Dana White calls B.S. on the supposed 1.5 million PPV buys raked in by Triller’s Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren event.
A week ago, Triller held its spectacle of an event headlined by YouTuber Jake Paul and former UFC fighter Ben Askren. Initial reports say it did at least 1.45 million PPV buys and could top 2 million. Paul claims it already made 1.5 million buys and generated around $75 million in revenue.
With the amount of money and eyeballs supposedly generated by the event, UFC president White was asked if there could be a possible collaboration with Triller and/or Jake Paul down the line. Not only did he reiterate his stance against it, but he also questioned the validity of the numbers that were released.
“The numbers that you’re hearing that they did are full of sh-t. They’re full of sh-t,” White said during the UFC 261 post-fight presser. “They didn’t pull those kinds of numbers at all. Not even f—ng close.
“I don’t believe anything they say. That’s a f—ng circus. None of that’s real. You think any of that shit that’s going on over there is real?
“I built a real business here. A real sport. That’s a freakshow.”
But if the numbers turn out to be true, that would mean Paul vs. Askren surpassed a number of the UFC’s big events like UFC 205 and UFC 246.