Dana White is longer interested in giving fight fans a behind-the-scenes look at UFC operations and on-the-fly matchmaking, citing that it’s a “disruptive” process.
This comes after UFC linked up with Roku to release a mini docuseries entitled, Fight Inc., earlier this month. The three-part series documented the promotion’s rise to stardom, background stories about some of the biggest names in the sport, and a secret look behind the curtain into UFC matchmaking, injury management, and fight negotiations.
Fight fans will be bummed, especially considering they got an inside look at some private moments between UFC brass and a few select fighters. This included Jon Jones being informed that he torn his pectoral muscle, Aljamain Sterling being talked into a title fight, and White playing matchmaker with Khabib Nurmagomedov.
“The other thing, it’s a sliver of what really goes on,” White told Barstool’s Robbie Fox. “Basically, Fight Inc. covered the people who are close to me. As you can see, those people are close to me right now. This is my group that is always close to me. There is so much more and so many other things that go on in the UFC, you could do 97 seasons of this. We have 600 employees. That, too, is probably a one-and-done.”
Unfortunately, White is no longer interested in giving fans an inside look at UFC and what transpires behind closed doors. According to the UFC CEO, the process is too disruptive and gives away much more than he’d like. This seems accurate considering White likes to play things close to the chest until final announcements need to be made.
“I’m glad that everybody liked it and enjoyed the series. It’s too much behind the curtain for me and it’s disruptive,” added White. “There are a lot of things you really can’t show. What really goes on with Sean (Shelby), Hunter (Campbell), and Mick (Maynard) on phone calls and things like this. I love the Hunter scene where Hunter gets a deal done for the heavyweight championship in a parking lot in a car, fun shit. Lenee, you can’t go into the Lenee-Sean Strickland thing, how Lenee’s days go with the press conference. It’s too behind-the-curtain for me and it’s disruptive.”
Thoughts?