LAS VEGAS -- MMA Fighting caught up with Dana White moments after UFC 109, and the UFC president talked about a whole host of subjects: how impressive Randy Couture looked in victory, why he thinks this will be Mark Coleman's last UFC fight, the Tito Ortiz incident, Matt Serra's resurgence in the welterweight division and why he is in fact interested in signing James Toney. Check out the video interview below.
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I have been folowing
i have been following MMA since it started. Ufc since the great hoyce graci first won the ufc title. I hate to see some of the things happening today. I really think ufc should have stayed like it started. you fight 15 min you lose you go home! you win you fight again. Yes i know im outdated. I still enjoy it but hate to see the disrespect on tv and at events. tito was not fighting, so why talk crap? talk in the ring not outside the ring. I wish dana white would sanction or fine these guys for the soap opera. professional fighters dont need drama.
He doesn't want a FREAK SHOW? What do you call these events that have no meaning on the sport what so ever. I have said it before and I will say it again. Rank the fighters in each division, and have the #1 and #2, #3 and #4 and so on fight all on the same night. At the end of the night everyone knows who the fight next. This crap of the champ fighting a fighter that should be ranked #4,5,6, or 7 is nothing but draging crap on. Last night fight for a title shot sucks because the champ doesn't fight for 3 more months. Now we have to wait for that fight then 6 to 8 more months for another title fight. Every one of these UFC PPV events should have a title fight. The first one to start using the format is gonna be the world leader in MMA. The problem now is they are not gonna change if people keep paying to see this crap.
Mike, that format can't realistically happen. Simply because contendership isn't cut and dry. Say the champ fights the top contender and wins and that contender fought the number 2 contender to get there. Who does the champ fight now, the third? What if he's a 3rd who just happens to have a record that isn't as stellar as the number 1 and 2? It can go on and on. There cant always be a title fight and a contender fight for the same division on the same card. Depending who wins and loses can screw up the matchup. They would be having rematches almost every3 cards with your format. True, some matchups they have had don't make sense when it comes to title shots. I hate when a fighter who wins 4-5 fights in a row, and should get a title shot, drops off the map gets shelved just because he doesn't fit into the script. As far as non-title bouts go, I'm a "fight" fan as well as an MMA sport fan. I want to see any fight. I was happy with Coleman-Couture. Of course, i didn't think Coleman was a factor in the rankings. I laughed at the way they promoted him. I would mock anybody who bought into that marketing hype. With that being said, I wanted to see that fight. Real fans want to see fights. They don't care about ranks or records.
Richard this is exactly what dana white wants. He wants his fans to have interest in this kind of stuff because he wants to follow in wwe's footsteps and have the good guy bad guy trash talking crap that sells tickets. He's gotten bad for the sport and will do anything for a buck. This is no different. The whole thing stinks.
WHAT? SAYING DANA WHITE DOESN'T HAVE HIS FAVORITES AND OR PICKS IN FIGHTS IS LIKE SAYING THE WWE IS-NOT SCRIPTED!(GET THA F*** OUTTA CHERE)!
I WANT TO SEE JAMES"LIGHTS-OUT" TONEY FIGHT KIMBO SLICE! YEAH BOI-E!!!!
ariel,
i know you probably think i'm just sucking up to you....but seriously, you got the most out of 4 minutes i've actually ever seen.
great, great, great job. definately, asking what true mma fans want to hear.
and your, "really", about james toney was truly honest and spontaneous.
I read the comments before viewing the video, and I conclude that yeah...you're sucking up big time!
I wonder if Dana White will continue to offer fanhouse interviews once someone has him to realize that fanhouse/mmafighting is the preferred place of many non-purist and 'I don't like DW' rhetoric. :-)
On a more serious note, DW is being forced, seemingly, to strongly consider James Toney....especially considering that James Toney would draw a huge audience. They should put Toney and Kimbo on the same card....and I don't want to see these 2 fight; wanna see both fight a mma fighter.
Ariel gets a lot of access to UFC fighters because he works for the WEC as well. I think he still does anyway.
Yea but he does Strikeforce too, so Dana has nothing to say about it. He wants the airtime, any time is good time. If he didn't i'm pretty sure if he started telling these guys he didn't want to talk to them because they talk to Strikeforce too, they would all tell him to go have sex with himself.
mike, at this point in time, the internet needs dana more than dana needs the internet.
trust me and i know ariel would definately back this up, dana is very gratious with his accessability to him. i'm pretty sure, ariel has not had too many problems with dana telling him, "not now kid".
as much as alot of the guys here don't like dana, to me, he has always come across and has always talked like a fan. with respect to, keeping in mind, he is a promoter.
guys here like to nit-pick dana and his words, but to me, he has a passion for the sport.....yes, he is territorial, but him and zuffa have paved the way for mma to be mainstream. no one is perfect, and obviously, neither is dana.
for the most part, imo, he tries to stay away from circus-esque fights. in reality, zuffa has cleaned up that type of stuff.
you know as much as i can't stand kimbo and all the bs surrounding him, he is basically the only one up to this point. and some guys bring up the seniors circut....coleman, lidell, tito, trigg, baroni, hughes, etc....as much as i don't like it, at least, it is throwing those guys a so-called bone.
believe me, i totally don't like it. especially, in regards to relevancy. but those guys have indeed paid their dues. and i also don't believe any of them should be on ppv events. but, again, they do bring name recognition......so all in all it leaves me conflicted.
the biggest thing that stands out to me that i just don't understand or in any way can defend.....is the whole john mccarthy situation.
that is the one thing, above all, that i actually think has hurt mma.
i really can't believe how black-balled he has been by zuffa. it truly is amazing.
there must be something that we just don't know about, something maybe "shady", something that maybe has nothing to do with mma....it's just too weird, too sweep under the rug-ish, something that even big john doesn't want made public.
it just doesn't make any sense. how come out of all the guys out their, he is the one guy that has seemingly a completely locked door.
and he ain't even a fighter. and hands down, he is the best at what he does.
it's just weird.
He's not a freak show guy but he just finished promoting an event with a freak show main event, just finished a freak show season of the Ultimate Fighter, and now wants James Toney in the UFC.
Keep s#itting on Japan and other promotions for their freak show matches Dana and keep promoting your own because every thinking MMA fan knows your hypocrisy has no limits.