Dana White and Stephen Espinoza clearly won’t have any issue practicing social distancing when it comes to their own contentious relationship.
The presidents of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Showtime Sports, respectively, once again found themselves at odds with one another, this time surrounding Saturday’s presentation of UFC 249. The mixed martial arts (MMA) card was the first sporting event to take place in the United States since the first signs of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic began to escalate worldwide in mid-March.
Saturday’s card followed all COVID-19 prevention protocol, with the event taking place without fans in attendance at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. All participants on the card were repeatedly tested and ordered to practice social distancing from on-site arrival to and through fight night. Buzz for the card was already a trending topic, but more so after Espinoza responded to a claim from Erik Magraken, a combat sports injury lawyer and managing partner of a law firm in Canada who claimed that all parties involved with UFC 249 were “100% satisfied with the measures” taken regarding testing protocol.
It turns out there was a reason for that.
“It’s because they were required to sign a document which says they can lose their whole purse and bonuses if they say anything negative about the COVID protocols,” tweeted Espinoza, head of Showtime Sports and among the most influential voices in boxing today.
Naturally, the comments caught the ire of his UFC counterpart, who went on the defensive in part due to their longstanding disdain for one another. There was also the need to clear the air.
“That’s not true,” White insisted during a post-fight press conference. “First of all, there’s something in the contract for disparagement. There’s a [non-]disparagement clause in there, that’s in all of our contracts.”
The clause to which White refers is Paragraph 7 of a fight contract which all participants were required to sign which reads as follows:
“The Participant shall not, and shall cause its affiliates, agents and representatives not to, defame or disparage any of the Released Parties in any medium whatsoever in connection with the Activities. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Participant will not suggest or communicate to any person or entity that the Activities have been or will be held without appropriate health, safety or other precautions, whether relating to COVID-19 or otherwise.
“If the Participant is a Fighter, the Participant hereby acknowledges and agrees that in the event that the Participant breaches this Paragraph 7, the Company may revoke all or any part of any prize monies or awards won by the Participant in connection with the Activities, including but not limited to, purses, wins bonuses, other fight-related bonuses and event-based merchandise royalties.”
The language in the contract speaks to what was suggested by Espinoza, who graduated with a Juris Doctor degree from UCLA School of Law in 1996.
Several media outlets agreed with Espinoza.
One of those outlets was ESPN, who have an exclusive content deal with White's company. They published an article on their official site which appeared to back Espinoza's interpretation of the contract.
According to the article by ESPN: All participants -- including media in attendance -- involved in the fight card, which was held Saturday night in Jacksonville, Florida, were asked to sign a liability waiver earlier this week. The waiver includes the assumption of risk for participants if they test positive for the coronavirus and releases the UFC from any responsibility in case of infection.
The waiver also has a "non-disparagement" clause that states the UFC "may revoke all or any part of any prize monies or awards won" by a fighter on the card if they "defame or disparage" the promotion for its safety precautions "or otherwise." The clause extends the possible punitive action to fighters' "affiliates, agents and representatives."
In the last few weeks, White verbally lashed out at Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum, Golden Boy's CEO Oscar De La Hoya - and this time around he erupted in the direction of Espinoza.
“Isn’t that creepy looking little f--ker a lawyer?” White rhetorically asked. “Isn’t that little creepy f--king goofball a lawyer? Does he not know what disparagement means? If you disparage the company. I’m not even a f--king lawyer and I know the answer to that question. It’d be like if you said, ‘They never tested me. The UFC never tested me for the coronavirus.’ But if you came out and had something critical to say about the testing that was true., that wouldn’t be disparagement.
“What f--king law school did he go to? I can’t stand that f--king creep anyway, in case you couldn’t tell. He’s just a f--king—look at him. A creepy little dude. And what the f--k does he know about our contracts? What does that guy know about our contracts? I thought that guy was a lawyer. Wasn’t he de la Hoya’s lawyer?”
UFC 249 was rescheduled from its original date of April 18, which was to have been headlined by a lightweight title fight between unbeaten defending champion and pound-for-pound king Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson live from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The event was postponed in the wake of the global health crisis and in compliance with New York State’s stay-at-home policy.
The rescheduled card came without the services of Nurmagomedov, who had returned home to Russia and was unable to travel back to the U.S. Ferguson went on to face Justin Gaethje, who claimed the interim title with a 5th round stoppage in Saturday’s main event. The show was due to have 12 fights on the card, only for one bout to have been canceled. Brazil’s Rolando ‘Jacaré’ Souza tested positive for COVID-19 along with two team members, forcing him to withdraw from his planned three-round bout with NYC-based Jamaican middleweight Uriah Hall.
The remaining 11 bouts aired live spread out over three separate telecasts. The show opened on UFC Fight Pass before transitioning to a four-fight preliminary card live in prime time on ESPN and ESPN+. From there came the five-fight main card which aired live on Pay-Per-View.
UFC has two more shows planned in the next week, taking place Wednesday, May 13 and Saturday, May 16, respectively. Both cards will air live on ESPN, also from the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.
The crowdless atmosphere provided a potential template for boxing to follow. Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum and his staff at Top Rank are continuing to work out all the kinks for a planned series to air live on ESPN beginning in June, though with designs of airing 2-3 shows per week and just 4-5 fights per card.
ViacomCBS, the parent company of Showtime (and BoxingScene.com), announced in a recent shareholders conference call its intention to explore the possibility of Showtime boxing and Bellator MMA shows to air live from a CBS lot in Studio City, California. The network was the last to air a live boxing event from the United States, which came with its March 13 presentation of ShoBox to the backdrop of a crowdless venue in Hinckley, Minnesota.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox