At the beginning of this year, UFC President Dana White promised ‘a surprise’ for anyone he caught illegally streaming UFC 257. Then last week, White doubled down on his threat, saying that he looked forward to seeing “how tough they are” when he catches them. Now, White apparently has people watching a suspected culprit and is ready to make good on his warnings.
“We got one,” White said at the UFC 257 Press Conference. “We got him. We’re watching this guy right now. All you have to do is turn it on Saturday, and we got you, f*cker. I can’t wait. Turn it on Saturday, streamers, and see what happens.”
Later in the day, White went on BT Sport where he elaborated on what he meant at the press conference, and how they found their suspect.
“When I came out and said this all these guys started taunting me,” White said. “So I went through, and I picked. I said, ‘You. You. You’re the guy.’ And I told my people, ‘I want this guy.’ And guess what? We got him. We’re watching his house, we’re listening to his phone conversations, and if he puts it up on Saturday, we got him.”
“He pops this link up on Saturday, we got him, and we will arrest him, and I will prosecute him,” White said. “I will not be nice. I will not give him any leniency whatsoever. I will go guns-a-f*cking-blazing on this guy.”
The UFC and Dana White have a long history attempting to combat piracy. Back in 2011 the organization estimated that it was losing around $30 million per year due to illegal streams. Since then the price of Pay-Per-Views have increased from $49.95 up to $69.99, a 40 percent jump that, all things being equal, would put current lost revenue estimates at over $40 million per year. Fortunately for the UFC, the price of PPVs is not the only thing that’s changed. Last year, the United States Congress passed the Protecting Lawful Streaming Act of 2020 which allows law enforcement to prosecute pirate streaming services as a felony instead of a misdemeanor. It was a big win for copyright holders like the UFC and could prove as a deterrent to piracy moving forward. Of course ultimately, they still have to catch the people doing it, but that is something White has no concern he’ll be able to do.
“These guys think they’re so smart, they think they’re untouchable, they think it’s impossible,” White concluded. “When you have a company as big - if the NFL wanted to catch people for doing it, they can catch you. You can be caught. The guy just has to be as sick as me and want to get you. This guy puts this link up on Saturday night, he’s mine.
“Listen, I’ve got this built in mechanism. I don’t know what it is with me but if you want to fight with me, we can fight. And I like to fight and I like to win. I’m the wrong dude to play this game with.”
[h=1]TOP STORIES[/h]Results. The main and co-main event are official for UFC 257 following successful weigh-ins.
Title defender. Conor McGregor: If Khabib Nurmagomedov ‘is continuing to dodge’ commitment to fight again, title should be stripped.
Superpower. Dustin Poirier reveals his new ‘superpower’ ahead of rematch against Conor McGregor.
COVID-19. Fedor Emelianenko hospitalized due to COVID-19.
[h=1]VIDEO STEW[/h]Between the Links.
UFC 257 Press Conference.
Embedded 3.
BT Sport makes way better promos than the UFC does.
Conor with Stephen A. Smith.
This is really dumb but kind of great.
[h=1]LISTEN UP[/h]Jack Slack. Previewing UFC 257 and the big fights from it.
UFC Unfiltered. Interviews with Jessica Eye and Brendan Fitzgerald.
[h=1]SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE[/h]Get better, Emperor.
Masvidal teasing a fight in April.
That is so many tests.
UFC Heavyweight Champion...public servant...clean athlete. @stipemiocic leading from the front of the pack. 50x perfect test history. Thank you for your leadership Stipe! pic.twitter.com/KGOoPs1533
— Jeff Novitzky (@JeffNovitzkyUFC) January 21, 2021
Matchmaking.— Jeff Novitzky (@JeffNovitzkyUFC) January 21, 2021
Third times a charm ? Looks like we have a Valentine’s date feb 13 @ufc @seanshelby @SuckerPunchEnt @BryanHamper @MMAjunkie pic.twitter.com/jTt3rcXBwK
— Brian BOOM Kelleher (@brianboom135) January 21, 2021
Regrets.— Brian BOOM Kelleher (@brianboom135) January 21, 2021
Damn. Why couldn’t this have come out like a month ago?!?! https://t.co/Cdrgu5TnNj
— Chase Hooper (@chase_hooper) January 21, 2021
Lol.— Chase Hooper (@chase_hooper) January 21, 2021
A little too perfect.
Catch me if you can! #Weedbae ™? https://t.co/uNj0CcVESx pic.twitter.com/1d6og6GEVB
— The Mane Event™ (@EliasTheodorou) January 21, 2021
Pretty good one from Dosbrak.— The Mane Event™ (@EliasTheodorou) January 21, 2021
[h=1]FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS[/h]Alexander Hernandez (12-3) vs. Thiago Moises (14-4); UFC Fight Night, Feb. 27.
Leonardo Santos (18-3-1) vs. Grant Dawson (16-1); UFC Fight Night, Mar. 20.
[h=1]FINAL THOUGHTS[/h]Thanks for reading, enjoy the fights, and see y’all on Monday.
[h=1]EXIT POLL[/h]
If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let him know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.
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