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Interview w/ UFC President Dana White (part 1)
Reported By: Boxing Insider - 03.03.2004 10:06 AM
BoxingInsider.com Interview with Dana White
By Chris Colderley©
As president of the UFC, Dana White has brought the sport to the cusp a national television deal and national exposure. Despite some recent setbacks and bad luck (Couture-Belfort), Dana White remains confident about the future of the UFC. He is enthusiastic about the future of the sport, determined to get the best fighters in the world, and craft the most exciting match-ups. His openness and candidness about the organization is something that you don’t get from other sports organizations.
In the aftermath of UFC 46, BoxingInsider.com asked UFC President, Dana White about the show and the future of the world’s best known MMA organization.
Boxinginsider.com: Let me start off by asking what were your thoughts on UFC 46?
Dana White: It was a great show. I was very happy with the live attendance, with the ticket sales obviously. The fights were great -- a little anti-climactic at the end. But it's real fighting, and that's what happens sometimes.
Boxinginsider.com: What did you think about the Belfort/Couture fight?
Dana White: Like I said "anti-climactic", but it happens. Those things happen. Two human beings get together and fight -- anything can happen.
Boxinginsider.com: Many fans, including myself, thought that it should have been a no contest. Explain how the decision was arrived at.
Dana White: What happens is they review the fight -- the Commission did. I said the same thing -- it has to be a no contest. They reviewed the fight and the cut was caused from a punch. As glancing and grazing as it was, no matter what, it was caused from a punch. That's how the cut was caused.
Boxinginsider.com: After the fight what measures did you take to ensure that there wasn't any defective equipment -- or did you?
Dana White: I don't know what you mean.
Boxinginsider.com: I am not saying it did happen, but one of the old tricks in boxing was they used to put lime on your gloves to get the other fighter's eyes or there were tricks with razorblades. I don't think that was done, but just that there wasn't a loose thread or a torn glove or anything? Did you actually check to make sure?
Dana White: Originally what happened, when I first saw it, there was something in Randy's eye -- Randy couldn't see, and there was something in his eye. What was in his eye was blood -- pouring down into his eye. That's why he couldn't see. If you think of your eyelid, where a woman would put eyeliner on the top lid, Randy got five stitches going across that way. Then the bottom lid, straight up toward the eye, he had four stitches -- and his retina was scratched. It was just one of those freak things. Everybody saw Randy and Pedro go to war the first time with nothing bad. Then one crazy glancing blow tore his skin.
Boxinginsider.com: Are you doing anything to prevent this from happening again, or are you just treating this as a freak accident?
Dana White: A freak accident.
Boxinginsider.com: OK. Pride has just released a statement. I don't have the statement in front of me, but, to paraphrase, basically they said that the UFC hasn't marketed the sport to its full potential in North America, and they are prepared to go head to head with you beginning this year. They are very confident about their prospects. How do you respond to that?
Dana White: Beautiful -- come on in. The more money that's spent in North America, the better. I love it.
Boxinginsider.com: At the same time what are the possibilities you might end up in a bidding war and lose fighters like, off the top of my head, Couture, Shamrock, and Ortiz?
Dana White: I don't worry about that stuff. I'm not worried about that. How many fighters have we lost to Pride in the last three years?
Boxinginsider.com: Directly or indirectly?
Dana White: I mean period. How many fighters have you seen leave the UFC and go straight to Pride and start fighting, and they were, like, "Here we go, we've got a UFC fighter?
Boxinginsider.com: Off the top of my head, Mark Coleman is the only one I can think of.
Dana White: It wasn't while I was here.
Boxinginsider.com: That was previously.
Dana White: Right. It's funny, because there's all this talk about how Pride has the fighters, and you couldn't name one guy that's left UFC and gone directly to Pride.
Boxinginsider.com: No I agree with you there.
Dana White: And then the only time you've ever seen a Pride fighter that had a contract with Pride and come straight to UFC must be Vitor Belfort.
Boxinginsider.com: But do you expect that there will be a bidding war? Is it a possibility?
Dana White: I'm not concerned with that at all. I have never thought twice about it.
Boxinginsider.com: A couple of commentators -- and I'm naming them off the top of my head -- Dave Meltzer I can think of, and Eddie Bravo mentioned it -- have suggested that the wrestling-style promotion at UFC 46 -- like Lee Murray with the Hannibal Lechter mask…
Dana White: We didn't tell Lee to do that. Lee came in like that himself. Go ahead -- I'll let you finish your question.
Boxinginsider.com: The Tito Ortiz-Lee Murray exchange after Murray's victory, the face-off between Liddell and Ortiz, that sort of wrestling-style promotion is the way that you should be promoting the UFC. I know the UFC released a statement -- probably about six months ago -- that they have moved away from that style of promotion. Explain how you are marketing the sport right now.
Dana White: We moved away from WWE style of promotion in the fights for the walk-ins -- we thought it looked too WWE, the way we did it with the pyro and the video when they walked out. First of all, I didn't even know he was coming out with the Hannibal Lecter outfit on. I was just as surprised as everybody was when he walked out. I thought it was awesome. I really liked it. I think he pulled it off well, and it was part of his personality.
What sets us apart from the WWE is that I don't tell the guys [how to behave]. The only thing that we tell guys we are not crazy about, sometimes you get caught up in the emotion and there's a lot of cussing and swearing. We're not into that. We believe this is a sport in that you should feel safe letting your kids watch the show and bringing your kids out to the show. It is a combat sport just as if they went to a boxing match. Cussing is the only thing that we are really not crazy about. We tell the fighters to be professional and use their heads when they are talking, but sometimes the guys get caught up in the emotion and sometimes it happens. What are you going to do?
But, other than that, I don't tell the fighters what to do or how to come out or what to say. As far as WWE goes, they control every aspect of what those actors are doing. Those guys are actors. They have scripts that are written by the WWE and they have a persona that is created by the WWE. We don't do any of that kind of stuff. These guys are real fighters. The executioner, Bernard Hopkins, comes out with a hood and an axe and whole nine. These guys are real fighters. Anybody who thinks any of that stuff that we do -- I disagree with Dave Meltzer, in that it is professional wrestling style. It's not. It's real fighting style is what it is.
The thing with Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz -- we just got them both in the Octagon and they did an interview with Joe Rogan. None of that was scripted. They knew that they were going to come in there so I'm sure they thought about what was going to be said. But none of that is scripted or planned out or rehearsed. None of it. The other thing, the thing with Tito and Lee Murray, I didn't expect that to happen at all. Joe Rogan asked a question, and that's what it led into.
Boxinginsider.com: Can you explain where that heat comes from? Where does the heat between Murray and Tito Ortiz come from?
Dana White: An alleged street fight in London.
Boxinginsider.com: And that's it?
Dana White: That's it. I wasn't there so I don't know anything about it. You ask five or six different people and there are five or six different stories of what happened that night. But one thing is for sure, those two definitely bumped into each other in London and they don't like each other now at all.
Stay tuned with Boxinginsider.com for the rest of our chat with UFC President Dana White.
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