• Boxing

UFC president tells Khan to forget England

ESPN staff
April 16, 2011
Dana White believes Amir Khan should turn his back on England © Getty Images
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UFC president Dana White has expressed sympathy for Amir Khan after his recent fallout with Sky Sports, insisting he knows from experience how difficult the British pay-per-view (PPV) market can be.

Khan had been scheduled to fight Paul McCloskey in a pay-per-view encounter on Saturday, but Sky Sports pulled the plug after a lack of interest.

Sky offered the Khan camp a switch to their free-to-air Sky Sports 3 channel, but Khan took his business elsewhere, moving to pay-per-view channel Primetime. The decision has angered boxing fans, but White understands Khan's decision.

"That sucks that the PPV company didn't have faith in Amir," White told Boxing Futures. "I watched his last fight against Marcos Maidana on HBO and he's an exciting fighter, he's fun to watch.

"He should have said, 'Alright I'll pull out and go to America and fight on PPV there'. It's too bad that England wouldn't put him on PPV, I've been over there and talked to the broadcasters, believe me it ain't easy."

White has been looking into the pay-per-view market for future UK UFC events, knowing the extra revenue would allow him to bring the sport's top names over to Britain. The last UK card attracted David Haye to the O2 Arena as a spectator, and White admits he is hoping the Hayemaker defeats Wladimir Klitschko later this year.

"I'm actually a big David Haye fan and I'm pulling for him to whip Klitschko's arse," said White. "He came out and sat ringside with me at one of our events in England, and he's such a great guy."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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