Dana White can deliver knockout blow to Mayweather and boxing for 2009 with UFC 103

For all it’s worth, the rivalry and competition between boxing and UFC is no myth. It does exist from the bottom to the top, from fans to the promoters and the fighters.

Two of the higher-profile figures in both sports have butted heads recently in Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Dana White. Mayweather blasted MMA and UFC by likening it to an animal sport and says it’s a sport for “beer drinkers” and that MMA was created for white fighters to have a place to dominate again since boxing is ruled by black and Hispanic fighters. Floyd said in an interview with CBS Sportsline last week,

"It takes true skills to be in the sport of Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts is for Beer drinkers." And added, “Boxing is for everybody... I mean you can't take my shoes off and take my shirt off and just throw me in a cage... you do that with animals, you don't do that with humans,"

In the past Floyd has also been quoted badmouthing MMA when he said more than a year ago,

“UFC ain’t sh**. It ain’t but a fad. Anyone can put a tattoo on their head and get in a street fight. We should put Liddell against a good heavyweight, under Mayweather Promotions, and if Chuck wins, then I’ll give him a million dollars out of my own pocket. These are guys who couldn’t make it in boxing, so they do (MMA). Boxing is the best sport in the world and its here to stay.”

UFC CEO Dana White responded saying and as quoted by MMAonTap,

“You know, Floyd Mayweather just came out and said some stupid sh** about Chuck Liddell,”

and continued,

“He said he’d pay a million dollars if Chuck could hang with a heavyweight boxer. How about if he pays a million dollars to see if a heavyweight boxer can fight MMA with Chuck Liddell? Or, even better, I’ll put up a million dollars of my own money if Floyd Mayweather can sell more than 10 tickets without Oscar De La Hoya.”

Well, as they say, success is the ultimate revenge. And knowing White’s nature, there’s nothing more he’d like to do than rain on Mayweather’s comeback parade by stacking up his UFC 103 card in Dallas that happens to be on the same day, September 19, as Mayweather’s bout against Juan Manuel Marquez in Vegas.

For starters, White has a point in saying Mayweather is not a big draw by himself if not billed next to the likes of an Oscar De la Hoya. In fact, his comeback fight is already marred by rumors suggesting its original fight date of July 18 was moved to September 19 because of struggling ticket sales. As of today, fans haven’t responded to Mayweather’s comeback fight against Marquez in the manner for it to be considered as a mega-fight.

Another added reason for White to go hard on Mayweather-Marquez is the fact that the card is being promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, which also has a hand in promoting UFC's main MMA rival in Affliction MMA events such as the cancelled Emelianenko-Barnett bout.

Last week, White announced through his Twitter site that he had made up with former UFC superstar Tito Ortiz. A lot of people speculated that White was bringing in the popular Ortiz back to match him up against Rick Franklin as the main card for UFC 103. Right now, however, it looks like White is tapping the services of another former UFC star, Vitor Belfort, to fight Franklin. Belfort is explosive and all and was a fan favorite back when he fought in the UFC a few years ago, but will his addition be enough to stifle Mayweather's return to Pay-per-View?

The UFC 103 card itself is pretty stacked with some high-profile names like Frank Trigg and Mirko Crocop but begs the question: Why not bring back Ortiz to really deliver the knockout rebuttal for Mayweather's claim as the biggest draw in fight sports?

It's going to be interesting how all of this will play out. Some people and even the big names in boxing like Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach actually doubt whether the Mayweather-Marquez fight will push through because of the lack of fan support. Will this be White's shining moment and finally one-up boxing and his critics like Mayweather?

Truth be told, there's only been one real megafight this year in boxing and that was Pacquiao-Hatton, and you can make a case I guess for Mosley-Margarito. But other than that the UFC by itself has been outdoing boxing with its blockbuster cards like UFC 100, GSP vs BJ Penn, Evans vs. Machida and a slew of other big fights that generated a fortune.

Dana White and UFC definitely has boxing on the ropes right now, but can they deliver the knockout blow on September 19? We'll see.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-10947-Indianapolis-Fight-Sports-Examiner~y2009m8d3-Dana-White