Showtime president Stephen Espinoza slammed Kamaru Usman for accusing Canelo Alvarez of ducking him. Espinoza seemed quite upset at Usman and the UFC and lashed out at them implying that mixed martial artist know nothing about professionalism.
Espinoza isn’t very fond of Usman calling out Saul Canelo Alvarez – and recognized the likelihood that Usman is only after a hefty payday – after all he works for the UFC. In addition to shading the ‘ducking’ approach, Espinoza shaded the fact that UFC does all its matchmaking and the athletes have no choice. Of course he shaded UFC president Dana White in the process by referring to him as a ‘kickboxing instructor’.
Dana White began boxing at age 17 and worked as a boxercise coach through his unsuccessful attempts to get through college. After getting into business with the Fertitta brothers he started jiu jitsu under John Lewis. There he met Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell and later became their manager.
Espinoza’s comments come a day after Alvarez snubbed Usman’s manager who attempted to call him out on social media.
Usman comes from a traditional wrestling background and while he made adjustments to his style thanks to the collaboration with Trevor Wittman, he’s far from a formidable striker. The biggest argument for this crossover seems to be getting Usman a decent payday. According to Joe Rogan:
“I would like to see him fight Canelo, I really would. Not because I think that he’s a favorite in a boxing match against one of the greatest boxers of all-time, but I want to see him get a giant payday. The same way I would like to see [Francis] Ngannou fight Tyson Fury. That’s a way you can make a s—t-load of money, and I don’t think it damages his potential as a UFC fighter. I think it would be invaluable experience for him, as a champion, if he did have that fight and then came back over to MMA. I think he’d probably be even better as a striker if he gets through it relatively undamaged, even if he loses.”