Recently, White spoke with Yahoo! Sports about collaborating with Showtime for the blockbuster bout between McGregor and Conor McGregor. The UFC president was not pleased with the pay-per-view figures released by the network, which claimed “The Money Fight” officially did 4.3 million buys in North America, making it the second-largest grossing bout ever behind only Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao.
“You know, think about this, and I don’t give a s--t about Showtime’s f---ing full-of s--t press release they put out,” White said. “It’s the biggest fight ever in combat sports history. The thing did over 6.7 million buys, and if the service didn’t drop, we would have got closer to seven million. It was the biggest event ever. It was the biggest boxing event ever, without a boxer. It was only one boxer involved in the fight.
“The way the handled that press release and what they did…I didn’t trust them before, and now, I despise those f---ing guys. The Showtime guys, I’ll never work with them again. Ever.”
Espinoza, Showtime’s executive vice president, responded to White via Twitter.
“Sounds like he’s upset because we committed the cardinal sin of telling the truth (when we released the accurate total for N. American PPV buys on MayMac),” he wrote. “Strange that telling the truth, in a press release vetted by all parties in advance, is something to be ‘despised’ for.”
Sounds like he's upset because we committed the cardinal sin of telling the truth (when we released the accurate total for N. American PPV buys on MayMac).
— Stephen Espinoza (@StephenEspinoza) January 5, 2018
Strange that telling the truth, in a press release vetted by all parties in advance, is something to be "despised" for. https://t.co/rFxKXz0Bjz
Later, McGregor, who called Espinoza “a little f---ing weasel” during the press tour prior to the Mayweather fight, jumped into the fray.
“Shut your weasel mouth,” McGregor wrote on Twitter. “Who gives a f--k about the North American numbers when we are the GLOBAL KINGS you shmuck. WORLDWIDE. No.1!”
Shut your weasel mouth. Who gives a fuck about the North American numbers when we are the GLOBAL KINGS you shmuck. WORLDWIDE. No.1! https://t.co/tq5Gj1Os7Y
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) January 5, 2018
LOL...except that it wasn't #1 in worldwide revenues either. https://t.co/QXy9CWtKFy
— Stephen Espinoza (@StephenEspinoza) January 5, 2018