PFL-grundaren Donn Davis tror UFC-bossen Dana White är oroad för konkurrentens uppgång.
PFL:s Donn Davis tror Dana White är nervös
PFL annonserade igår att de köpt Bellator i en massiv deal som kommer ändra landskapet inom MMA. Även om UFC fortfarande är den främsta organisationen inom MMA så tror Davis att PFL gjort White oroad att de kan komma att utmana UFC om toppositionen.
Davis dök upp i The MMA Hour kort efter att nyheten om köpet briserat:
Everybody knows Dana well enough that he only dismisses things that worry him. Or else he just doesn’t comment. He didn’t comment on the PFL for four years, cause he wasn’t worried. He’s commented on the PFL a lot (in) the last six months, you’re worried. What specifically worried him about Bellator is the metrics we put on the press release. 30% of that roster is ranked in the top 25 per Fight Matrix rankings. This is not Dana gets to rank his own guys, Donn’s ranking his own guys, there is only one group that ranks all guys, Fight Matrix, independently. 30% of the UFC roster is top 25 ranked, and now our combined company of PFL and Bellator, 30%.
Now, to the UFC’s credit, if they look at the top five in the world, they still own the top five, one through five. So, call it pay-per-view cards, we couldn’t compete with them right now, which is why we only have two and they have 12.
But, if you say I’m turning on TV on ESPN Saturday night or tuning in Friday night to watch this Bellator International Series or PFL, our cards are going to be better. Because, what they put on this year was ranked 70 and what we are going to put on next year is ranked 40. That’s why I said, ‘I don’t know why on God’s green Earth anyone is buying this.’
He’s smart and he knows that. UFC ain’t the NFL, we are not the XFL, but he wants you to think that. It’s just a matter of time before that starts to get more well-known and we aren’t number two and we are a co-leader and he doesn’t want that.
I nuläget har inte Dana White reagerat på nyheten om att PFL köpt Bellator. Han har dock varit avfärdande förut mot konkurrenterna. Davis har dock sett White sett att hantera frågorna som tecken på dennes nervositet.
Enligt Davis så skulle det inte krävas att PFL besegrade UFC för att han skulle utropa seger. Det handlar bara om att UFC får en riktig konkurrent:
What’s fantastic is the UFC is a great company and they invented this industry. This is not about taking share or shifting share. MMA is growing. MMA is growing 10 percent a year, every other sport two to three percent. They’re going to do well. We’re going to just do really, really well. And I’m excited to have my new teammates at Bellator, I’m excited to have all our new fighters propelling us forward and we’re going to win.
The next time we’re on here, when people laughed that we’re going to be a co-leader, we’re going to be a co-leader. Just like they laughed that we’re going to be No. 2, and we’re No. 2. So to me, if you’re on the new Bellator team, if you’re on the new combined PFL team, declare victory.
I flera år har det debatterats om vilken som är den näst största organisationen inom MMA bakom UFC. Bellator sågs länge som tvåan i Nordamerika varefter PFL tagit över platsen. ONE Championship har i sin tur sett sig som tvåan i och med dess dominans in Asien. I och med PFL:s köp av Bellator verkar dock den frågan vara avklarad nu.
Vad tror ni? Har White skäl att vara oroad?
