Dana White’s Mouth Just Won’t Quit
by E. Spencer Kyte
Love of Sports Correspondent
As a Mixed Martial Arts addict, I owe many thanks to Dana White: the President, part owner and face of the UFC.
Zuffa, LLC’s purchase of the fledgling no-holds barred organization from its original owners served as life support for what is now the fastest growing sport in the world and White was the one with the foresight to take that risk.
Over the years, he has done more for Mixed Martial Arts than pretty much anyone else in the business, and for that I am forever thankful.
But Dana White needs to stop.
He needs to stop talking.
He needs to stop hoping for every other organization to fail.
He needs to stop dropping an f-bomb every fourth word. There are kids watching after all.
He just needs to stop.
Early last week when Pro Elite, the parent company of Elite XC, closed the doors on the organization, White was like a kid on Christmas morning upon hearing the news. A class act would have played it modest, even though the collapse of a competitor only strengthens White’s UFC. But that’s not how Dana does it. He ripped the organization, the management team, the organization’s fallen star Kimbo Slice, everybody.
As annoying as his thoughts on Pro Elite’s demise were, listening to him after Saturday’s UFC 90 in suburban Chicago was even worse.
This is the only guy in the history of the world who would rip his main event winner. Now, it certainly wasn’t your typical Anderson Silva show, but the bottom line is still that Silva got the win and helped to pack the house in Chicago. He also extended his UFC winning streak to a record tying eight wins.
What does White do? He takes some shots at his champion for not having the most entertaining fight of his career and says he needs to perform better than that.
Here’s an idea Dana: give him some more money and put him inside The Octagon with someone he actually wants to fight. Maybe make that Chuck Liddell fight he’s been asking about for a while now happen.
Unfortunately, White is like the school yard bully who has already beaten up everyone else in the school. There is no one who can challenge him and the UFC, so he’ll just keep on being Dana White, whether we like it or not.
Comments
Dustin Snyder on 10/27 at 09:50 PM
God, I couldn’t possibly agree with you any more. I was actually contemplating writing an article on this as well but I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep from saying over and over again ‘Dana White is an idiot’. Seriously… this guy has made me lose interest in MMA. I cannot wrap my head around how unprofessional and immature Dana White really is. I have been saying since the days of Shamrock and Taktarov and Severn that sooner or later the UFC would end up just as worthless as professional boxing, and every time this idiot opens his mouth he’s a little closer to proving me right.
Dustin Snyder on 10/28 at 11:16 PM
I can’t believe no one else commented on this! I hope we aren’t the only 2 people in the world who realize Dana White is a jackass.
Gridiron Love on 10/29 at 10:54 AM
I don’t think he’s as much a jackass as he is a guy who’s watching his empire crumble. Silva was talked up as being “the Man” and given the Kimbo nonsense, this joke of a main event won’t help attract new viewers. Now to your Boxing point, I’m guessing there’s some bias there, because Professional Boxing has blown MMA away this year as far as main event matches go...and De La Hoya versus Paquiao will likely make more money than anything Dana White could put together.
Spencer Kyte on 10/29 at 12:49 PM
Whoa whoa whoa… I would hardly say his empire is crumbling. The UFC draws monsterous numbers on PPV and anyone who really follows the sport knew that Kimbo was a joke. Boxing has had some quality Main Events this year and Oscar v. Pacman will be huge, but so too will Couture v. Lesnar. Remember, boxing has been doing this for years while the UFC and MMA have really only been around in a larger scale for two or three years. In time, they will dwarf boxing.
Gridiron Love on 10/29 at 03:11 PM
What you say is definitely true, and while Kimbo was huge for bringing the sport to the mainstream (yes I realize he’s more WWE / YouTube than MMA) ... he also did a ton of mainstream damage by proving to be a joke on LIVE TV. As for dwarfing boxing....I’m not sure that’ll happen if they can’t create a mainstream attraction....I’m curious to hear where you guys stand on De La Hoya mixing it up in the MMA world (not fighting, but from a Promotional perspective). Could he and Golden Boy (with Affliction) bring the two worlds together?
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