Showtime’s Stephen Espinoza returns fire at UFC; Dana White blasts ‘scumbag’ for latest remark
Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza didn’t directly address Dana White during a pre-fight press conference on Wednesday, but it was pretty obvious he had the UFC CEO on his mind.
With a massive fight between Canelo Alvarez and Jermell Charlo scheduled for pay-per-view on Saturday night, Espinoza took time at the microphone to note the immense success Showtime has found in 2023. The comments came after a rumor surfaced this week that Showtime would no long offer boxing programming starting in 2024, which led to White trashing the promotion while adding “F*** Espinoza.”
In response, Espinoza focused only on dollars and cents — particularly the biggest cards that Showtime has promoted in 2023 with live gate numbers that dwarf the UFC.
“No disrespect to anyone but there are levels to this,” Espinoza said. “What we’re doing here is the highest level of the sport. This is special. This is different. The event on Saturday night will generate a gate of over $20 million. That’s a rare feat in combat sports. It’s rare in concerts or events of any kind but this will be the third time in the last six months that we’ve done a gate of $20 million. Again, our third $20 million gate in the last six months.
“To put that in perspective, the UFC has never done a gate of $20 million in its entire history. We’ve done it three times since April. Like I said, this is special.”
It didn’t take long for White to respond as he posted a statement on his Instagram account that addressed Espinoza and the gaudy numbers he touted for Showtime boxing.
“That’s exactly the type of response I would expect from that weasel Espinoza,” White wrote. “That scumbag has absolutely nothing to do with the success of Canelo [Alvarez], Ryan Garcia and Terence Crawford. Those guys are mega stars and they are the ones responsible for driving the gates in their fights. For him to even try and take any credit at all shows you what an arrogant, delusional [piece of s*** ] that guy is.
“For this guy to talk about ‘levels’ is hilarious. The production of the fights on Showtime is an embarrassment and I have been saying that FOREVER. He is a little guy with a big yap and is a complete phony. I’m not at all surprised this is the end for them. It should have come way sooner. Sorry to see you go, Weasel. Enjoy your retirement.”
The bad blood between White and Espinoza started when they joined together for the promotion of the fight between UFC superstar Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather back in 2017.
During a multi-city promotional tour, Espinoza sat alongside Mayweather while representing Showtime while White did the same for McGregor. The fight ended up as a huge success with Mayweather vs. McGregor generating some of the largest pay-per-view sales in combat sports history.
But obviously whatever relationship Espinoza and White built during that promotional tour was soon burned to ashes as they’ve continuously taken shots at each other ever since.
As for the future of Showtime in regards to combat sports, Espinoza didn’t directly address any rumors about the network moving away from boxing in 2024, much less the potential sale of Bellator MMA, which is also part of the same ownership under the Paramount umbrella.