Tripling down? Quadrupling down? Quintupling down?
It's hard to keep track of how many times Dana White has pushed back claims that he is not promoting Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua. He did so again Thursday after the UFC 322 pre-fight news conference at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, but this time claimed to have an additional role as well.
"Was I wrong, though?" White told reporters (via Full Send MMA). "Was I lying? Was I wrong? Am I not the promoter? Am I not producing the entire f*cking event? The answer is yes."
White's comments come one day after he was not present at the first Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua press conference Wednesday in London. White said too small a travel window between Dana White's Contender Series and the UFC 332 fight
week festivities was the main reason why he was not there. When Turki Alalshikh brought up White's name, it was greeted with boos.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn had a field day while speaking to reporters, saying White had "lost" and "cannot be involved in this fight." In response Thursday, White egged Hearn on and continued his utilization of cryptic language that he's maintained since Fury-Joshua was officially announced.
"I think the answer between me and Eddie is that Eddie is trying to win some kind of PR battle or whatever the f*ck," White said. "Eddie likes to see himself on interviews. He likes to talk a lot. Talking a lot will get you in a lot of f*cking trouble. I'll put it to you this way. Like I said, judge me at the end of the year. Let's see how this whole thing looks in a couple of years. The writing is on the wall. Whatever f*cking little p*ssy game he thinks he won, he's out of his mind. He's incredibly delusional. He knows what's going on. They all know what's going on."
There's been much debate about White's level of involvement. Hearn, who is Joshua's promoter, claims the contract his fighter has says White cannot be involved. Fury, who seems to be on good terms with White and TKO, is promoted by Queensberry's Frank Warren. Alalshikh and Saudi Arabia are financing the event, and any involvement White may or may not have with the event seems to be an extension of that party.
Thursday, the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) listed Queensberry, Matchroom, and Sela as the promoters, according to BoxingScene.
Fury vs. Joshua takes place Dec. 11 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales (not Madison Square Garden in New York, as White initially indicated) and streams on Netflix.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dana White responds to Eddie Hearn: 'The writing is on the wall'
