Bob Arum: "I Love the UFC."

Lorenzo Fertitta pays $1.1 million to buy Muhammad Ali's boxing gloves and hear Bob Arum say 'I love the UFC' http://www.mmamania.com/2012/2/21/2814349/ufc-lorenzo-fertitta-muhammad-ali-boxing-gloves-bob-arum-fundraiser by: Jesse Holland on Feb 21, 2012 1:30 PM EST in UFC News How much did it cost ZUFFA co-owner and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) CEO Lorenzo Fertitta to hear fossilized fight promoter Bob Arum say "I love the UFC?" Around $1.1 million. The whopping payout also scored him a pair of Muhammad Ali's boxing gloves. Not just any old pair, either, but the same ones he used to defeat Floyd Patterson in their 1965 heavyweight title fight in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to ESPN.com. Fertitta was on hand for the red carpet fundraiser, held at "Sin City's" MGM Grand Resort and Casino, to honor Ali's 70th birthday, as well as raise money for brain research, including the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky. "The Greatest" has been fighting Parkinson's disease for almost 30 years. So, how does Arum factor into the equation? Star-divide "Bigot Bob," who in the past referred to UFC fighters as juiced-up homosexual skinheads, was forced to drop his usual anti-MMA tirade and play nice during the auction, because Fertitta would only raise his bid for the famous gloves, which at the time was approaching $750,000, if Arum openly admitted he loved the UFC. He did, and Fertitta immediately tweeted his moral and financial victory. The star-studded affair, which attracted over 2,000 attendees along with a who's-who of celebrities and sports stars, will air this Saturday night (Feb. 25, 2012) on ABC and ESPN.