The most dangerous person in the sport of MMA is not Brock Lesnar. Its not Silva or the Iceman. Its Dana White.
As an MMA purist and active fan and participant of the sport I am frightened by what Dana is capable of.
No one man should rule a sport - especially one like this. We don't want it to turn into boxing for God's sake.
His matchups are total crap whenever he gets the chance to put in his 2 cents.
Griffinvrs Rashad? great but not by his will thats for sure.
No. The fights he puts together are fiasco's - Silva vrs James Irving???? What in the world did that prove? Did anyone even familiar with the sport even imagine any other result???
James is not a sissy but beating him hardly makes you the best fighter in the world - the whole promotion was hysterically stupid.
What about the Bisping vs Hammil fight? Please someone tell that Bisping won that fight!
Ill send ya a pound of Jello if you do.
The only good fights going are the ones he has no control of.
The sport is too big now - too important to be handled by one man and if anyone thinks he isn't in total control then you are slightly delusional.
This sport is now second only to the NFL in terms of popularity. For that I give him credit. Its too important tho to be so dominated by one man's personality.
Some of us have our entire livelihoods invested in this thing we call MMA. Yet in order to get paid we have to hope and dream that this guy doesn't screw it up!
People aren't stupid. If you treat them like they are they will reject you. Just look at Boxing.
People want good product—GOOD matchups and no false promotion.
Just look at basketball.
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about 1 month ago
UFC's matchmaker is Joe Silva, not Dana White. As much as some people would like to believe, Dana is no one man show. He's only a piece of the UFC puzzle (abit, a large piece).
Dana can please some of the people all the time, or he can please all of the people some of the time, but no man, I repeat, no man can please all of the people all the time.
about 1 month ago
Dana White certainly has input into fights, but as Jeff mentioned, Joe Silva is the matchmaker. The Silva fight against Irvin was made because UFC wanted to counter-program Affliction's PPV that night, and also because Zuffa wanted to thank Spike for sticking with them by giving them a show with a high-quality main event.
Anderson Silva had been begging for more fights, so they took the chance to showcase their best fighter on free television while also having the side benefit of taking away viewers from the competition.
I don't believe that anyone thought James Irvin had much of a chance to beat Silva, but when you're working on short notice it's tough to put together a fight like that. They weren't going to give away a fight with Silva vs. a top light heavyweight contender on free television, especially with Silva making his debut in a new weight class.
It was a chance to showcase their best fighter on free television in a fight he would most likely win in spectacular fashion. It was a resounding success and Silva became a bigger star because of it, and now he's in a position to draw more PPV buys. It seems like a smart business decision to me, regardless of who actually made the decision.
about 1 month ago
I really enjoyed reading your article. (It could use an edit, however). After fo;;owing the whole Jon Fitch fiasco blossom ot and consume more and more fighters and the AKA, I felt like I had seen a bomb dropped on Hiroshima. It was the ugliest display of temperment I have ever seen. It has come to the point where Dana is acting like my youngest son who,(as a terrible two year old). when angered, would take a valued object hostage and if not getting his way would threaten "I'll break!"
Unfortunately a lot of valuable and much loved articles met with their destruction at his hands. Now it does seem that this behavior is being emulated by no less than the president of the UFC. How unfortunate for us all, and I do pity the fighters.
about 1 month ago
Marco,
I know that you realize Joe Silva is (supposedly) in charge of match-making. I also know that you realize Dana White doesn't run the whole show...just way too much of it.
And you also know that the Fertita's allow Dana to much decision-making leeway. Dana is, as you said, is a dangerous man. And because of him, the UFC has become too boxing-like.
Dana keeps deserving fighters from getting title shots. (Machida, Florian) I believe Dana White has an anger management issue, which in layman's terms, is called a loud and spoiled f#@king buffoon.
It's no secret that Lorenzo Fertita tossed a gift to his childhood buddy but making the under-qualified Dana the UFC president.
But look at the bright side: Dana will crash and burn sooner-or-later, and in the meantime, there's a host of other MMA Productions to follow.
from about 1 month ago
Dana thinks he owns Las Vegas.
