Tag: Dana White

UFC: Why More Fighters Will Turn Down Short-Notice Fights

If you thought that the frantic main card shuffles for events like UFC 149, UFC 151 and UFC 153 were bad, you haven’t seen anything yet.Now that the UFC has stretched itself from monthly pay-per-view events to supporting an additional three FOX Network…

If you thought that the frantic main card shuffles for events like UFC 149, UFC 151 and UFC 153 were bad, you haven’t seen anything yet.

Now that the UFC has stretched itself from monthly pay-per-view events to supporting an additional three FOX Network channels, expect many more main card-caliber fighters to turn down last-minute matches when Dana White and Joe Silva come calling.

For every man like Stephan Bonnar who’s got nothing to lose by taking a fight on a couple weeks’ notice, there will be far more who pass up the call, safe with the knowledge that saying “no” won’t hurt them terribly in the long run.

At best, they’ll simply get the Matt Mitrione treatment and Dana will bury them in the press.

And at the absolute worst, the UFC will cancel an entire event and stick the blame on the fighter who just didn’t want to compete without getting in a full training camp. That’s exactly what happened to Jon Jones after the champion refused to face Chael Sonnen at UFC 151 on eight days’ notice.

But just look at them now—instead of playing the blame game, Jones, Sonnen, and White are swapping jokes on the set of The Ultimate Fighter, as if all three of them didn’t play any part in the cancellation of a large-scale Las Vegas event two months ago.

Even though the UFC is desperate for quality cards (and counter-intuitively providing their fighters with expensive health insurance), stars like Rampage Jackson, Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida aren’t worried about putting themselves before their employer.

After all, why should they risk coming into a fight out of shape, which is usually a solid recipe for racking up a loss?

Although the UFC will sometimes cut a losing fighter at the drop of the hat, the company apparently won’t fire anyone for declining a short-notice bout. Not ever.

If Jon Jones could “kill” an entire card and be rewarded that same year with an Ultimate Fighter stint and a high-profile main event against a proven draw in Chael Sonnen, there’s really nothing that Dana White can do when someone leaves him high-and-dry with a suddenly-depleted fight card.

So here’s some free advice for UFC fans: Always keep your receipts, and make sure you get refundable travel options for all your Octagon-based vacations.

After all, you never know when another rash of injuries is going to decimate a top-heavy UFC card. When it happens again (and it probably will), don’t expect too many popular UFC fighters to jump into matches they didn’t prepare for—after all these years, they can finally afford to be a little bit selfish.

[McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist and FightFans Radio writer. His work has appeared in GamePro, Macworld and PC World. Talk with him on Twitter.]

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Dana White: Jon Jones vs. Anderson Silva Will ‘Absolutely’ Happen

It seems the biggest super-fight in the UFC is a sure thing, no matter what.During a UFC live chat posted by Metro PCS via Ustream, UFC president Dana White reconfirmed that light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and middleweight champion Anderson Silva …

It seems the biggest super-fight in the UFC is a sure thing, no matter what.

During a UFC live chat posted by Metro PCS via Ustream, UFC president Dana White reconfirmed that light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and middleweight champion Anderson Silva would indeed face each other in the Octagon.

While answering a question from UFC fan “Herb Fu,” White reasserted his promise:

I said it in Brazil and I’ll say it again: Hell yes, they will. I guarantee you that fight will absolutely happen.

White’s statement mirrored an earlier declaration that he made during the UFC 153 post-fight press conference, when he stated that the profits made off a Jones vs. Silva main event would certainly entice both men. White made the claim while standing right next to a visibly dissonant Silva.

I know this, the Georges St-Pierre [vs. Anderson Silva] fight is a big fight. I think the Jon Jones fight is a big fight. And I know my man says, ‘no, no, no,’ but the amount of money that would be offered for that fight, I guarantee you, I will make Anderson Silva say, ‘yes, yes, yes.’

Jones and Silva are widely considered the top two pound-for-pound mixed martial artists in the world, with the latter riding a record 16-fight winning streak in the UFC and 10 successful defenses of the promotion’s middleweight championship.

MMA Fighting recently reported via Brazilian outlet Correio Braziliense that Jones admitted he didn’t want to be “the guy who beat Anderson” and further stated that he didn’t need to beat Silva to be the world’s best MMA fighter.

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UFC: Interim Titles Need to Come with a Stipulation That They Must Be Defended

UFC 154 marks the return of Georges St-Pierre to the welterweight division. It’s a moment that is highly anticipated by MMA fans, but they should also cheer for the return of Carlos Condit.Condit, the interim welterweight champion, hasn’t competed sinc…

UFC 154 marks the return of Georges St-Pierre to the welterweight division. It’s a moment that is highly anticipated by MMA fans, but they should also cheer for the return of Carlos Condit.

