Dana White’s recent comment on Twitter about pro wrestling being fake got under the skin of some people. One of those people might be Brock Lesnar.
Lesnar, the former UFC heavyweight champion and current WWE star, addressed White’s remarks in an interview with ESPN on Tuesday. And he has a theory as to why White made them in the first place.
“The business model is the same,” Lesnar said of UFC and WWE. “It’s identical. And I think Vince McMahon is better at it than Dana and that might rub Dana the wrong way.”
@RKORollins I hear u bro but fake shit should be 9.99
— Dana White (@danawhite) August 1, 2015
Lesnar obviously has a wealth of experience in both forums and he believes White and McMahon are essentially doing the same things through different vehicles. WWE is obviously staged, choreographed entertainment, while MMA is real fighting.
“Dana, probably in his defense, is promoting fighting,” Lesnar said. “But it’s the same thing. He’s trying to sell pay-per-views. He’s trying to sell money fights. It’s the same racket.”
Lesnar, 38, was a massive WWE star in the early 2000s before making the transition to MMA. In the UFC, the massive, freak athlete won the heavyweight title in just his fourth pro fight. His record stands at 5-3 after losses to Cain Velasquez and Alistair Overeem before he retired in 2011.
Lesnar teased a return to the UFC as recently as this past winter. The South Dakota native’s contract with WWE ran out in April and he was in negotiations with the UFC. He even showed up at UFC 184 in Los Angeles and sat near White and UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta. Days later, Lesnar announced on ESPN that he re-signed with WWE.
A big selling point for Lesnar, along with a boatload of money, was the fact that with his schedule pro wrestling wasn’t nearly as grueling as going through training camps for a fight. He essentially works part-time for millions of dollars.
“Of course, Dana, it’s fake,” Lesnar said. “Everybody knows that. You’re promoting the same thing we’re promoting. Dana White is promoting fights. We’re promoting fights. It just so happens that we get a little more longevity out of our fights and our fighters, because of the circumstances.
“It is a staged arena. Every knows that and if you can’t turn WWE on Monday night and get something out of that show and be entertained, then there’s something wrong with you.”
Because, as Lesnar believes, McMahon is a better promoter in that context than White.
“Vince is the pioneer of it,” Lesnar said. “He’s been doing this his whole life. And he’s damn good at it.”