Tag: Dana White

Dana White: UFC ‘Not Interested Whatsoever’ in Holly Holm

Things went from great to terrible quickly regarding the negotiations between the UFC and undefeated mixed martial artist (and highly successful boxer) Holly Holm.
While Holm’s manager Lenny Fresquez went on MMA Junkie Radio and said that a deal with t…

Things went from great to terrible quickly regarding the negotiations between the UFC and undefeated mixed martial artist (and highly successful boxer) Holly Holm.

While Holm’s manager Lenny Fresquez went on MMA Junkie Radio and said that a deal with the UFC was close to completion, UFC president Dana White took to the airwaves to quash any such rumors.

And, as reported by MMAFighting.com, things have not gotten better, with White flatly saying the UFC is “not interested whatsoever” in Holm.

The news is not especially surprising, given the UFC’s recent difficulties regarding contract negotiations with noteworthy stars in and out of the UFC. Most notably, former lightweight contender Gilbert Melendez came incredibly close to leaving the promotion to join the promotion’s biggest rival Bellator. 

Holm splits her time between mixed martial arts and boxing. In 2013, she picked up four mixed martial arts fights and once defended her IBA and WBF boxing titles. As a result, she is taking in more money than most 6-0 MMA prospects, which might mean that she is asking for more than the UFC is willing to give simply to match her current income. 

That, however, wasn’t all that Fresquez was asking for at the negotiating table. “She’s got to make at least what she makes here, and we’re close on that. The thing is making sure we get paid for Ronda,” he said on MMA Junkie Radio.

It’s worth noting that, per Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter, Holm has two fights remaining on her contract with Legacy FC, one of them being her upcoming bout with Juliana Werner at Legacy FC 30 in April. She can skip out on it early with an offer from the UFC…but only the UFC (not Bellator or World Series of Fighting).

Holm fans shouldn’t necessarily stop hoping for her to join the UFC, but the odds of seeing her in the near future have gone down.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

3 Reasons It’s Time to Give Fight Pass a Break

UFC Fight Pass is like a young racehorse. It’s a little gangly now, but it’ll grow quickly into something useful, with the right attention. 
The UFC streaming service got off to a rocky start with security and navigation issues, but it adjusted it…

UFC Fight Pass is like a young racehorse. It’s a little gangly now, but it’ll grow quickly into something useful, with the right attention. 

The UFC streaming service got off to a rocky start with security and navigation issues, but it adjusted itself accordingly after consumer response. Most of the problems seemed to come from a hurried launch rather than a conceptual flaw, and now we should look at Fight Pass for what it was meant to be: a wise, if premature, media decision that gives fight fans more of what they want and poises the promotion to expand its influence. 

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UFC 171 Results: Why Are We Talking About Everyone BUT Johny Hendricks?


(Photo via Getty)

By Matt Saccaro

At UFC 171, Johny Hendricks decisioned Robbie Lawler
in one of the greatest fights in recent memory. The two men traded punches, bled, and even smiled during their 25-minute brawl that saw Hendricks leave Dallas as the UFC welterweight champion…but nobody really cares about that.

The “morning after” discourse isn’t about Hendricks overcoming a perilous weight cut or about the implications of Hendricks being the first champ of the post-GSP era. It’s about two stars of a bygone era—Nick Diaz and Georges St-Pierre.

Nick Diaz stole some of the press at the weigh ins, heckling Hendricks for being a pound and a half heavy. That stunt soon snowballed into something more. At an unofficial media scrum, Diaz proclaimed that he was in fighting shape. In an interview with SportsNet, Diaz elucidated his presence in Dallas.


(Photo via Getty)

By Matt Saccaro

At UFC 171, Johny Hendricks fought Robbie Lawler in what became an instant classic. The two men traded scores of punches, bled, and even smiled during their 25-minute brawl that saw Hendricks leave Dallas as the UFC welterweight champion…but nobody really cares about that.

The “morning after” discourse isn’t about Hendricks overcoming a perilous weight cut or about the implications of Hendricks being the first champ of the post-GSP era. It’s about two stars of a bygone era—Nick Diaz and Georges St-Pierre.

Nick Diaz stole some of the press at the weigh ins, heckling Hendricks for being a pound and a half heavy. That stunt soon snowballed into something more. At an unofficial media scrum, Diaz proclaimed he was in fighting shape. In an interview with SportsNet, Diaz elucidated his presence in Dallas.

“[The UFC] bought me a ticket, for once, they bought me an actual ticket…Maybe they want me to fight Johny Hendricks! Take an ass-whooping right to your face, bro…I’m ready to fight. I’m ready to fight the right fight…I need a title fight. I need a real fight. Give the fans what they wanna see. That’s why I’m here.”

The heat is on Diaz, now, not the guy who just captured the belt. But it wouldn’t be a welterweight affair without GSP’s name being thrown around, which it was by Hendricks himself at the post-fight presser.

