Boxing Promoter Takes Shot at Dana White for UFC 306 Plans

Promoting Canelo Alvarez's boxing match this weekend, Tom Brown's subtle jab at UFC 306 didn't go unnoticed.

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Rising tides lift all boats, right? Not all the time, it so seems.

Saturday's UFC 306 event at Sphere has some competition down the street from them as boxing superstar Canelo Alvarez battles Edgar Berlanga on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena, all making for one combat sports-filled Mexican Independence Day weekend in Las Vegas.

Going head-to-head with Canelo on the same day are Sean O'Malley and Merab Dvalishvili, who headline the UFC's second Noche UFC. The event will celebrate Mexico with a "love letter" to the country and its contributions to combat sports, with a series of films playing in between each fight and different "worlds" or settings in the background of 10 scheduled bouts.

The new promo video for #NocheUFC just dropped 🔥

🎥 @ufc #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/BFulJcoK6F

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) September 9, 2024

Dana White Reveals Mega Payout For Easter Egg Competition At UFC 306

"We Don't Need Movies And Acts Playing In Between Our Fights..."

In contrast, it's business as usual for Canelo vs. Berlanga from the T-Mobile Arena, with TGB Promotions' Tom Brown claiming the boxing event won't need the extra finesse the UFC has going for them at Sphere.

"It's a great card from top to bottom, and it truly is what big time boxing is all about," Brown said at the Canelo vs. Berlanga press conference on Wednesday. "We don't need movies and acts playing in between our fights. Having a Mexican superstar, a pound-for pound great, and boxing's biggest star today, Canelo Alvarez, headlining on Mexican Independence Day weekend. It just doesn't get any bigger than that."

TGB Boxing’s president Tom Brown throws shade on #UFC306 at the #CaneloBerlanga presser pic.twitter.com/lVIf8dttmF

— FightPlug MMA (@fightplugau) September 12, 2024

White Says Canelo 'Big Part' Of Sphere Show

UFC CEO Dana White would probably agree to disagree with the boxing promoter, aiming to put on "the greatest sporting event of all time," saying they went well over their $8M budget and are now more than $20M deep in his passion project of a lifetime.

Boxing's Canelo Alvarez. / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

While the UFC has to compete with a Canelo card this weekend, CEO White says he doesn't hold any ill will to the Mexican boxer, revealing that Noche UFC will actually celebrate Canelo along with other Mexican stars.

"He's a big part of the night, yes of course," White told Grind City Media of Canelo's inclusion in Noche UFC. "Julio Cesar Chavez, Salvador Sanchez... all the baddest dudes that have ever come out of Mexico."

Although it's headlined by an American and a Georgian in Sean O'Malley and Merab Dvalishvili, Noche UFC will feature nine fighters of Mexican descent, including Guadalajara's first UFC Champion Alexa Grasso in the co-main event against Valentina Shevchenko.

UFC women's Flyweight Champion Alexa Grasso. / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

UFC 306 Fight Card Preview – Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili

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