Three years ago UFC president Dana White said he was uninterested in having women compete in the UFC.
Today, he is guaranteeing that his women’s bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey, will shatter pay-per-view records if and when she ever tangos with Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino in the Octagon.
White appeared on the Jim Rome show on Wednesday and gushed over her pioneering champion, while at the same time speculating about how huge a clash with Cyborg would be for Zuffa.
“I don’t know [who wins], I think that’s why the fight is so exciting,” he said during the interview. “There’s no denying that Cyborg’s a beast, man. She’s tough, and many people believe — including me — that Ronda’s the best in the world and the best female fighter ever. So it’s one of those fights that’s very intriguing. And I’ll tell you this, Jim, when that fight happens I guarantee you that fight does over two million pay-per-view buys. It will be massive.”
When Rome reiterated the number — which would be the biggest PPV event in UFC history, surpassing UFC 100 which did a little over 1.5 million buys — White didn’t balk.
“Yeah, definitely. Definitely.”
With Rousey having appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, on HBO’s “Real Sports,” and on the Howard Stern Show — all while releasing her book, My Fight/Your Fight — White said he believed in Rousey’s star power. He also talked about how she’s not only a transcendent figure in competition, but in how professionally she carries herself outside the Octagon.
“She’s the greatest athlete that I’ve ever worked with, period. I wish I had 10 Ronda Rouseys,” he said.
He also stated that Rousey clears over millions of dollars in sponsorship money.
“She’s laser-focused on her career and what she wants to do,” he said. “None of these guys want to do PR; she’ll do any PR you ask her to do. She’ll even do PR to try and help somebody else’s fight. We need her to do things, a lot of activation with sponsors…no problem, she’s there. And then when she leaves the sponsors call her and say she was unbelievable to work with.
“I mean, that woman is making over $3 million dollars a year in sponsorship.”
Rome pointed out that Justino had been critical of Rousey, even as she’s appearing on so many media platforms and promoting her new book. Asked what his response to Justino’s criticisms were, White laughed.
“Who would you rather be, Cyborg or Ronda?” he said. “Cyborg just always sounds like she’s trying to get the fight with Ronda; all she has to do is make 135 pounds and we’ve got a fight.
As to whether he thought Justino could make the weight, White said everybody’s hope is that she does.
“I want that fight,” he said. “Ronda wants that fight, and I think everybody else wants to see that fight. Supposedly, sometime before the end of this year [Cyborg]’s supposed to cut down to 135 pounds, she will fight in Invicta, and if she fights that fight and wins, then Ronda will be next.”