Showtime's Stephen Espinoza says UFC has never done a $20 million gate, Dana White fires back

The saga between Showtime Sports President Stephen Espinoza and UFC CEO Dana White continues.

White took aim at Espinoza following reports of Showtime Boxing shutting down after 2024. He mocked the product and appeared elated to hear the news.

During the Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermell Charlo pre-fight press conference, Espinoza clapped back with some statistics comparing Showtime Boxing’s recent live gate’s with the UFC’s.

“This event on Saturday night will generate a gate of over $20 million,” Espinoza said. “That’s a rare feat in combat sports. This will be the third time in the last six months that we’ve done a gate of $20 million. To put that in perspective, UFC has never done a gate of $20 million in its entire history. We’ve done it three times since April.”

It didn’t take long for a response from White, who continued to rip Showtime’s production, and said boxing’s success has nothing to do with Espinoza.

“That’s exactly the type of response I would expect from that weasel Espinoza. That scumbag has absolutely nothing to do with the success of Canelo, Ryan Garcia, and Terrence Crawford. Those guys are megastars 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 exactly what an arrogant, delusional POS that guy is.

“For this clown 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.”

154-pound champion Charlo will move up two weight classes to challenge 168-pound champ Alvarez on pay-per-view Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Alvarez will put his IBF, WBO, WBA, and WBC super middleweight titles on the line vs. Charlo.