RAW took place just down the road from Disneyland in Anaheim, California last night and, as WWE pointed out during the broadcast, Netflix executives were in attendance fresh off the $5 billion deal which will bring the show to the streamer for 10 years.
That might explain why RAW ended up featuring the first major WWE/UFC crossover; the two companies are now owned by Endeavor and overseen by TKO Holdings Group (on commentary, Pat McAfee suggested some of their executives were also watching the show in person).
It was during the broadcast that announcer Samantha Irving drew attention to UFC lightweight Mike Chandler in the crowd, prompting him to grab the mic and announce that they were in "the presence of the most entertaining UFC fighter on the planet."
He'd go on to challenge Conor McGregor to a fight and yelled, "Conor McGregor, get your candy-ass back to the Octagon! We've got some unfinished business, boys!"
Chandler hasn't competed in the Octagon since UFC 281 in 2022 when he was submitted by Dustin Poirier. As for McGregor, while he continues to make headlines, he's been sidelined since 2021 after breaking his leg during his own clash with Poirier.
Something appears to be in the works - likely for UFC 300 later this year - and we don't believe this was WWE's way of setting up a "match" between Chandler and McGregor at WrestleMania; instead, it's a case of brand synergy and exactly the sort of crossovers we expect to see continue moving forward.
Last year, UFC President Dana White shared his thoughts on what a partnership between the two companies will probably look like:
"I’m sure better deals will be made with the arenas. Alliances will be made. Deals and alliances and sponsorships, the list goes on and on. The business side is really where you’re going to see a big difference. As far as the performance and what we do, you’ll never see a difference in that."
"There won’t really be any type of crossover. Yeah, Brock Lesnar, who wanted to come over to the UFC and test himself became the heavyweight champion. He’s that good of an athlete. Then, you had Ronda Rousey who was a world champion here and then went over to WWE and tested herself there and became a world champion. That type of synergy will still exist."
"The difference between the UFC and the WWE is, if you look at the WWE, they have an end the entertainment value, and they have these guys that are incredible athletes that go in there and do their thing. It’s well-known that it’s scripted."
"When you look at the UFC, this is as real as it gets. That’s like our tagline. You have these guys that are incredible athletes, that have to be well-rounded and well-versed in all these different aspects of martial arts. Then you have the entertainment side of it too, but it’s real fighting. It’s real. There are no pre-determined outcomes in the UFC. So there won’t really be any type of crossover."
This felt a lot like a "crossover" to us! Check out what happened in the X posts below.