LAS VEGAS – Dana White put his enterprise hat on when choosing his MMA Mount Rushmore.
White’s resolution to have Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor on his listing was questioned by many, along with his different two selections of Jon Jones and Georges St-Pierre broadly accepted.
The UFC CEO defined that the influence these 4 former champions had modified the game.
“Should you have a look at Ronda Rousey, which I’m certain all people goes loopy, ‘Uh, Ronda Rousey,’ girls aren’t combating right here,” White advised MMA Junkie and different reporters Tuesday at a post-fight information convention. “The knockout that occurred final weekend doesn’t occur with out Ronda Rousey. Ronda Rousey opened the door for all girls and have become an enormous famous person for us and the largest famous person within the historical past of feminine combating. So far as the gates, pay-per-views, consideration, all of it, no one was larger than Ronda. She began all of it.
“Conor McGregor took this sport to a different stage when he turned not solely the largest star within the sport however one of many greatest stars in all of sports activities. You had NFL and NBA and soccer gamers mimicking Conor McGregor through the video games. Should you guys need to get into the Jon Jones sh*t, we are able to get into that. I’m clearly going to have a special standards if you ask me who I believe are due to issues I do know that occurred contained in the enterprise and the way it modified the sport.”
White’s 2020 MMA Mount Rushmore included Amanda Nunes as an alternative of Rousey, in addition to Jones, Royce Gracie, and Chuck Liddell. White stated he was taking a look at a special standards when making his up to date listing.
White stated even Season 1 “Final Fighter” winner Forrest Griffin may make somebody’s MMA Mount Rushmore primarily based on his iconic ‘TUF Finale’ battle with Stephan Bonnar that arguably saved the UFC.
He spoke about his remaining alternative in St-Pierre, and the form of influence he had on Canadian MMA – pointing to the 55,724 followers who attended his UFC 129 title-fight headliner vs. Jake Shields in Toronto.
“My different one was Georges St-Pierre,” White stated. “Within the evolution of this firm, if you suppose again, anyone who was round – lots of people weren’t round then, however the individuals who have been, if you went as much as Canada with Georges St-Pierre, I’ll always remember the time we have been up there. I acquired caught in a nook. I’m not kidding you: 1000’s of individuals.
“That’s once I was tweeting tickets. Bear in mind these days? After I had video blogs and I used to be tweeting tickets, we actually nearly acquired killed up there someday. By killed, I imply trampled by folks searching for tickets. How large that was up there at the moment was completely insane, and it was all Georges St-Pierre.”
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