Longtime boxing promoter Bob Arum has been very vocal against the UFC and MMA in general throughout the years.
However, in what could be considered a change of pace for Arum, the boxing personality says he has actually learned a valuable lesson from the UFC.
“UFC has taught us that a loss is not a death sentence,” Arum said at a media scrum. “If a guy loses a fight, but he loses heroically, and he gives 100-percent, people want to see him fight again and you can bring him back again. (Marriaga) lost the fight to Valdez, but he fought a very, very courageous fight, right? So now when you’re looking for somebody to put in with Vasyl Lomachenko, you remember the performance that he had. Now he didn’t get the decision against Valdez, but everybody gave him the props for a great performance. And that’s what we’ve got to do more and more in boxing. We cannot write fighters off because they lose a fight.”
Another thing the UFC has done that has gotten Arum’s attention is the rise of the female fighters in the sport.
It’s the rise of female fighters in MMA that has caused Arum to look at female boxing in a different way.
“I really think that she (Mikaela Meyer) has the goods, that she will be able to help us bring women boxing to the fore,” said Arum. “I really want to acknowledge the debt that we owe to UFC because they took this Ronda Rousey and they made her into a tremendous star. She ended up becoming the biggest pay-per-view star that they had and if they could do it with Ronda Rousey, we believe we can do it with Mikaela.”
Just because the boxing promoter has said a few kind words about the UFC and the sport of MMA, don’t expect him to be attending any shows in the future.
