Last week, Dana White promised “a surprise” for anyone attempting to pirate UFC pay-per-views in 2021 and just yesterday, a week before UFC 257, the UFC president doubled down on that statement.

Speaking to The Mac Life ahead of the UFC’s return this weekend, White addressed his comments, saying that the UFC has overcome a hurdle in catching and prosecuting pirates and that he’s looking forward to catching them this year.

“We’ve been one of the leagues that has been so proactive on piracy,” White said. “I love how cool and tough these guys act on social media because let me tell you what, we’ve caught a lot of people. Let me tell you what they do, they cry. They cry and they beg not to be prosecuted and all this other stuff.

“We just overcame a huge hurdle in the piracy world and we’re going to catch some of these guys in 2021. I look forward to the crying and the begging. We’ll see how tough they are when they get caught.”

Digital piracy is an ongoing issue in the United States, with estimates suggesting that online piracy costs the entertainment industry between 30 and 70 billion dollars a year. The UFC is obviously only a small sliver of that industry but dating all the way back to 2011 the UFC itself estimated that piracy cost them roughly $30 million per year. Still, the zeal with which White spoke about catching pirates certainly make it seem like something he takes personally, a claim that White denies.

“Not at all,” White said. “Listen, you’re a criminal. You’re a criminal and now I’ve got guys - I love this one, listen to this one - there’s a guy right now who, literally after I said this thing, so if you go through my Instagram and look through all the comments, there’s a guy saying ‘DM me if you want to get the fight this weekend.’ He’s stealing people’s information. People that are DM’ing him, he’s stealing their information. He’s taking your money from your bank and charging your credit card. These guys are f*cking scumbag criminals! Don’t listen to them! These guys are scumbags, they’re criminals. They’re bad guys.”

It’s still likely that the UFC will face an uptick in piracy this year as they recently raised the price of their PPVs up to $69.99. Regardless of threats of prosecution, it’s inevitable that people will continue pirating UFC PPVs and that’s something White knows too. Still, he’s looking forward to making a dent in it this year.

“They’re never all going to go away,” White concluded. “They’re going to be out there and we’re not trying to get rid of all of them. I just want to catch a few. That’s all I’m looking for. I just want to catch a few. You can’t shut the whole thing down, that piracy industry is going to go on forever. Let me catch a few and watch what happens — and I will, oh it’s coming.”

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VIDEO STEW

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

James Vick (13-5) vs. Andre Fialho (10-4); XMMA, Jan. 30.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Don’t pirate things. That is, in fact, illegal.

Thanks for reading and see y’all tomorrow.

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EXIT POLL

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