To an extent, it’s understandable why people aren’t pouring paragraphs of praise on Hendricks; he’s mild-mannered. Even his call-out of GSP was tame. And his views on star power are problematic for an organization reeling after the loss of its biggest names.

“I think you can let your fighting [talk],” Hendricks said in response to Diaz claiming he was the only draw in the division. “I think this is what’s gonna do real good for our weight class—let the fighting do everything.”

That’s certainly an admirable way to look at combat sports, but it isn’t true. To quote The Simpsons, “Every good scientist is half B.F. Skinner and half P.T. Barnum.” Just so, every fighter needs to be half Georges St-Pierre and half Chael Sonnen. It has been proven time and time again that emotional investment generates PPV buys. “These two fighters really hate each other” sells well, even if it’s not the truth. “I respect him; he’s a great opponent” always fails to move the needle, as factual as it might be. In that regard, not pushing Hendricks in articles is forgivable. His behavior and words won’t garner page views and aren’t conducive to strong post-fight narratives.

Dana White is also partially responsible for the lack of hype because he was mum regarding the future of welterweight. What can the media write about other than Diaz vs. Hendricks if the boss shrugs his shoulders at a division teeming with contenders? Another issue is that the would-be challengers, in the minds of some, didn’t look wholly impressive. Tyron Woodley defeated Carlos Condit due to a “freak injury” and Hector Lombard bested Jake Shields but many felt the fight was lackluster. Diaz, despite having not fought in a year and being on a two-fight losing streak, somehow came out of UFC 171 looking like the most impressive welterweight.

UFC 171 was a spectacular event, but the fallout was anything but. Perhaps some part of the blame for the UFC’s inability to create stars falls on our shoulders, since when we have a chance to try and build a new star, we ignore him and bellow smoke into old ones, just so their waning flames might linger a little while longer.

UFC President Dana White Knows ‘For a Fact’ That Georges St-Pierre Will Return

UFC President Dana White is certain that longtime welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is not done inside the Octagon. 
Ahead of UFC 171—an event which features three matchups involving the 170-pound division’s top 10 (including a ti…

UFC President Dana White is certain that longtime welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is not done inside the Octagon. 

Ahead of UFC 171—an event which features three matchups involving the 170-pound division’s top 10 (including a title fight)—White met with reporters to discuss GSP‘s future with the UFC. 

According to MMAfighting.com, White sounded sure of one thing: GSP will be back. 

“I know for a fact he will (return),” White said. “Is it fun for Georges St-Pierre to be gone? I mean, no, I wouldn’t say that it’s fun for him to be gone. But the welterweight division is exciting right now, and when Georges does come back, whoever’s standing there, it will be a fun fight.”

Is this good news? 

Something about the way GSP left the sport—the unceremonious post-fight interview after narrowly edging Hendricks at UFC 167, the refusal to use the word “retirement” even after deciding to take his leave—makes White’s proclamation welcome. 

However, the other side—GSP‘s improved demeanor since stepping away, the reborn welterweight division, GSP‘s declining performances inside the cage—makes one feel that the champion should stay away from the Octagon for good. 

He’s achieved virtually everything a UFC champion can hope to accomplish. He’s become a worldwide superstar. He’s starred in commercials. He’s ventured into Hollywood. 

Even if he never returns to the big stage of a UFC main event, nobody would question his excellence or his status as the greatest 170-pound mixed martial artist who ever lived. 

All these things make one wonder what White knows. Is he looking beyond dollar signs and marquees featuring the Canadian superstar’s name once more? Is this something he has discussed with GSP recently? 

The former champ recently hinted at a return himself, so White’s words may prove genuine, and the welterweight division might take yet another crazy twist in 2014.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC: Barao and Mighty Mouse Are Chasing Records and Recognition

Two men are very close to tying UFC records, men who have combined to go 17-2-1 inside cages constructed by Zuffa’s roadies.
Overwrought statements of promotion notwithstanding, there are kernels of truth in the hard sell Dana White has been doing for …

Two men are very close to tying UFC records, men who have combined to go 17-2-1 inside cages constructed by Zuffa’s roadies.

Overwrought statements of promotion notwithstanding, there are kernels of truth in the hard sell Dana White has been doing for months now: bantamweight champion Renan Barao and flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson are bad dudes, and they’ve been laying considerable beatings on opposition for quite a while.

A win by either or by both the next time out, and they’ll tie MMA heroes like Pat Miletich, Frank Shamrock and Chuck Liddell for consecutive title defenses.

And yet, if you brought that up to the average fan, they’d be much more focused on those heroes of the past than on the champions who are chasing their records.

Why is that?

The argument that no one wants to watch the little guys has been around for a while and it’s a fair one. They’re not for everyone, no matter how much they’re lauded for their quickness and technique. There’s always going to be a population far more keen to see behemoths one-punch each other cold, and that’s fine.

Some people, a growing percentage of fans actually, seem to be pushing back against that promotional bluster noted above—the more they’re told how great these champions are, the less they’re willing to listen. Maybe more importantly, the less they’re willing to pay money to watch.