Condit, the interim welterweight champion, hasn’t competed since defeating Nick Diaz for the belt back at UFC 146. That’s a nine-month span from Condit winning the belt and unifying the titles at UFC 154.

It also goes completely against the idea of an interim title.

Interim titles were made with the idea of keeping a division active while the current champion is unable to continue. The UFC made an interim heavyweight title back when Frank Mir couldn’t compete due to his motorcycle accident and when Brock Lesnar was ill.

Recently, Renan Barao won the UFC’s interim bantamweight title after Dominick Cruz tore his ACL. He, like Condit, is choosing to wait for the real champion to return to injury before competing again.

I understand the business side of waiting for the champion to return, as the interim belt means nothing if you don’t beat the guy who’s at the top of the division. In Condit‘s case specifically, I get that he wants to wait for GSP due to basically being handed a title shot on a silver platter due to Diaz‘s actions.

But if you’re going to compete for an interim title, the UFC and other promotions need to make a stipulation that the belt must be defended at least once. It causes a logjam at the top of the division, which is the same issue that caused an interim title to be created.

If the promotions have to make sure the interim champ gets another No 1’s contender bout, I’m fine with that, but it makes no sense to create an interim title that won’t be defended. In the nine months of GSP and Condit being on the shelves, we’ve seen a number of title contenders emerge that likely missed a chance (and possibly their only chance) at receiving a UFC title shot.

The UFC as always will likely need to take the initiative and help provide a blueprint for other promotions to follow. Luckily for fans, Dana White has a history of doing what he believes is best for business regardless of how fighters feel.

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Dana White Pulls UFC Events From Palms Casino Resort After They Cut His Gambling Credit Line in Half [TRUE STORY]


(For the girl in the Spiderman costume, what happened later that night was the most humiliating experience of her life. For Jon Lovitz, it was just another champagne orgy. Photo via VegasNews)

UFC president Dana White — who, as we are legally obligated to tell you, has never bet on a UFC fight in his life, other than that friendly $100 cash wager he made on Manny Gamburyan vs. Thiago Tavares — has cut ties with The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, a longtime host-venue of TUF Finale events. In true Godfather style, it’s over an insult, related to his immense, well-documented love of gambling (which again, he’s never done on a UFC fight, except for that one time in January 2009).

Here’s the scoop, from swashbuckling shit-stirrer Norm Clarke of the Las Vegas Review Journal:

A falling-out with UFC president Dana White is the latest setback for the hard-hit Palms, sources confirmed Sunday.

The blowup occurred about six months ago when White, furious that his credit line was cut in half, pulled all UFC-related events from the Palms and has not returned…


(For the girl in the Spiderman costume, what happened later that night was the most humiliating experience of her life. For Jon Lovitz, it was just another champagne orgy. Photo via VegasNews)

UFC president Dana White — who, as we are legally obligated to tell you, has never bet on a UFC fight in his life, other than that friendly $100 cash wager he made on Manny Gamburyan vs. Thiago Tavares — has cut ties with The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, a longtime host-venue of TUF Finale events. In true Godfather style, it’s over an insult, related to his immense, well-documented love of gambling (which again, he’s never done on a UFC fight, except for that one time in January 2009).

Here’s the scoop, from swashbuckling shit-stirrer Norm Clarke of the Las Vegas Review Journal:

A falling-out with UFC president Dana White is the latest setback for the hard-hit Palms, sources confirmed Sunday.

The blowup occurred about six months ago when White, furious that his credit line was cut in half, pulled all UFC-related events from the Palms and has not returned…

The UFC had an exclusive contract with the Palms to hold televised “Ultimate Fighter Live Finale” events at the hotel as well as local UFC fights.

One of the Palms’ biggest gamblers since it opened 11 years ago, White’s tipping habits were legendary.

“He changed people’s lives,” said one of the sources.

Dealers and wait staff were among the hardest hit by White’s departure. During one two-month hot streak, White tipped dealers more than $100,000, sources confirmed.

“Anytime he came in, we knew it was a big payday,” a Palms employee said.

A regular at N9NE Steakhouse, White routinely ran up dinner tabs of $15,000-$20,000 and tossed in $10,000 tips. That happened three or four or times a week, the sources said.

First, let’s give White some credit here: The fact that his tipping habits are enough to affect a city’s local economy is pretty fucking impressive. Until you’re able to spend $100,000/week on steak dinners, you can’t really call yourself a “success.”

