MONTREAL— UFC president Dana White has never been shy about voicing his opinion on any subject, including his take on fighters that are under his employ.
The latest fighter to find himself in the cross hairs of the fiery UFC boss is heavyweight competitor Cheick Kongo.
White revealed via twitter that Kongo had turned down a December 15 fight against Roy Nelson when Nelson’s original opponent, Shane Carwin, was forced to withdraw due to injury. Kongo, perhaps taking exception to his bosses words, fired back on his own twitter feed:
I did NOT REFUSE to FIGHT Roy Nelson . I REFUSED to TAKE A FIGHT on SHORT NOTICE . Which is NOT THE SAME AT ALL. @danawhite @ufc
— Cheick Kongo
White, speaking to media following UFC 154, was not buying what Kongo was selling. “[He] turned down a fight, whether it’s on short notice or whatever, he turned down a fight,” White said. “It’s the second fight he’s turned down in a row.”
When pressed about how often fighters seem to be turning down bouts as of late, White offered his opinion on the type of fighters that turn down the matchups that are offered by the UFC:
“[It’s] a lot more normal with guys that are worried about losing, guys that feel like their in a position where if they lose—you’re either fighters or you’re not. You come out and you fight and you put it all on the line and if you win, you win, if you lose, back to the drawing board.”
White’s comments make it clear that he expects UFC fighters to step up when asked and if they don’t, he intimated that he would have no problem calling them out for not doing so.
When UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones turned down a short notice fight against Chael Sonnen back in August, it seemed like the vast majority of fighters that were asked about it said that, had they been in Jones’ shoes, they would have stepped up and taken the short notice fight.
But then again, saying something and actually doing it are never the same thing, are they?
As for Kongo, White was bewildered by the fact that he had turned down two fights saying, “I don’t know who he’s waiting for.”
**All quotes obtained first hand by BRMMA
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