Tag: Dana White

Dana White Sounds off on Alistair Overeem Suspension: ‘I Know He Lied to Me’

Although most of the MMA community is well aware of Alistair Overeem’s suspension, one man who has been out of the loop is Dana White. The UFC president first found out about the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s ruling while speaking to Jim…

Although most of the MMA community is well aware of Alistair Overeem’s suspension, one man who has been out of the loop is Dana White. The UFC president first found out about the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s ruling while speaking to Jim Rome.

Obviously, White wasn’t too optimistic about Overeem’s chances and chose to take the No. 1 contender out of his scheduled title match before an official ruling came down. Although White was surprised by the commission’s ruling.

“Nine months? Nine months isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I thought he would get a year easily,” White said. (JimRome.com)

Rome presented Overeem’s defense to White, and the UFC president gave his initial thoughts on the matter of anti-inflammatory medicine causing the elevated testosterone levels.

Here’s the rules. If that’s the case, if he was on anti-inflammatories meds, whatever the deal was, you’re supposed to disclose that to the commission before the test whatever you’re taking. You’re supposed to disclose that to the commission before the test not after the test. (JimRome.com)

As one can tell by listening to the ongoing comments from White about the Overeem saga, the UFC President has been a bit rattled by the drug test failure. Perhaps White feels slighted on a personal level, as he shared an interesting conversation he and Overeem had prior to the failed test.

Before he went in there he sat down to lunch with me and my partner looked us in the face and said ‘I’m the most tested athlete in all of sports they can test me whenever they want to.” Well he flew in for the press conference, they tested him and now he’s on a 9 month suspension.(JimRome.com)

When presented with the question of whether or not he feels the heavyweight contender lied to him, White was quick to answer with a resounding “I know he lied to me.”(JimRome.com)

White has been very vague in discussing whether Overeem will have a future with the UFC once his suspension is over, but he did perhaps show his hand a bit by indirectly saying Overeem isn’t a guy with whom he wants to do business.

You know you sit down and you have these guys that you do business with and you say let’s sit down, be honest with me and let’s figure out how we can work together. And then they sit there and lie to your face. I don’t know. Not the kind of guys I want to do business with.(JimRome.com)

Stay tuned to BleacherReport.com for all the news regarding Overeem, White and the upcoming UFC 146 PPV.

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Dana White Thought Alistair Overeem Would Get a Harsher Sentence

Look, I know we’re reaching the point of over-saturation on this Alistair Overeem story. But the truth is, just when I’m ready to put it to bed and look forward to awesome things—like UFC 146, the biggest UFC card in history—somet…

Look, I know we’re reaching the point of over-saturation on this Alistair Overeem story. But the truth is, just when I’m ready to put it to bed and look forward to awesome things—like UFC 146, the biggest UFC card in history—something else happens to bring it right back to the forefront of the news cycle.

Today’s most relevant piece of news comes to you courtesy of Dana White, who appeared on Jim Rome’s nationally syndicated radio show this morning to discuss the Alistair Overeem situation. Rome asked White for his thoughts on the nine-month suspension handed down yesterday by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

White confessed that it was the first time he was hearing the news due to a busy travel schedule. He said:

Yeah, it’s the first I’ve heard of that. I knew he was going before the commission, but I didn’t know what happened. I wasn’t optimistic about his chances. I didn’t think things were going to turn out very well for him. It’s just as I expected. Nine months? Nine months isn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I thought he would get a year. Easily a year.

White also said he’s unsure what Overeem’s future holds with the UFC, telling Rome:

We’ll see what happens. We’ll see what happens, man. He went before the commission. They gave him nine months. I’m sure he’s going to have to go in and test again. Before he went in there, he sat down to lunch with me and my partner. He said, “I’m the most tested athlete in all of sports. They can test me whenever they want.” Well, he flew in for the press conference, they tested him, and now he’s suspended for nine months.

Rome asked if White felt Overeem was lying to him.

“I do, yeah. I know he lied to me,” White said.

Do I think White will end up cutting Overeem from the UFC? No, I don’t.

I think Alistair will be back in the cage just in time for the big year-end show in December, just like the Nevada commission begged him to do yesterday. 

But Overeem should understand that White is not happy with him, and most folks don’t get a second chance to anger the boss. 

