UFC's PPV future 'not dead,' Dana White says after $7.7B Paramount deal
On the same day the UFC announced an earth-shattering $7.7 billion deal with Paramount, Dana White, the promotion's CEO and president, tells The Post that pay-per-view formatted events could still fit into its plans.
'There's no pay-per-view involved in this deal,' White said. 'Let's say there's a scenario –– I am involved in boxing, I am involved in slapping, I am involved in jiu-jitsu and I'm involved in the UFC –– What I love about this business is, I can lay out what we think the fights are going to be for a year, and a fight will pop up that I never saw coming. A star will pop up out of somewhere. Anything is possible. And you could do a one-off pay-per-view. I am going to be on pay-per-view this Saturday. Pay-Per-View is not dead.'
The new deal will see 13 showcase numbered events and 30 Fight Nights on the Paramount+ streaming service, with 'selected numbered events' to be simulcast on CBS, per TKO's press release.
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18 minutes ago
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By working toward it, it gave me a life beyond my wildest dreams.' Don't get it twisted. His days weren't sunshine and rainbows. It would be the intensest of grinds for even the most straight-edge person, never mind someone in the early stages of recovery. Every day, Drago would wake up at 7 a.m. and sometimes work until 5 p.m., before a conditioning workout and a sparring session. "I remember talking to people like, 'Bro, you have no idea the isolation I go through.' It was a rough period of time," Drago said. "But there was no wife back then. There was no house. I was still an amateur. It was kind of wild, just going through all those motions. ... It was like seven years in the fight career and kept doing what that guy was doing day-in and day-out for years, still doing the fight camps. I stared death in the face every day, man. This is not some local construction job. Local 40 is the apex predator of construction." For the past year and a half, Drago has stepped away from being an active member of the union – but only temporarily. He'll be back. He's just pursuing this MMA thing in the meantime. The next episode Tuesday's episode will represent a lot of things for Drago. It'll show what hard work makes possible. "Before I walk into that cage and before those doors open, I ask myself a simple question: 'Did I do everything I could to prepare for this fight?' The answer is yes," Drago said. "What's meant to happen happens after that.' A win will further serve as validation for all of the important people in his life who helped support him during his darkest times and provided structure to the light. His mother. His wife. His family and friends. LAW MMA. Local 40 Ironworkers. The list goes on. But perhaps the most powerful and important presence Drago will feel in the UFC Apex will be a spirit. Someone unable to physically be in attendance, but who will have more of an impact on his performance than anyone else. 'If my father was here, which is one of the biggest… I wouldn't say letdowns… but something I missed out on," Drago said. "If he was here just to see this opportunity, he would be the most ecstatic human being that you can meet. He was the UFC before the UFC was a thought. He was just a tough street guy. He'd give the shirt off his back to anybody. We have very similar stories. I dream of just f*cking putting this kid out and looking into the camera, like, 'Dad, we did it.'" "That's what I see earning the UFC contract is to me, is that's 'Look how far you come.' You want to talk about beating the f*cking odds? I beat the f*cking odds," Drago said. "It's just another moment in the journey I get to look back on. I truly believe my father is with me – win, lose, fail, no matter what. I truly believe I'm in the care of him, no matter what. But to win that contract and look back at this journey, it would mean everything to me, honestly.'