But man, what an asshole. (Sorry, you knew that was coming.) We’re used to the UFC president’s tantrums by now, but this one — in which Dana ends a contract with a loyal partner because they were financially strapped and could no longer afford to float him the kind of markers he’d grown accustomed to — is such a great encapsulation of White’s personality. In short, he’s a man who wields his power like a bully, reacts to every setback as if it were a direct threat on his life, and loves, loves, loves to gamble, to the point where his love of gambling is now influencing major business decisions.

Anyway, this should explain why the TUF 16 Finale is slated to go down at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on December 15th, and not at the Palms, where the last eleven TUF finale cards have taken place.

Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen: If That Works, Why Not These Fights?

So, we have it laid before us: Chael Sonnen will coach opposite Jon Jones on the next season of TUF, then will fight the champ for the title, because according to Dana White ,“it makes sense.” Granted, White has guided the ship very far thr…

So, we have it laid before us: Chael Sonnen will coach opposite Jon Jones on the next season of TUF, then will fight the champ for the title, because according to Dana White ,“it makes sense.”

Granted, White has guided the ship very far through some very turbulent waters and has done so by going with his gut. But no one is flawless, and this decision by White was clearly done with an eye to saving The Ultimate Fighter franchise rather than seeing due process served in the light heavyweight division.

No amount of fan uproar will change any of this: White believes he is right and anyone who disagrees with him is wrong or a moron, as he so eloquently put it when he addressed the issue of booing fans at the title fight between Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez.

This is White’s ship, and we’re just along for the ride, so we should shut up and enjoy the view, or so it might seem. However, there is an interesting hangnail in all of this: If White is so pleased with his decision to have Sonnen leapfrog everyone in the light heavyweight division for a shot at the champ, then perhaps there will be other fights in the future that can benefit from the same philosophy of dollars and cents making enough sense to throw divisional ramifications to the wind.

There are some good fights out there that could be made using the same, or close to the same, argument that saw Sonnen win the light heavyweight lottery because he bought a ticket by saying “I will” instead of “I can’t” or “I won’t.”

Granted, none of the fights in this list have much divisional significance; they don’t follow any true form of due process (well, most of them don’t). They are just really good fights that could fit into the same mold as Jones vs. Sonnen.

So, if Jones vs. Sonnen “makes sense,” then why not these fights?

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MMA: Should Fighters Try To Fight Through Injuries To Save a Fight Card?

When UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones refused to fight Chael Sonnen on short notice at UFC 151, Dana White canceled the entire event. While many fans and White himself came down hard on Jones, he was only half of the problem. T…

When UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones refused to fight Chael Sonnen on short notice at UFC 151, Dana White canceled the entire event. 

While many fans and White himself came down hard on Jones, he was only half of the problem. 

The reason Jones was in that situation to begin with was because his original opponent, Dan Henderson, was injured while training. 

No one really enters a fight 100 percent. And in Henderson’s case, his injury was so severe that there was no way he could fight. 

But thanks to the UFC cancelling the event, more fighters may actually fight through more injuries just to save an event. 

Although this may sound good for a fan to see fights go on, there should be other alternatives. 

Fighters put their bodies on the line just by training for fights. 

But if the last two years have taught us anything, it’s that fights can be cut off at the drop of a dime. 

People came down on Jones this year for not taking a short-notice fight. But just last year he filled in for an injured Rashad Evans to fight Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to keep the championship fight going. 

UFC 130 was suppose to feature Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard 3, but the fight had to be pushed back thanks to both men being hurt. 

Although it wasn’t the event of the year, the show went on. 

Then there’s the welterweight title fiasco that was originally suppose to feature Nick Diaz vs. Georges St-Pierre. 

Diaz vs. St-Pierre and Carlos Condit vs. BJ Penn turned into Condit vs. St-Pierre, Penn vs. Diaz and eventually Diaz vs. Condit for an interim title this year. 

Over the past two years, injuries have plagued more cards, especially main events, than any other time in MMA history. 

But instead of guys fighting through injuries just to save a card, perhaps the UFC should have a list of guys on call in case something happens to a fighter on a main event. 

Or perhaps their cards should be better stacked so situations like UFC 151 won’t happen where the only interesting fight is the main event. 

Not every card will hit it out of the ballpark. Just like unassuming cards like UFC 153 may turn out better than expected. 

Guys will always fight through injuries. It’s apart of the game for any athlete. 

But if it comes to risking your career just to save an event that should not solely be on your shoulders to began with, fighters should take a step back and consider what they’re really fighting for. 

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