Eric Bischoff came away impressed by UFC’s event on the White House lawn, and the experience had him reflecting on the businessmen behind combat sports, including a deal he once turned down, on 83 Weeks.
The longtime WCW executive, who has produced his share of large-scale live events, admitted the logistics of an outdoor show on that stage made him uneasy.
“What did I think of the event? Mind-boggling,” Bischoff said. “I had PTSD symptoms weeks before the event, worrying about things I had no reason to worry about in terms of logistics.” He explained that staging live sports outdoors is daunting. “The complexity of doing a live sporting event outside is fraught. Everything from the weather to the wind to security issues, you name it, it can go wrong.” Seeing it executed cleanly, he said, was striking. “To see the event come off as well as it did from a production perspective was very, very impressive.”
Bischoff used the moment to praise UFC CEO Dana White, drawing a distinction between a promoter and a businessman.
“I admire the hell out of what Dana White, in particular, and everybody that’s come in behind him, has done,” Bischoff said. He put White and Vince McMahon in the same conversation. “You cannot look at what Vince McMahon built and not respect it, if you’re honest at all, controversy aside,” he said. “If you look at Dana White, they’re businessmen. Calling them promoters is unfair. These are highly successful businessmen.”
The conversation also prompted Bischoff to revisit a what-if moment from his own career: an offer to buy the UFC in its troubled early days.
“I remember getting a phone call one Friday night when I was out having a beer with my wife, and the guy that was in top management called me, said, ‘Hey, would you like to buy the UFC for 2.5 million?” Bischoff recalled. At the time, the promotion was struggling to even run events. “UFC couldn’t get into venues. There were states trying to outlaw them, John McCain was pressuring.” Bischoff ultimately took a pass. “I was interested in the brand, but not interested in the acquisition, because I didn’t feel like there was anything I could contribute to turn anything around. So I passed on that.”
He marveled at what the company became under different stewardship. “If you look at what Dana White did, the Fertittas coming in, they lost over $350 million on UFC before they made their first nickel,” Bischoff said. “That’s a commitment.”
If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit 83 Weeks with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
