@MMAjunkie) August 23, 2020
Following the signing of light-heavyweight Corey Anderson from the WME owned entity, Coker claims that the Viacom-owned organization may have the best class at 205, where Jon Jones has finally relinquished his crown to jump into the heavyweight pool. After over a decade and a half of dominant fighters headlining the division back when the UFC was run by Zuffa, Bellator may be able to back up that bold statement. Boasting new champion, Vadim Nemkov, who defeated the defending Ryan Bader, along with Melvin Manhoef, Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis, Kyoto “The Dragon” Machida, Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal, Liam McGeary, Alessio Sakara, and Jordan Young, this could be a moment for Bellator to seize in building their brand on new talent jumping ship.
Hi @danawhite I'm the one who destroyed steroids machine @MikeChandlerMMA, whom you said deserves a talk, in 61 seconds. If you send some of your top fighters to @BellatorMMA I can do the same to them too. Let's bet like you did with PRIDE. https://t.co/xd52IBplbp
— Patricio Pitbull (@PatricioPitbull) August 23, 2020
While they may be seen as “The WCW of MMA”, Dana White’s UFC is still at the top above the sport’s promotions. While Bellator MMA has improved their roster, White claims it’s because the UFC never went to resign them and that they came from him. As much as the world knows, Coker is still looking to use White’s former fighters against him, but as long as they can outsell White, who is masterful in getting people to see his show over everyone else’s.
Easiest money you will ever make @danawhite, let’s make it happen 💵 pic.twitter.com/qXkvExxwgn
— Alex Volkanovski (@alexvolkanovski) August 26, 2020
History has proven that any rival to the UFC has either folded or been bought out. With the variety of promotions available, White and Co. wouldn’t mind adding another to their collection. As the WWE of MMA, could this be the organization that may finally learn how to promote at an A-list level to shut the George Steinbrenner-Esque mouth on the UFC president? Or will the UFC’s promoting, out will the will of Bellator MMA’s finest?
