The ongoing feud between Dana White, the UFC President, and Stephen Espinoza, Showtime’s boxing executive, escalated recently. Started with White criticizing Showtime’s boxing content as subpar, prompting a sharp comeback from Espinoza during a press conference for the Canelo Alvarez vs Jermell Charlo fight. Espinoza highlighted their event’s remarkable gate numbers, emphasizing that they’ve hit a $20 million gate multiple times—a feat the UFC has never accomplished. This back-and-forth drama continues as White responds to Espinoza’s counterattack and called him a credit thief.
Dana White Grills Stephen Espinoza Over $20M Gate Success, Citing Accusations of Credit Thief
During a recent press conference, White made remarks about rumors of Showtime Sports leaving the boxing industry. He criticized the overall quality of Showtime’s product and expressed his dislike for Stephen Espinoza. White stated that it was unfortunate to hear about the potential exit of the network but also stated that it was about time for the low-quality product to be taken off the air.
After which at Alvarez vs. Charlo presser, Espinoza of Showtime mentioned that the upcoming event is expected to generate over $20 million from ticket sales, marking their third time hitting that mark in the past six months. In contrast, the UFC has never achieved a $20 million gate in its entire history. And called it UFC is not matching the level of Showtime.
And now once again White retaliated on his IG story and said, “That’s exactly the type of response I would expect from that Weasel Espinoza. That sc***ag has absolutely nothing to do with the success of Canelo, Ryan Garcia, and Terrence Crawford. Those guys are mega stars and they are the ones responsible for driving the gates in their fights. For him to even try and take any credit at all shows you exactly what an arrogant, delusional POS that guy is. For this clown to talk about “levels” is hilarious.”
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White added the production quality of fights on Showtime is subpar and he criticized Espinoza, describing him as a person with a big mouth. He also stated that it is unsurprised that boxing on Showtime he sarcastically wished Espinoza “happy retirement”.
While UFC is fastest growing sports, boxing still reigns supreme in terms of financial appeal, making it a major draw for fans and those in the industry. Now it will be interesting to follow the developments of this situation.