Others have been around long enough to remember the guts and heart of these great former champions, men who emerged from the no-holds-barred era as pioneers, exceptional athletes in a sport that didn’t have many at the time. It’s hard to forget their place in the game, even harder to imagine that these new champions have earned what they earned.

But at the end of the day, Barao and Johnson are each a win away from placing their names beside them in the record books. By 2015 it’s possible, if not likely, that both will have passed them. The fact that they aren’t drawing interest for that has to be concerning to the UFC, and it’s not good for the sport, either.

MMA’s history is short, but the inability to escape its own shadow has potentially dire consequences. While other sports can afford to have debates over the past versus the present thanks to decades of action, MMA can’t. The sport needs the new faces to matter as much as the old ones because the old ones aren’t all that old. People remember their great performances; they saw them live. If they aren’t sold on the new guys in the same way, it’s far easier to dismiss them because they have first-person historical context to give their opinions weight.

When it comes time to sell those new faces such adverse opinions are incredibly damaging, especially to a sport that’s expanding rapidly with events on a weekly basis across the globe. Those events need headliners that involve either the stars of today or the men who’ll fight the stars of today, not guys that people think of as a step down from the champions of the sport’s dark ages.

If guys like Barao and Johnson can’t entice people to shell out $60 when their name is on the marquee, or get them to flip over to FOX to catch them chucking leather to sell ad space on a Saturday night, there are serious problems. They’re doing spectacular things as spectacular athletes, but they aren’t resonating with the people who matter.

Still and all, they’ll be record holders before you know it. They’ll pass great men of an era gone by, men who fought for nothing so that they could come behind and fight for something.

Without their deserved recognition though, it’s hard to know what that something really is.

Follow me on Twitter @matthewjryder!

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC: Barao and Mighty Mouse Are Chasing Records and Recognition

Two men are very close to tying UFC records, men who have combined to go 17-2-1 inside cages constructed by Zuffa’s roadies.
Overwrought statements of promotion notwithstanding, there are kernels of truth in the hard sell Dana White has been doing for …

Two men are very close to tying UFC records, men who have combined to go 17-2-1 inside cages constructed by Zuffa’s roadies.

Overwrought statements of promotion notwithstanding, there are kernels of truth in the hard sell Dana White has been doing for months now: bantamweight champion Renan Barao and flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson are bad dudes, and they’ve been laying considerable beatings on opposition for quite a while.

A win by either or by both the next time out, and they’ll tie MMA heroes like Pat Miletich, Frank Shamrock and Chuck Liddell for consecutive title defenses.

And yet, if you brought that up to the average fan, they’d be much more focused on those heroes of the past than on the champions who are chasing their records.

Why is that?

The argument that no one wants to watch the little guys has been around for a while and it’s a fair one. They’re not for everyone, no matter how much they’re lauded for their quickness and technique. There’s always going to be a population far more keen to see behemoths one-punch each other cold, and that’s fine.

Some people, a growing percentage of fans actually, seem to be pushing back against that promotional bluster noted above—the more they’re told how great these champions are, the less they’re willing to listen. Maybe more importantly, the less they’re willing to pay money to watch.

Others have been around long enough to remember the guts and heart of these great former champions, men who emerged from the no-holds-barred era as pioneers, exceptional athletes in a sport that didn’t have many at the time. It’s hard to forget their place in the game, even harder to imagine that these new champions have earned what they earned.

But at the end of the day, Barao and Johnson are each a win away from placing their names beside them in the record books. By 2015 it’s possible, if not likely, that both will have passed them. The fact that they aren’t drawing interest for that has to be concerning to the UFC, and it’s not good for the sport, either.

MMA’s history is short, but the inability to escape its own shadow has potentially dire consequences. While other sports can afford to have debates over the past versus the present thanks to decades of action, MMA can’t. The sport needs the new faces to matter as much as the old ones because the old ones aren’t all that old. People remember their great performances; they saw them live. If they aren’t sold on the new guys in the same way, it’s far easier to dismiss them because they have first-person historical context to give their opinions weight.

When it comes time to sell those new faces such adverse opinions are incredibly damaging, especially to a sport that’s expanding rapidly with events on a weekly basis across the globe. Those events need headliners that involve either the stars of today or the men who’ll fight the stars of today, not guys that people think of as a step down from the champions of the sport’s dark ages.

If guys like Barao and Johnson can’t entice people to shell out $60 when their name is on the marquee, or get them to flip over to FOX to catch them chucking leather to sell ad space on a Saturday night, there are serious problems. They’re doing spectacular things as spectacular athletes, but they aren’t resonating with the people who matter.

Still and all, they’ll be record holders before you know it. They’ll pass great men of an era gone by, men who fought for nothing so that they could come behind and fight for something.

Without their deserved recognition though, it’s hard to know what that something really is.

Follow me on Twitter @matthewjryder!

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com