Dana White reveals what he ‘hates’ about Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford
Dana White ‘hates’ the fact that Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford will take place in a stadium. The MMA mogul has always been adamantly against staging shows in larger venues and much prefers the intricate feel of an arena event. White will promote Canelo vs Crawford on September 12@danawhite - Instagram “I don’t want to take the experience away from people,” White said during a September 2024 interview. “We’ve done stadiums before. It’s just it’s not my favourite thing. I like arenas. Yeah, I really like arenas.” White has the luxury of controlling every aspect of his UFC cards, but he is marching to a different set of orders in his new venture with Turki Alalshikh, TKO Boxing. The UFC president is the main promoter for Canelo and Crawford’s September 12 blockbuster and is in charge of a lot of the logistics. However, Alalshikh holds the purse strings, and so his decision is final. It is for that reason that the super fight will take place at the 65,000-seater Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas – much to the dismay of White. “Yeah, I hate it,” White told Papa Legaspi of the fact that Canelo vs Crawford will be held in a stadium. “So because I hate it so much, you know I’m gonna have to try and figure out how to make it an incredible experience inside Allegiant… “This is one of the biggest fights ever, and obviously I’m honoured to promote it. “When they say we’re promoting it, I’m doing the promotion, we’re doing the production, the event ops, PR. The event is taking place at the Allegiant Stadium in Las VegasGetty “I mean everything to do with the fight, just like a UFC fight, while at the same time promoting UFC Noche. “It will all be the same weekend. It’s a bad ass weekend of fights.” The Allegiant Stadium is home to NFL outfit, the Las Vegas Raiders, and recently hosted WrestleMania 41. Costing an estimated $2.15 billion to construct, it is the second most expensive stadium in the world behind the Los Angeles Rams’ SoFi home. The state-of-the-art venue comes complete with 44 escalators, 2,300 TVs, a 92-foot-tall Al Davis Memorial Torch and its own nightclub, the Wynn Field Club. White got a good look at it when he attended WrestleMania earlier this year. The Allegiant Stadium cost an estimated $2.15billion to constructGetty However, its impressive structure wasn’t enough to change his mind on stadium shows. “No, nothing will change my mind about a stadium show,” White said during the UFC Kansas City post-fight press conference last month. “I mean, you guys were here tonight. Kansas City is an awesome city. The people here are great, I really like this town, and the energy in that place was awesome all night. “That’s the energy you get – not that there wasn’t any (energy at WrestleMania). “What’d they have, 63,000 people there? You’re going to get some energy like they did. I am not a fan of stadiums. I like arenas.”
Dana White ‘hates’ the fact that Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford will take place in a stadium.
The MMA mogul has always been adamantly against staging shows in larger venues and much prefers the intricate feel of an arena event.
“I don’t want to take the experience away from people,” White said during a September 2024 interview.
“We’ve done stadiums before. It’s just it’s not my favourite thing. I like arenas. Yeah, I really like arenas.”
White has the luxury of controlling every aspect of his UFC cards, but he is marching to a different set of orders in his new venture with Turki Alalshikh, TKO Boxing.
The UFC president is the main promoter for Canelo and Crawford’s September 12 blockbuster and is in charge of a lot of the logistics.
However, Alalshikh holds the purse strings, and so his decision is final.
It is for that reason that the super fight will take place at the 65,000-seater Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas – much to the dismay of White.
“Yeah, I hate it,” White told Papa Legaspi of the fact that Canelo vs Crawford will be held in a stadium.
“So because I hate it so much, you know I’m gonna have to try and figure out how to make it an incredible experience inside Allegiant…
“This is one of the biggest fights ever, and obviously I’m honoured to promote it.
“When they say we’re promoting it, I’m doing the promotion, we’re doing the production, the event ops, PR.
“I mean everything to do with the fight, just like a UFC fight, while at the same time promoting UFC Noche.
“It will all be the same weekend. It’s a bad ass weekend of fights.”
The Allegiant Stadium is home to NFL outfit, the Las Vegas Raiders, and recently hosted WrestleMania 41.
Costing an estimated $2.15 billion to construct, it is the second most expensive stadium in the world behind the Los Angeles Rams’ SoFi home.
The state-of-the-art venue comes complete with 44 escalators, 2,300 TVs, a 92-foot-tall Al Davis Memorial Torch and its own nightclub, the Wynn Field Club.
White got a good look at it when he attended WrestleMania earlier this year.
However, its impressive structure wasn’t enough to change his mind on stadium shows.
“No, nothing will change my mind about a stadium show,” White said during the UFC Kansas City post-fight press conference last month.
“I mean, you guys were here tonight. Kansas City is an awesome city. The people here are great, I really like this town, and the energy in that place was awesome all night.
“That’s the energy you get – not that there wasn’t any (energy at WrestleMania).
“What’d they have, 63,000 people there? You’re going to get some energy like they did. I am not a fan of stadiums. I like arenas.”
