The UFC staged 42 events in 21 different cities across 10 countries and five continents in 2024. These included 12 different weight classes (including catchweight fights). Stepping into 2025, they shaped much of the cog for promotional CEO Dana White and Co. With the ever-complex cog at work, there are some thematic PR nightmares that White needs to be careful about.
Will it be some top athlete going foul or not returning (one guess as to who)? Will it be another UFC vs. fan altercation with a hefty CSAC fine? It might just be some missed what-if opportunities again. Dana White, UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard, and CBO/Head litigator Hunter Campbell will always have their hands full. Here are top 3 PR nightmares that the brass would try not to soil the bed on.
3. “Connie Comeback” on a slow tizzy
Sometimes, all it takes is one Conor McGregor post to set the MMA punter and aggregated group of pundits ablaze and talking. With some three-and-half year shore time, McGregor remains a consensus PPV buyout star and global power. However, Money ‘Mac’ minus the money fight spells nose-blows.
McGregor last fought in his 2021 TKO loss due to leg break. ‘The Notorious’ was to return for the UFC 303 PPV kickoff presser at Dublin’s 3Arena, but didn’t. However, McGregor’s middle-of-the-night tweet spree confirmed he won’t fight 2024’s top star Ilia Topuria in 2025. After quelling the rumor, he confirmed he’d face ex-YouTuber/prizefighter and current WWE roster hit Logan Paul in an exhibition boxing match.
A prime UFC return still hogs the list of biggest PR nightmare for Dana White (Source: X/irishmirror.ie)The Irishman also confirmed that he’d have a sweet PPV (pay-per-view) spotlight and $250 million to box Paul at Wankhede Stadium in India. UFC ties McGregor on the last legs of a contract; and its parent TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO) also helms Paul’s WWE.
Post-fight at UFC on ESPN 63 in Tampa, White did hint something big in the bag. He has already ponied up $50 million as a one-time boxing promoter for The Money Fight in 2017. If there’s the ‘Dana White’ go-ahead but the fight does not happen, this is the top PR nightmare all through 2025!
A Dublin Jury found ‘Mac’ liable for assault, with damages payable of just upward of €248,000 in damages (£206,000 /$260,000 all-in). Major brands have dropped him as a pitchman or brand face. So, he’s not really UFC/MMA’s white knight right now. If yet another fight shoots blank, McGregor is yesteryear’s story.
2. Dana White’s MMA beast: GOAT or Duck?
The scope of GOAT Jon Jones vs. champ (IC) Tom Aspinall in a possible heavyweight unification cannot be underestimated. Right now, it’s ‘the’ fight to make. “Bones” is 2-0 and a legit force at heavyweight after his third-round TKO title win at UFC 309. The only thing that caps off his MMA longevity is Dana White instigating him as a top choice for Men’s Pound-for-pound debates.
That has been a PR nightmare all by itself. Meanwhile, Aspinall is 3-0 since his TKO injury some years back. He snagged the interim strap when Jones was out of commission for most of 2023. He set up a legit spot for a unifier and a coup for 2025. Ex-UFC champ Francis Ngannou is gone. McGregor’s return seems legit, but his effects are getting defunct. This, and this alone is the fight to make.
A unification snub redundancy can cause troubles for Dana White in 2025 (Source: UFC (@ufc) on Threads/es.agfight.com)Even White himself agrees that this is a 2025 super fight the fans are clamoring hard for. A pure shark in this business, he can’t help but pander to those claims. At this convoluted stage of a champ vs. champ affair, Jones won’t be logging PPV points at every crunch. He wants ‘f—k you’ amounts of fighter compensation to make that bout but has one foot out. So, if he doesn’t make this fight, it’s pure mayhem.
White often caricatures pre-Saudi GEA boxing for ‘non-competitive’ fight grinds and how his UFC is different. But if such a head-on divisional rivalry does not come to pass, Aspinall being the perfect skill-to-skill contender to Jones goes useless. Then, it’s a true PR nightmare.
1. A SLAP to the face!
Power Slap is under the sanctions of the NSAC and lists TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO) brass as investors. However, it is free from their domains and works standalone. The brainchild of Dana White, Frank, and Lorenzo Fertitta, and Hunter Campbell, the premier slap-fighting curriculum is not always likable.
A total of $9,950,000 million in fight night bonuses were paid out on 174 fights in 2024. This included four $300,000 bonuses at UFC 300 in April. Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’ tiers for Venum’s multi-year deal, they also rolled out custom fight short packages and kits. UFC 300 “Adrenaline Unrivaled” gear and Unrivalled Vale Tudo fight shorts were the outfitting blockbusters.
2025 season Power Slap takeover is the biggest of PR nightmares (Source: express.co.uk/IG)There was also quite the anticipation for mega fights. But in the build-up, White decided to promote spinoff company Power Slap on socials rather than UFC 300’s main card news. Fans had called a mass exodus for the overt promotion of Power Slap 7: Wolverine vs. Turpin 2 – 12 April on #RUMBLE for UFC’s YouTube channel.
He also used the promotion’s social media channels to showcase his new “Power Slap” fighting league, right before UFC 284. This remains a pocket for a PR nightmare, right off the bat for 2025. Ordering UFC PPV on ESPN+ only to see slap-fighting adverts instead of future lineups is not what fans usually sign up for. All in all, Dana White and Co. have some homework to get to.
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