PFL founder Donn Davis thinks UFC CEO Dana White is worried about his promotion.
The PFL announced on Monday that they bought Bellator in a massive deal that will change the landscape of MMA. Although the UFC is still the top promotion in MMA, Davis believes the PFL has White nervous that they can challenge them for the top spot.
“Everybody knows Dana well enough that he only dismisses things that worry him. Or else he just doesn’t comment. He didn’t comment on the PFL for four years, cause he wasn’t worried,” Donn Davis said on The MMA Hour about Dana White. “He’s commented on the PFL a lot (in) the last six months, you’re worried. What specifically worried him about Bellator is the metrics we put on the press release. 30% of that roster is ranked in the top 25 per Fight Matrix rankings. This is not Dana gets to rank his own guys, Donn’s ranking his own guys, there is only one group that ranks all guys, Fight Matrix, independently. 30% of the UFC roster is top 25 ranked, and now our combined company of PFL and Bellator, 30%.
“Now, to the UFC’s credit, if they look at the top five in the world, they still own the top five, one through five. So, call it pay-per-view cards, we couldn’t compete with them right now, which is why we only have two and they have 12,” Davis said about Dana White and the UFC. “But, if you say I’m turning on TV on ESPN Saturday night or tuning in Friday night to watch this Bellator International Series or PFL, our cards are going to be better. Because, what they put on this year was ranked 70 and what we are going to put on next year is ranked 40. That’s why I said, ‘I don’t know why on God’s green Earth anyone is buying this.’
“He’s smart and he knows that. UFC ain’t the NFL, we are not the XFL, but he wants you to think that. It’s just a matter of time before that starts to get more well-known and we aren’t number two and we are a co-leader and he doesn’t want that,” Davis concluded about Dana White.
As of right now, Dana White has yet to comment on the PFL buying Bellator. Whether or not the UFC CEO will anytime soon is ot be seen, but Davis thinks the UFC boss is nervous.
