White said people illegally downloading fights are also ‘stealing from the fighters’
Dana White says that fans who’ve been illegally streaming UFC fights have been “f**king smashed” and told how some were “begging me not to prosecute them” when they were caught.
The MMA boss has long been vocal against the trend of pirating and torrenting the blockbuster pay-per-view (PPV) events and claims that the organisation is now cracking down on illegal streams.*
Speaking to GQ in a recent interview where he responded to fans questions on social media, White said he has been making sure thieves are brought to justice.
Discussing everything from fighters’ pay packets to taking on Jake Paul, the 53-year-old UFC president and fight promoter said people thought he was joking when he claimed he had caught a major illegal streaming operation.
In the comments section on YouTube, White responded to a viewer who wrote “who cares?” about pirated streams, saying: “I care, dummy”.
“That’s how everybody makes their money. You’re b****ing about fighters not making enough money – they get a piece of the pay-per-view. People who (are) stealing are stealing from us and them [fighters]”.
Elaborating on his active intervention in the trend of illegal streaming, White posed the question: “What happens to people who steal? They get f***ing smashed and they go to jail – thats what happens to you.
“Everybody was f***ing laughing at me when I was talking about this. We caught a lot of people – they weren’t laughing when they got caught and I had a lot of people begging me not to prosecute them. Stealing is stealing.”
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