Canelo Alvarez: "The UFC is a dictatorship” - Dana White gets honest on the difference between promoting Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford and MMA

UFC CEO Dana White will serve as the lead promoter for the mega-fight between two of boxing's top pugilists, Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford, in September. It will be the first time that White will serve as the lead boxing promoter, having featured as a co-promoter for Conor McGregor's clash with Floyd Mayweather in 2017.

Given White's new venture in partnership with Saudi Arabian advisor Turki Alalshikh, who will finance the Alvarez vs. Crawford clash, the UFC CEO has shared the differences between promoting a boxing fight and an MMA bout.

The Boston native was recently interviewed by Helen Yee, where he said this:

"The difference is there's a lot of cooks in the kitchen [in boxing] and not in the UFC. You know, the UFC is a dictatorship and when you get into boxing there's a lot of different guys... I have big plans over the next five years. We really haven't even announced what I'm doing yet in boxing. I'm promoting this fight for [Turki Alalshikh], and then after this fight is over I'll let everybody know what I'm doing. Timing is everything, and getting into this right now... To be able to be in the middle of it and promote it and put my stamp on it has been an honor."

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Check out Dana White's comments below (3:00):

Dana White addresses the challenges of hosting Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford in a stadium

Canelo Alvarez will face off against Terence Crawford for the title of undisputed super middleweight champion. Crawford will be moving up from light middleweight, where he holds the WBA and interim WBO world titles, to challenge the Mexican champion. The clash will take place on Sept. 13 at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Dana White has previously shared his dislike of hosting events in stadiums, stating that it made it more challenging to produce a pleasurable in-house experience for fans watching the event.

During a recent interview with TheMacLife, the UFC CEO opened up on the difficulties he and his production team will face while producing Alvarez vs. Crawford. He said:

"Because I hate stadiums so bad for fights, we have to figure out how to make it the best possible live experience that we can and that is really our main focus for this thing. The fight is what it is, nothing we can do about that. But, we gotta make the in-house live experience as good as possible. That's what we're focused on."

Check out Dana White's comments on stadium events below (4:22):

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Liam is a MMA and Boxing writer at Sportskeeda. His journey into MMA journalism began with a high school diploma in 2017, but his passion for writing led him to diverse experiences, including internships in research and writing roles and accounting work.

Liam's fascination with MMA was sparked by Conor McGregor, with Dustin Poirier's bout against Dan Hooker in 2020 sealing his love for the sport. Poirier remains Liam's favorite fighter, whom he admires for his attitude, fighting style, and persona both inside and outside the cage. He is an advocate for the removal of the 12-6 elbow rule in MMA.

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Outside of work, Liam enjoys playing cricket, practising Brazilian jiu-jitsu, cooking, music, and reading.

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Edited by C. Naik