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In Case You Asked: Chuck Liddell Says He’d Return For a Title Shot [VIDEO]


(We know Liddell has been training hard with other top talent, but a comeback probably wouldn’t be prudent)

It would be easy to call Chuck Liddell nuts for thinking he has a chance at beating current light heavyweight king Jon Jones at this point in his life, as he implies in a recent interview with Fuel TV (video after the jump). Simply going by “MMA math” alone, the former 205-pound ruler finished his career losing five out his last six fights, and three of those losses came against guys (Shogun, Rashad and Rampage) who were easily handled by Bones in subsequent matches.

“The only thing that would make me even think about coming back is if they gave me a shot at the title,” Liddell told Ariel Helwani. “So, we’ll see.” Well, hopefully we won’t see. You don’t have to be a neurologist to understand that a comeback fight against the world’s top-ranked light-heavyweight would put Chuck’s long-suffering brain in grave danger.

That said, we won’t mock retired fighters for retaining some of the same qualities that we loved about them when they were active. Over the course of Liddell’s 12-year career, the former college wrestler probably faced only three guys that he would not have been able to out-wrestle and win in safe, if boring fashion. Yet, the Iceman had so much guts, bravado, and love for the battle itself that he instead chose to slug it out almost all of the time. As a result, MMA fans got to witness some of the most exciting knockouts in the sport’s history — first with Liddell on the winning end, and then with him in the more painful role of victim.


(We know Liddell has been training hard with other top talent, but a comeback probably wouldn’t be prudent)

It would be easy to call Chuck Liddell nuts for thinking he has a chance at beating current light heavyweight king Jon Jones at this point in his life, as he implies in a recent interview with Fuel TV (video after the jump). Simply going by “MMA math” alone, the former 205-pound ruler finished his career losing five out his last six fights, and three of those losses came against guys (Shogun, Rashad and Rampage) who were easily handled by Bones in subsequent matches.

“The only thing that would make me even think about coming back is if they gave me a shot at the title,” Liddell told Ariel Helwani. “So, we’ll see.” Well, hopefully we won’t see. You don’t have to be a neurologist to understand that a comeback fight against the world’s top-ranked light-heavyweight would put Chuck’s long-suffering brain in grave danger.

That said, we won’t mock retired fighters for retaining some of the same qualities that we loved about them when they were active. Over the course of Liddell’s 12-year career, the former college wrestler probably faced only three guys that he would not have been able to out-wrestle and win in safe, if boring fashion. Yet, the Iceman had so much guts, bravado, and love for the battle itself that he instead chose to slug it out almost all of the time. As a result, MMA fans got to witness some of the most exciting knockouts in the sport’s history — first with Liddell on the winning end, and then with him in the more painful role of victim.

So yeah, Chuck loved to fight and had the confidence necessary to make him a champion. We can’t expect that he would lose that desire or hubris just because his friend and boss Dana White forced him to retire two years ago.

Once a warrior, always a warrior.

But with that said, no. Dana White, please continue to do whatever it takes to keep Chuck Liddell out of the cage now, especially against the likes of Jones. The world loves Liddell too much to see his lights turned out again. Pay him whatever it takes to remain an integral member of your executive team at Zuffa and maybe consider banning any media member who asks him about coming back. The guy deserves a cushy, well-paid do-nothing gig. Hell, we wish more former fighters had those types of opportunities.

Check out Liddell’s interview below. You have to give him credit for being very honest and open about where he’s at physically. “I have two problems,” Chuck said. “I probably can’t take a punch like I used to and I didn’t want to change my style. I mean, I could. I could start wrestling and try to control it and take less chances. But then I could still get hit hard…I wanted to go out fighting the way I like to fight — exciting and fun.”

– Elias Cepeda

UFC 149: Big Nog vs Cheick Kongo Set for UFC 149

As reported on MMAWeekly.com this morning, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Cheick Kongo have been added to the UFC 149 fight card that will take place in Calgary on July 21.The Calgary Sun cited anonymous sources in announcing the news, but the fight was …

As reported on MMAWeekly.com this morning, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Cheick Kongo have been added to the UFC 149 fight card that will take place in Calgary on July 21.

The Calgary Sun cited anonymous sources in announcing the news, but the fight was verified via the UFC Canada Official Twitter feed. The announcement came on the same day that UFC President Dana White hinted that Brazilian featherweight Champion Jose Aldo would most likely be pulled form that same card.

Aldo was originally announced as the headliner for the debut Calgary event with a challenger to be named later. The UFC announced via press conference yesterday that the Silva-Sonnen rematch that was tentatively set for UFC 147 in Brazil will now take place at UFC 148 in Las Vegas. This move leaves a big hole on the Brazil card, and many feel it will be filled by Aldo.

