UFC president Dana White gives his take on the sudden cancellation of the Jake Paul-Hasim Rahman Jr. fight.
After a brief build-up, the Jake Paul-Hasim Rahman Jr. boxing match is now off the table. In a recent statement by Paul’s promotion Most Valuable Promotions, Rahman supposedly refused to comply with the agreed 200-pound limit for the August 6th event.
“On Friday, Rahman submitted a weight check to the New York State Athletic Commission that demonstrated he had lost less than one pound since originally signing to take the fight 24 days prior,” an excerpt from MVP’s statement reads.
“This prompted the commission to declare that it would not sanction the fight at less than 205 pounds. Still, Jake Paul was prepared to move forward with the fight at this new weight and a new contract was sent to Rahman’s promoter reflecting a 205-pound limit, imposing strict penalties should he fail to make weight.
“Upon receiving this new contract Saturday morning, Rahman’s camp indicated for the very first time that he planned to weigh 215 pounds at the official weigh-in and would not agree to weigh in at 205 pounds and informing Most Valuable Promotions that they are pulling out of the fight unless the fight was agreed to at 215 pounds.”
It was during these frustrating moments when Paul and MVP decided to cancel the event. But UFC president Dana White has his own theories, which he shared to the media at the UFC 277 media scrum.
“I think they sold under a million dollars in tickets and it cost $500,000 to turn the f—ng lights on at MSG,” he told reporters. “That’s what I think. Not to mention the fact that hotel rooms in New York and transportation and everything else is very expensive.”
White said he didn’t want to gloat, given his strained relations with Paul. But he was gentler this time around.
“I will say this: just because you’re an accountant here, doesn’t mean you know what the f—k goes on here, and doesn’t mean you can run a fight promotion company,” he said.
“I think that Jake Paul probably needs to get some different people around him. If he’s gonna stay in this sport, he needs to be with guys that actually really know how to put on fights.”
Paul vs. Rahman Jr. was supposed to happen at Madison Square Garden.