Over the weekend amid the UFC 277 festivities, it was announced that the Jake Paul-Hasim Rahman Jr. showdown on August 6th at Madison Square Garden has been canceled. According to Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, it was because Rahman refused to comply with the 200-pound limit.
UFC president Dana White, however, had his own theory.
“I think they sold under a million dollars in tickets and it cost $500,000 to turn the f—ng lights on at MSG,” he told reporters at the UFC 277 post-event scrum. “That’s what I think. Not to mention the fact that hotel rooms in New York and transportation and everything else is very expensive.