Business between Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) could get very interesting in the coming months and years.
UFC parent company, Endeavor, made another massive purchase this week (Mon., April 3, 2023), acquiring WWE. The news came directly after WWE’s biggest annual event, WrestleMania (watch highlights), this past weekend and directly ahead of this weekend’s (Sat., April 8, 2023) UFC 287 pay-per-view (PPV) in Miami, Florida. Several notable names within each organization immediately reacted to the news, including the biggest star in mixed martial arts (MMA), Conor McGregor.
McGregor quickly began bantering back-and-forth with longtime professional wrestling figure and on-screen manager, Paul Heyman, on Twitter. Therefore, prompting the former Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) head to go in on “The Notorious” as only he can.
“If he’s relevant at 50 … we’ll see if he even lives to 57 with his lifestyle,” Heyman told Ariel Helwani. “It’s not that he tweeted to me. I picked the fight with him. Let’s be honest about this. He, as a Roman Reigns wannabe, did the Paul Heyman-style title on each shoulder and gave a shoutout to himself. Of course, he did. You know, the ultimate self-promoter in Conor McGregor. You know, standing nine feet tall and weighing 155 pounds at 5-foot-4.
“So, with that in mind, I said, look at Conor McGregor, a Roman Reigns wannabe, and of course, he goes, ‘Oh, be careful, grandpa. I’ll break your jaw in three places,’” he continued. “My father, who was a pretty street-savvy guy from the Bronx, he used to say, ‘If you’re going to hit somebody, you don’t go and walk up to them and go, ‘I’m gonna kick your ass, I’m gonna punch ya in the face, I’m gonna beat you up, I’m gonna come get you.’ They walk up and they hit you. He’s talking a good game, but he ain’t coming after ‘The Wiseman.’”
In terms of superstars, Heyman has consistently been affiliated with WWE’s biggest names for the past two decades. Most notably, Heyman has represented his real-life friend and former UFC Heavyweight titleholder, Brock Lesnar, and currently aligns with the reigning aforementioned WWE Universal champion, Reigns. These jabs at McGregor haven’t been his first and very likely won’t be the last after the colliding of worlds that’s destined to be.