The UFC continues to showcase exactly why it is the premier promotion in MMA after a hugely successful UFC 314 event in Miami on Saturday.
On Saturday, the UFC returned to Miami for UFC 314, which was a stacked fight card from top to bottom, headlined by a featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes.
The co-main event also pitted two of the promotion’s biggest stars together, in Paddy Pimblett vs Michael Chandler, as Pimblett went on to pick up the biggest win of his career.
Outside of the top two fights, the fight card also included several more high quality fights, showcasing why the UFC is the premier MMA promotion.
White concerned by lack of MMA competition following UFC 314
UFC boss, Dana White reacted to the biggest talking points from the event during the post-fight press conference but also expressed his concerns with the lack of competition to the UFC.
The attendance for UFC 314 from the Kaseya Center in Miami was over 18,000 which equaled a gate of $11.5m and the UFC now holds the number one, two, and three spots for the highest gate record of all time at the Kaseya Center.
This event came just days after a new rival promotion, GFL canceled their two debut events scheduled for May due to a lack of funding.
Bellator and the PFL have seemingly long been the number two promotion in the sport, however, fans have grown tired with their product over the last few years.
Although that may seem like extremely good news for the UFC, White believes competition is very much needed for the landscape of the sport to flourish.
“Yeah (it’s concerning), I don’t know enough about the GFL to really speak on it but yeah, it’s a lot harder than it looks, it’s a lot harder than it looks,” White stated at the post-fight press conference.
“(I pay no attention to it), that’s why I don’t know a lot about it, literally none. Obviously, anywhere these guys can go and make money, either on their way up or on their way down, it’s a great thing, but I don’t pay any attention to any of that stuff anymore,” White continued.
The UFC could undergo huge change this Tuesday
The timing of UFC 314 and it being such a spectacular event arguably couldn’t have come at a better time, as their broadcast deal with ESPN is set to end this coming Tuesday.
Their deal with the broadcasting giant began in 2018 and it began as quite a rocky relationship according to White.
Despite that, they seemingly ironed out all of the issues early on in their relationship. However, recently, fans have lodged several complaints regarding UFC PPV events, claiming that they have faced several issues when attempting to purchase the events.
And with that in mind, with their deal set to end on Tuesday, the UFC could undergo a huge change and a new broadcast partner could be announced.