He thinks HE"S John Wayne!
about 1 month ago
Wow, it looks like this is the hang-out for EliteXC employees. Saying UFC will crash and burn is like saying the Arena Football League will overthrow the NFL. Of course what does Dana White know? He only took a $2 million business and transformed it into a Billion dollar enterprise. You know who Dana should sign to the UFC next? James Thompson............ha ha, he, Ha HAHAHAHA, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh I almost had it!
from about 1 month ago
I like James Thompson!!!
about 1 month ago
Where does it say that the UFC will crash and burn?
about 1 month ago
I was with you until you said that MMA is second only to the NFL... not even close. The NBA, MLB are far ahead and even the NHL and NASCAR are bigger than MMA right now. Will that change someday? Maybe. Having MMA sanctioned in every state would be a huge first step towards this.
As for your summary of Dana White I agree with much of it. From a business standpoint I liken Dana White to the high energy, hands on owner/operator/visionary behind a small aggressive start up company. The type of figure who spends 20+ hours a day on the grind getting the business on its feet. That without his dedication it wouldn't have made it a single quarter, let alone an entire year.
However the UFC is beyond the "start up" stage and into its full bloom as a legit entertainment corporation. Usually when businesses reach this stage the early leader does one of a few things. They cash out and retire, usually moving on to the next "thing" that gets their blood running. They take on a lucrative consultant-at-large position within the company to keep the company from straying too far from the path they set. Or lastly they get pushed aside in favor of a more "polished" person to lead the charge into the future.
I'm not sure which of the above will happen but with Lorenzo taking a bigger role and often being the voice of reason behind some of these issues that have gone awry I can see Dana taking a back seat to the policy making and being more of the promotional face of the UFC. Will he accept that? Who knows as it seems he's never dealt with not getting his way. For better or worse Dana White is the best & worse thing to happen to MMA, if that makes any sense.
from about 1 month ago
I cant quote my source of the "second to the nfl" comment but it wasnt mine originally. I think I read it in an article that said among men 21-27 years old it was second only in popularity to the NFL.
I used to love Basketball but I havent watched it in a few years. It seemed to turn into crap for me after the late nineties. Too much selfishness and too much of a hip-hop mentality for me.
Baseball is ok but the season is too long for my tatse and the games outside of playoff runs etc... are like watching golf to me. Yawn.
Boxing is totally dead imo - I watched that Mayweather/Hackett fight and was very disapointed. In my humble oppinion boxers might as well just ride stationary bikes and see who tires first.
Without a guy like Mike Tyson thats basically what it is.
I love football tho. Look at the craptastic games we get to watch today tho. Id rather watch Butterbean fight than the games we got today. (I literally mean today btw).
I agree that Dana has been good for the sport but I really started to question things when I saw Bisping "beat" Hammil in England.
There have been a number of bad descions like that since - like Clay Guida losing to Griffin.
Even the Tito-Griffin fight looked bad.
Several of the fights have been chosen poorly also- Tito vrs Machida, Silva vrs James Irving, and Lesnar vrs Herring come imeadiately to mind.
This stuff adds up over time and can put a bad taste in your mouth.
I hope what you say comes to pass and Dana takes more of a back seat- hes kindof like the George Steinbrenner of MMA. Noone liked George either even when he won 4 rings in a row.
from about 1 month ago
Its not completely valid but yeah MMA is now starting to grow into the next big sport on TV. MLB, NBA, and NHL have all been slowly decreasing for some reason. I think the low point was when professional poker was getting more views than the NBA. With MMA's increasing success, its only a matter of time before it is in second place to the NFL.
about 1 month ago
I have been for the UFC since the beginning. Everyone is just angry that Brock Lesnar was givin a title shot with only 3 matches under his belt. I do agree that was shit, but look at what else the UFC has done for the sport. Seriously getting angry over 2 or 3 little things that have really no affect on the sport is just ridiculous.
I have always wanted the UFC to be the only promoter. In every other sport there is only one big promoter, how come in MMA there are many?? Why do people debate in MMA who is the best fighter? Because there isnt a centralized organization to bring the best together. We will forever be arguing is Fedor of Silva or GSP or bla bla bla.
What if the NFL was split up into many organizations? There wouldnt be a super bowl, no winning team at the end of the season. There would be like 3 or 4 champions who will never play each other because they all belong to different organizations.
about 1 month ago
MLB doesnt control baseball in Japan.
I liked Pride, I liked Bushido. It was different.
from about 1 month ago
Yeah but do you watch Japanese baseball?? Probably not often. I just want all this BS who is the best fighter shit done for. All this talk of oh Fedor is the best fighter in the heavy weight division, yet we will never know because he fights for a different promotor. If he was with the UFC we could see him fight against Brock, Nog and Mir for a title and prove that he is the best.
about 1 month ago
Pride and was much more fun to watch than the post-Dana White UFC.
