The battle to succeed in combat sports can often pit rival promotions against each other as organizations battle for space in a crowded marketplace. But, with the entire world facing the same challenges as they attempt to stay afloat during the global COVID-19 pandemic, UFC president Dana White said he takes no satisfaction from seeing his rivals struggle.
Asian MMA promotion ONE Championship – which has often sought to position itself in contrast to the UFC with regard to the way they promote the sport – announced this week that it had laid off a fifth of its workforce in a bid to “streamline operations” at the Singapore-based organization.
But, while ONE has made huge cuts to its staff, White has consistently maintained his desire not to lay off any of his employees, and although there may be a competitive business relationship between the two organizations, White had no intention of taking a victory lap over his promotion’s ability to maintain its headcount compared to its rivals.
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Speaking to reporters ahead of UFC on ESPN 11 in Las Vegas, White said he appreciated the difficulty promotions have operating during the pandemic and said he didn’t wish job losses on anybody, in any promotion.
“No. I know how hard this is, believe me,” he said.
“You guys, most of you have known me for a very long time. Whether you like me, you hate me; you don’t agree with me, you agree with me – when I come out and tell you something is the hardest thing that I’ve ever done, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done and there were a lot of powerful forces battling against us for this to happen. And I don’t wish that on anybody.
“I know everybody thinks I hate all these … I don’t hate all these other groups. All these other groups need to survive for this thing to work for everybody. People getting laid off and losing their jobs – I don’t wish that on anybody, ever.”