Dana White rips PFL’s Donn Davis over latest event comparisons: “Talks a lot, but says nothing!”

UFC CEO Dana White quickly responded to PFL founder Donn Davis’s latest claims, comparing the two top MMA organizations.

White and the UFC are hours away from one of their biggest cards of the year in Abu Dhabi. UFC 308 is headlined by a featherweight title clash between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway.

The UFC’s latest pay-per-view event comes just days after the PFL hosted its Battle of the Giants event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Francis Ngannou made his long-awaited return to MMA, finishing 2023 PFL title winner Renan Ferreira in the first round.

In a recent Q+A session hosted by MMA Fighting, Davis claimed that Ngannou’s MMA return trended higher than any UFC event in 2024. But, he refused to share the pay-per-view numbers for the event.

Dana White demolishes PFL and Donn Davis

Dana White slams #PFL co-founder Donn Davis' recent claims that the promotion had better numbers than the #UFC:

"The PFL should keep UFC's name out of their mouth. … All of their good people want to be over here." pic.twitter.com/IPTSqmEoPe

— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) October 24, 2024

During the Power Slap 9 post-match press conference, White responded to Davis’s claims.

“The PFL should keep the UFC out of their mouth, they can’t even deal with Power Slap. Power Slap destroys PFL,” White said of Davis’s comments.

White then backed up his claim with social media statistics, including followers and engagements, which you can see in the above clip.

“I could keep going on for a month here, and then if you want to get into what he said about the UFC, I have a laundry list here,” White said. “UFC Vegas 84 at the Apex beat [PFL]. So, listen, I understand…and I loved the stuff that he said. He sounds like Kamala [Harris]. Talks a lot, but says nothing! And I would hate to be one of that guy’s investors. ‘I don’t watch MMA, I’ve worked seven years and haven’t taken a vacation’. [Donn,] you should probably take a vacation!

“That guy shouldn’t even mention the UFC, he’s not even in Power Slap’s [orbit]…he doesn’t beat Power Slap in revenue, ticket sales, sponsorships, anything. Let alone the UFC…all of their good people want to be here anyway, so I’d imagine that eventually yes, they’ll be here. No one wants to fight in the f***ing PFL, except for Francis [Ngannou].”

The final comment above by White concerns Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov’s proclamation that he’ll sign with the UFC within two years. Davis has since promised to “Keep Usman happy.”