UFC president Dana White was very fired up when discussing some recent comments that were made by Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum.
This past Saturday night, WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford crushed Kell Brook in four rounds at the MGM Grand's Conference Center in Las Vegas.
On Sunday, Arum made very critical comments when discussing Crawford's inability to properly market himself into a crossover star.
“He’s got to promote like [Teofimo] Lopez does. He’s got to promote like Shakur [Stevenson] does. Like [Floyd] Mayweather did. Like [Manny] Pacquiao did. If he doesn’t, then who the f--- needs him? He may be the greatest fighter in the world, but, hey, I ain’t going bankrupt promoting him," Arum told Lance Pugmire of The Athletic.
“The question is, ‘Do we want to keep him?’ I could build a house in Beverly Hills on the money I’ve lost on him in the last three fights, a beautiful home. Nobody questions Crawford’s innate, tremendous ability. By beating a naturally bigger guy [in Kell Brook], decisively, that’s a big statement that’s he’s making. The question is, ‘Does he pay the bills?’ Look, you can have the greatest opera singer in the world. If the fans don’t support it, you’re out of business.”
On Tuesday, during the post-fight press conference for Dana White’s Contender Series 36, the UFC executive discussed Arum's comments with reporters.
White believes it's the job of Arum and Top Rank to make Crawford a crossover star. He strongly feels the area of turning a fighter into a crossover star should not fall on the shoulders of the fighter.
“Can you imagine if I said that?” White said. “Are you f--king kidding me? You guys would murder me if I said that. I’d never hear the end of that. That’s what you do. That’s not [Crawford’s] f--king problem, that’s your problem.
“His problem isn’t to figure out how you make money. You f--king signed a deal with this kid, at how many people we have on the roster, our roster is very inflated right now. We have a very big roster, the biggest roster we’ve ever had in the history of the company. I have to pay all these kids. How I pay them is not their f--king problem. It’s my f--king problem.
“Imagine me saying ‘oh, I gotta pay Conor McGregor this much money, I could have built a house in Beverly Hills.’ Shut the f--k up, you f--king scumbag. Pay your f--king fighter what you owe him, do you job. Bob Arum is a piece of f--king sh--."