More fighters from more countries than I can remember fought for Pride. How many countries represent the UFC? Four? Five?
about 1 month ago
MMA might be the fastest growing sport in those demographics but on a raw popularity scale, every single MLB, NBA, NHL, Golf tourney, NASCAR race measures its audience in the millions and tens of millions, not in the hundred thousands like MMA does.
As for the "bad decision" making I disagree with a few of your fights as being bad. Silva-Irvin was Silva's first test at a new weight class. It was a freebie card so they weren't going to put him against Rampage or Evans or anyone with any real notoriety. Herring-Lesnar also wasn't a bad idea imo. Herring might have taken Brock too lightly as he's indicated in post fight interviews but Herring was a legit veteran opponent that was a good gauge to test Brock's skill level/set against.
The Bisping-Hammill nonsense is more the fault of the judges possibly being swayed by the home crowd but you can't pin that on White.
Some of the more self serving events such as wasting Couture-Liddell IV as a heavyweight contender fight is one of them. White is a little too anxious to have a Lesnar-Liddell super fight and is royally screwing over legit heavyweights and fans by pushing for this if the rumors are true.
Like I said in my earlier comment, Dana White was essential to relaunching the UFC brand, but it might be time for a more polished professional that isn't as hot headed and emotional. White seems to take every "no" or "can we talk about this..." as a personal affront to him, which it isn't. Instead of letting cooler heads prevail and fix the messes he creates why not let cooler heads handle the discussion in the first place?
about 1 month ago
The anouncers for Pride were better also - Bas always knew everything before it happenned. I still dont like Joe Rogan very much
about 1 month ago
I have to agree there, Marco,
Joe Rogan violently assaults my auditory senses with his loud, non-stop, obnoxious, shrieking voice. He needs a larynx transplant and a Xanax or four. Bruce Buffer needs to lay off of MMA a hit the boxing circuit again.
Bas was laid back and friendly, as was his partner, Steven Quadros. Those two never tried to sell something that wasn't there. Plus, they had a real chemistry going.
I'll still watch certain UFC events, but with the sound off.
If Bas and Quadros announced the UFC, the entire production would improve.
from about 1 month ago
It really makes a difference doesnt it? Those guys are so much better its not even a comparison.
Im really tired of Mr Fear Factor.
Bas and Steven - rule.
from about 1 month ago
Steven Quadros knows nothing about MMA. That's about all I can say about your comment without being a real prick.
about 1 month ago
Steven Quadros actually said a man who pulled guard was in the dominant position. Being on the bottem is never a dominant position. One pulls guard to neutralize his opponent, yes one can work for submissions from there but it is not considered a dominant position. Joe Rogan is great because he is a true MMA fan and has loved MMA since day one.
from about 1 month ago
I dont think its a comment regarding either one's knowledge of the sport. Its a matter of a voice that can break glass (joe) or a voice that gets you into the action. Joe Rogan is also the #1 guy not the supporter so he should be compared to Bas not Steve. just my humble oppinion of course.
And Bas knows all.
about 1 month ago
In your article you say that MMA is too large to be ran by one man. Dana White does not run MMA, he is in charge of the UFC. If someone wants to start another MMA Association they are free to do so. It is not Dana White's fault that all other MMA promotions seem to fail. One large reason for this is because it is a new sport for the most part and it does not have the popularity to generate the income that would allow an organization to pay it's athletes like the NFL. I have no idea where you got your facts but MMA is most definately not second to the NFL in popularity, that is rediculous. He has a formula that has allowed him to build a major MMA organization. Mr. White managed to do this when MMA was illegal and the thought of a major sponsor seemed like a joke which
is even more proof that the man knows what he is doing.
The pile
of failed MMA organizations gets larger every day even with its increase in popularity.
Affliction will be the next to pile on. Their
next PPV has been pushed back to Jan. 24th due to a lack of funding, it was originally scheduled for Nov. This just proves that it takes more than great fighters and great fights to build a long term company.
BTW....Joe Silva makes the matches not Dana White and James Irvin vs. Anderson Silva was a very interesting match up and it was also free. If you remember, it was on the same night as Afflictions first PPV. I bet you were going from one station to the other that night. We should all thank Dana for bringing us this great sport on a regular basis.
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