Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
Dana White reiterates that UFC employees will keep their jobs.
Endeavor’s financial struggles have gotten worse during this coronavirus pandemic, and it is said that a third of the company — about 2500 employees — will be affected by either layoffs, furloughs or pay cuts. It is also reported that those cuts may not be enough to solve their monetary issues, and Endeavor could be pressured into selling off some of their properties.
The UFC though has been one of Endeavor’s most viable assets, and Dana White has again reiterated that these cuts from their parent company won’t affect the MMA world leader.
“No layoffs in the UFC,” White firmly stated as he spoke to Yahoo! Sports. “None of my people will be laid off. Not happening.”
White, who has an even worsening relationship with the media as of late, smugly brought up how his “people” will be fine, but those who “like to talk s—t” won’t be.
“A lot of people are losing their jobs, and can’t pay their bills,” he said. “People like to talk s—t. People think they know me. They don’t know anything about me. You find out who the real people are when shit goes bad… Let me tell you what, all the people that are with me, are with me. I will always take care of my people.
“A lot of the media were going crazy about me trying to pull off the fight last weekend. A lot of the media are going to get laid off pretty soon. This is just the beginning,” White said with a huge grin. “We haven’t even had talks about going back to normal yet. When we get back to ‘normal,’ it’s going to be a very long time before things are normal again.”
White, who has called the media “the weakest, wimpiest people on earth” for criticizing his efforts to host shows during a pandemic, did bring up some very harsh realities that a lot of journalists and media outlets are currently facing.
Big outlets like the LA Times, Sports Illustrated, The Hill, Buzzfeed, G/O Media, Vice, and even this very website’s parent company in Vox Media have all been hit hard. Advertisement dollars and other revenue streams have been drying up for a lot of outlets, forcing countless of journalists and media members to lose their jobs or be subject to furloughs and pay cuts.
As White alluded to, this is only the beginning, and things are expected to get worse in the coming weeks and months for those media members.