Jake Paul’s business partner and co-promoter at Most Valuable Promotions Nakisa Bidarian has responded to UFC President Dana White’s reaction to Paul’s scheduled bout with Hasim Rahman Jr. being cancelled.
The entire Madison Square Garden card was cancelled after Rahman was alleged to have weight-cutting issues. He didn’t meet the contract weight limit of 200 lbs. This was later changed to 205 pounds this Friday according to an MVP statement and confirmed by Paul.
The cancellation happened in the middle of Saturday’s UFC 277 event in Dallas. White stated that Rahman’s weight loss was less important than ticket sales, while taking aim at Nakisa Bidearian, the former Chief Financial Officer of the UFC.
” I’m not going sit here and feel happy about their loss,” White stated. Both of those men, I am sure, put in a lot and trained hard to prepare for the fight. They also spent money on their preparations.
” I will be blunt and say that just because you are an accountant doesn’t necessarily mean you understand what is going on in this country. You don’t have to be able to run a promotion business.
” I think Jake Paul needs some new people around. If he’s going to stay in the sport, he needs to be with guys that really know how to put on fights.”
Bidarian posted a video on Tuesday to share his reaction to the cancellation and to what he considers false narratives.
“Had nothing to do with ticket sale,” Bidarian stated on his Instagram account. “We already sold more tickets, more gate than Ryan Garcia just did at Staples Center. We were going to be top-10 in gates since 2005 at MSG.
“Jake Paul took on a huge challenge. All of his fights have been from about 188 to 191 pounds, and all of his opponents — outside Nate Robinson — have been plus or minus one to two pounds of him. That’s all it is.”
Regardless of how White or anyone else feel about Paul’s entrance into boxing, Paul certainly has generated mainstream interest. He headlined three events in 2021, where he won a pair over ex-UFC champ Tyron Woodley and also beat Ben Askren, a former UFC welterweight.
Bidarian ended his video with high praise for Paul, and a sarcastic shot at White.
” They can change the story, or they can destroy what this young man did,” Bidarian said. “I’m proud of him. He’s his own boss. He’s his own promoter, and I’m just an accountant. What’s up?”
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