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In an AMA on Reddit, UFC president Dana White admitted who was easy to deal with and who was not.
UFC president Dana White has famously had to deal with some tough people across the table from him when it’s comes to negotiating contracts. Whether it was Tito Ortiz, Vitor Belfort, or a host of others, things have not always gone super peachily. On the other hand, there have been many guys that eschew agents and basically take whatever they’re offered.
It’s all behind the scenes stuff, so no one really knows that’s happening for certain. But that’s part of the allure for people wondering how it all goes down. And in an AMA on Reddit yesterday, Dana was asked who was the best and who was the worst to deal with. Surprisingly, even for an AMA – Dana answered.
Question – “Hardest fighter to negotiate with? And also who is the easiest?”
Dana: “Mark Hunt and Forrest Griffin. You can guess which is which”
Hunt, of course, has had a weird and winding road in and out of the UFC. The promotion didn’t want to assume his Pride contract, offering him a six-figure buyout to walk away. He wouldn’t take it though, determined to prove his worth in the cage, and he carved out a long and lucrative career in the Octagon. But his departure was just as tumultuous, leading to lawsuits and a lot of animosity.
Griffin, meanwhile, is a Hall of Famer and still employed by the UFC – probably due in part to how easy he was to deal with.