MMA: Bodog Fight owner Calvin Ayre and UFC's Dana White

Will the Mixed Marital Arts (MMA) mogul Calvin Ayre shave his head to look more like Dana White of UFC?

MMA: Bodog Fight owner Calvin Ayre and UFC's Dana White Not really. A joke made by the Bodog-Fight owner Calvin Ayre got the MMA fans buzzing all over the Internet. But only an awful sunburn will result out of a stunt like this. So to all of the lady-fans of the rich Ayre - don't worry.

On a serious note, although it will be years before we see a UFC fighter vs. Bodog fighter beating each other senseless on the ring (if ever), Dana White and Calvin Ayre are about to enter round two of their personal fight. The UFC has long been the leader in MMA fights, followed by the later acquired Pride. But a new kid came on the block - Bodog Fight, owned and operated by Calvin Ayre, who also owns the famous online gambling website Bodog.

Due to the vast amount of wealth accumulated, the Forbes-featured billionaire was able to pull his MMA brand to number 2 in the world of mixed martial arts fighting. The Bodog Fight in St. Petersburg, Russia, only added to the popularity of his brand, with VIP guests of the caliber of the Russian President Vladimir Putin, Jean Claude Van Damme and former Italy PM Berlusconi.

We didn't have to wait long to see the response of the UFC - Dana White, the president of the UFC, called Ayre "goofball" and "criminal" and referred to Bodog Fight basically as a joke in the world of MMA.

Calvin Ayre answered the "critic" by joking he will shave his head to look more like Dana White. But Ayre is following the motto that there is no such thing as bad publicity, claiming that Dana White is putting money in his pocket every time he mentions Bodog Fight in negative or positive light.

If they ever have the chance to meet - a brawl between the two is almost guaranteed. Dana White, who also owns 10% of Zuffa LLC., the company which owns and operates UFC, has been known to take on a challenge. White was scheduled to fight his former client Tito Ortiz in March to "settle their differences", but Ortiz later backed out of the fight.

Would Ayre fight White on the ring? Well, expensive booze and hot women could play a trick on your fighting abilities, but he would have plenty to defend. If an exhibition fight like this ever occurs - Bodog will certainly take bets on it, but it will be interesting to see who will have better odds of winning.

Published on 06/18/2007