Nogueira (33-7-1) is currently recovering from a broken humorous he suffered after refusing to tap to a kimura lock in his last fight with Frank Mir at UFC 140 in December of 2011. Nogueira has had a tough time in the UFC with a 4-3 record.

Kongo (17-7-2) is also coming off a loss via TKO to Mark Hunt at UFC 144 in Japan.

If the Aldo fight is indeed moved off the Calgary card, the Canadian fans could be in for a very nice replacement as White has already mentioned that Jon Jones vs. Dan Henderson is the leading candidate to fill that slot.

UFC 149 Fight card To Date: (Subject to Change)

Thiago Alves vs Yoshihiro Akiyama – welterweight

George Roop vs *Antonio Carvalho – featherweight

*Nick Ring vs Court McGee – middleweight

Bryan Caraway vs *Mitch Gagnon – featherweight

*Mitch Clarke vs Anton Kuivanen – lightweight

Cheick Kongo vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

* Canadian Fighter

Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA, MMA Editor at CKSN.ca and guest blogger for Sportsnet.ca.

Catch him on Facebook and Twitter at wakafightermma.

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UFC 148: Anderson Silva Says Chael Sonnen ‘Doesn’t Know How to Respect People’

About as shocking as the Nevada State Athletic Commission refusing to license UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva still doesn’t find the humor in his arch rival Chael Sonnen’s antics.”When I started training marti…

About as shocking as the Nevada State Athletic Commission refusing to license UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva still doesn’t find the humor in his arch rival Chael Sonnen’s antics.

“When I started training martial arts I learned about respect,” he said. “Sonnen doesn’t know martial arts. He’s a wrestler, he doesn’t know how to respect people. Some say he’s promoting the fight, but he disrespected my country, my family and fans.”

At the UFC 147 fight presser in Rio de Janeiro Brazil Tuesday morning, Sonnen made plenty of his signature wise cracks.

However, he really seemed to get under “The Spider’s” skin when he put on a pair of funny-face glasses that came equipped with fake eyebrows, a fake nose and a fake mustache.

Sonnen stated he wore the comedic get up order to sneak into Brazil and was mistaken for Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in the process. 

For those who missed it, UFC President Dana White announced that the epic rematch between Sonnen and Silva has been moved to UFC 148 in Las Vegas.

Reports last week indicated the fight would likely be moved from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Las Vegas since Rio de Janeiro would be hosting a United Nations conference the same week as UFC 147, which is still scheduled for June 23, but will now face a venue change. 

For those interested in seeing Uncle Chael’s other shenanigans from the fight presser, video footage and quotes can be found here. 

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Dana White Blames M-1 Global Management for Turning Down Fight with Brock Lesnar

Despite his constant belittling of the former Pride FC heavyweight champion, UFC president Dana White insists he does not hate Fedor Emelianenko.The Russian heavyweight was a hot commodity for the UFC boss for many years and had pursued Emelianenko on …

Despite his constant belittling of the former Pride FC heavyweight champion, UFC president Dana White insists he does not hate Fedor Emelianenko.

The Russian heavyweight was a hot commodity for the UFC boss for many years and had pursued Emelianenko on several occasions in an attempt to sign him with the company.

White made one last effort on trying to lure Emelianeko, on the notion that he would be given an immediate title shot against then-UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, but White said his management, M-1 Global, prevented the deal from happening.

“I really don’t hate Fedor. His management made the biggest (expletive) in the history of all sports,” White told MMA Interviews following UFC 145. 

White explained how he travelled to meet Emelianenko and his manager, Vadim Finkelchtein, in 2009, who offered him a lot of money to sign a contract in addition to fighting Lesnar. 

White said Finkelchtein rejected the offer and proceeded to laugh in his face. White was disrespected by the gesture and has since refrained from doing business with M-1 Global.

“I told Vadummy, ‘You’re one punch away from being worth zero.’ He didn’t take it. They thought they were too cool and too slick and too (expletive) funny,” he said. “Like I said, they’re not laughing now.”

Emelianenko eventually signed with Strikeforce that same year, where he would go on to defeat Brett Rogers before dropping three consecutive bouts to Fabricio Werdum, Antonio Silva and Dan Henderson. 

Emelianenko is scheduled to meet former UFC heavyweight champion Pedro Rizzo in Russia on June 23.

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