Newly minted UFC welterweight kingpin Islam Makhachev believes the UFC is not promoting fights as much as the promotion once did. Makhachev says that UFC CEO Dana White has a lot on his plate and is now active in a lot of other ventures. Ultimately, though, the promotion has the power to make any fight loud enough if they so choose.
Makhachev also added that while the UFC used to focus heavily on advertising the fights and its athletes, it now appears to have “lost interest.” In a recent interview with Udar Kanal, he said:
“In the UFC, I think, they started working on this less [promoting fights]. In the UFC before, they would make a star out of anyone. They did it themselves, promoted fighters, paid a lot of attention to it. But now, somehow, the UFC itself has lost interest. Dana is also already a big guy. Other things, he’s involved in many other things too, you know. And if the UFC wants, they can make any fight loud. They probably need to want it.”
The P4P king then added:
“Dana needs, I don’t know, to return to his roots — how he started, how he created all this. Well, you know, a person also loses motivation. So much time, he’s been at the top. And I know that he is already slowly finding people who will replace him.” [h/t: Home of Fight on X]
Check out Islam Makhachev’s comments about Dana White and the UFC below:
Dana White does not intend to retire anytime soon
Earlier this month, Dana White spoke about the idea of retirement and how it doesn’t appeal to him at all. The UFC head honcho became the president of the organization in 2001 and has been leading the UFC for over two decades.
White, who is now 56-years-old, still has no intentions to retire and only wants to see the company expand. In an interview with Luke Elsman, he stated:
“What the f**k am I gonna do if I am gonna retire? When I was younger, older people used to say, ‘When I retire, I’ll be drinking Mai Tais on the beach,’ etc. I go on great vacations — after 10 days, I’m sick of drinking, I’m sick of all this sh*t, and I’m ready to get back to the grind… I’m always thinking about how to make the business bigger and bigger every day.”
Check out Dana White’s comments below:
