Tag: Dana White

Dana White: “GSP Has to Defend the Belt or Retire”

As far as Dana White is concerned, Georges St-Pierre only has two options right now: defend the UFC title or retire from MMA.
The UFC President hasn’t held back from publicly criticizing the welterweight champ for his bizarre post-fight comments after …

As far as Dana White is concerned, Georges St-Pierre only has two options right now: defend the UFC title or retire from MMA.

The UFC President hasn’t held back from publicly criticizing the welterweight champ for his bizarre post-fight comments after winning a controversial split decision over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 on Saturday night.

St-Pierre, who earned his ninth consecutive title defense, announced that he needed to take an extended leave away from fighting to take care of personal problems in his life.

The announcement resonated in the MMA community as little more than a baffling, impromptu speech possibly hinting at St-Pierre’s retirement.

At the post-fight press conference, White went on a long tirade, claiming St-Pierre owed it to the fans, the UFC and Hendricks to compete in an immediate rematch:

You owe it to the fans, you owe it to that belt, you owe to this company and you owe it to Johny Hendricks to give him that opportunity to fight again, unless you’re going to retire. There’s no I’m going to go on a cruise, and I’m going to be gone for two years, and I’m going to take a hiatus. …That’s not how it works.

White is convinced Hendricks won the fight, and as he told reporters at the post-fight presser, he only “wants what’s fair.”

Still, many people were upset by White’s handling of the situation. St-Pierre has won more fights in the UFC than any other fighter in MMA history. He has spent more time in the Octagon than any other fighter in MMA history, and he has made the UFC more money than any other fighter in MMA history.

How could he possibly owe anyone anything?

On Monday, White was a guest on The Dan Le Batard Show, where he talked about the fallout from UFC 167. When challenged about his comments, White seemed to back off the statement about St-Pierre owing anything.

The welterweight star is the biggest pay-per-view draw in the UFC, which White has acknowledged time and time again. With that said, White still remains firm on his stance regarding the UFC title. St-Pierre has to either defend his throne or step down:

He doesn’t owe anything. If he wants to retire, he can retire, said White. But if you don’t think that while he holds the belt and he still wants to stay in the sport that he has to step up and defend the title, you’re crazy. He can retire and give up the belt.

White remains confident that St-Pierre will return after taking a brief vacation, and talks will resume about a possible rematch with Hendricks.

He recently told the LA Times that he expects to nail a date in a couple of weeks.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

If MMA Is About Respect, Why Have We Turned Against Georges St. Pierre?


(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

By Seth Falvo

My first thought following the main event of UFC 167 was that Georges St. Pierre had a concussion. Granted, “hack journalist” is a far cry from doctor, but he was displaying symptoms that should make any sports fan concerned. He lost track of what round it was, he had trouble forming words, and the completely vacant look in his eyes was disturbing — even for a guy as stoic as GSP.

If this thought occurred to Dana White and the media members in attendance, they did a damn fine job of hiding it. You know what happened by now: White claimed St. Pierre “owed” everyone an immediate rematch, the media attempted to steer Georges St. Pierre away from talking about the signs of brain damage he has been experiencing — despite St. Pierre’s best attempts to do otherwise — and White eventually talked to the champ in private before downplaying everything that St. Pierre admitted to experiencing as much as possible.

As Stand and Bang accurately wrote, “White’s behavior [was] so transparently morally repugnant that there’s no reason to spend time pedantically analyzing it.” He wanted to pressure GSP back into the cage as quickly as possible, because the longer the champion has to reflect upon the damage that he’s done to himself, the less likely he is to return to the sport. Yet there are actually fans — and plenty of them — who managed to take the bait. There are fans who buy the ideas that St. Pierre somehow “owes” it to anyone to accept a rematch against Johny Hendricks, that he’s obligated to return to the cage immediately, that Dana White’s dangerously-capitalistic treatment of his most influential champion is completely acceptable.

And let’s not forget the most disgusting part about this: These fans are delusional enough to say with a straight face that MMA is about “respect.”


(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

By Seth Falvo

My first thought following the main event of UFC 167 was that Georges St. Pierre had a concussion. Granted, “hack journalist” is a far cry from doctor, but he was displaying symptoms that should make any sports fan concerned. He lost track of what round it was, he had trouble forming words, and the completely vacant look in his eyes was disturbing — even for a guy as stoic as GSP.

If this thought occurred to Dana White and the media members in attendance, they did a damn fine job of hiding it. You know what happened by now: White claimed St. Pierre “owed” everyone an immediate rematch, the media attempted to steer Georges St. Pierre away from talking about the signs of brain damage he has been experiencing — despite St. Pierre’s best attempts to do otherwise — and White eventually talked to the champ in private before downplaying everything that St. Pierre admitted to experiencing as much as possible.

As Stand and Bang accurately wrote, “White’s behavior [was] so transparently morally repugnant that there’s no reason to spend time pedantically analyzing it.” He wanted to pressure GSP back into the cage as quickly as possible, because the longer the champion has to reflect upon the damage that he’s done to himself, the less likely he is to return to the sport. Yet there are actually fans — and plenty of them — who managed to take the bait. There are fans who buy the ideas that St. Pierre somehow “owes” it to anyone to accept a rematch against Johny Hendricks, that he’s obligated to return to the cage immediately, that Dana White’s dangerously-capitalistic treatment of his most influential champion is completely acceptable.

And let’s not forget the most disgusting part about this: These fans are delusional enough to say with a straight face that MMA is about “respect.”

I’m really not sure how we ever managed to accept the “mixed martial arts is about respect” fallacy in the first place; pretending that the earliest MMA events were complex rituals of respect — as opposed to sporting events and entertainment — is adorably delusional. Perhaps it caught on due to the revisionist history that all martial arts suffer from, perhaps due to a misunderstanding of Bushido. Or perhaps it’s just reframing caused by the cognitive dissonance required to care about the people you enjoy watching injure themselves. Regardless of how it got here, it’s at the point where even fighters like Houston Alexander believe that MMA is about respect, which is laughable on its own, and downright dangerous in the aftermath of UFC 167.

No human being “owes” someone harm to their own mind and body. That I have to explain this to people who claim that their sport is built around respect is more than a little disturbing, and their rationalizations only paint a scarier picture. There’s the argument that Georges St. Pierre “chose to be a fighter,” as if he also chose to give up his right to retire whenever he wants (which he was hinting at well before Saturday night) and his right to look out for his own health when he made that decision. Others are slightly more humane, and instead argue that he simply “owes” it to us to get back in the cage within the next few months, because second-impact syndrome and brain damage are things that should be taken as lightly as possible. I’m sure the medical community will be thrilled to learn that.

Respect does not come with conditions. You can’t only respect someone when they do what you want them to. If you do, you aren’t “respecting” them, you’re manipulating them, and that’s exactly what abusive spouses do to their victims. “Georges, you know I respect you, baby. It’s just that I love watching you fight soooo much and you made me soooo mad by wanting to take time off that I didn’t have a choice but to publicly humiliate you like that. Please don’t leave me, please give me (or in this case, Johny) one more chance.”

I’m not saying that I don’t think Hendricks was robbed on Saturday night. And I’m also not saying that I wouldn’t watch a rematch. But I am saying that if Georges St. Pierre decides to stick around for one more fight, I want him to do so only after he feels he’s had enough time to recover from Saturday night and make an educated decision. He’s built his entire life around being the ideal Zuffa employee and perfect ambassador for our sport, despite never needing us as much as we’ve needed him. If you think this sport is about respect, you’ll wait patiently, too.

Dana White: GSP Denies Both TMZ Rumor

UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre has confided in his boss, Dana White, denying rumours circulated by trash news site TMZ about his “personal problems”.
According to Lance Pugmire of the LA Times, the UFC president said he spoke to …

UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre has confided in his boss, Dana White, denying rumours circulated by trash news site TMZ about his “personal problems”.

According to Lance Pugmire of the LA Times, the UFC president said he spoke to St-Pierre on Monday and the fighter “is denying those rumors that TMZ is reporting about those two things.”

Those two things are apparently GSP has made some girl pregnant by mistake and that his dad is dying. Apparently “sources” close to the fighter confirmed those rumours to TMZ, which means they might as well have picked them out of a hat.

Nevertheless, internet media has been awash with speculation as to who the lucky girl is and what exactly is killing his dad.

GSP invited all this speculation after he made an impromptu announcement of “hanging up his gloves” following his narrow win over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 on Saturday. For days leading up to the event, the long-time champion had been hinting about a big announcement.

He explained after clinching the victory that his personal problems were stopping him from sleeping at night and that he was going “crazy” thinking about them. By the sounds of it, this is more serious than the number of twitter followers he has. He could always buy twitter followers.

But White gave short shrift to any talk of retirement and has quickly lined up a rematch.

“As far as a rematch, we’re on schedule and I’ll have a date within a couple weeks,” White said. “I feel confident that Georges is fine with that and all is on track.”

GSP, meanwhile, hasn’t spoken to the media since Saturday and there’s no indication as to how long he’ll be out of the sport.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Don’t Listen to Dana White, Georges St-Pierre Owes the UFC Nothing

Rumbles have been made in the MMA media that Dana White has crossed a line in regard to his handling of the Georges St-Pierre situation. 
For those who somehow missed it, the long-reigning welterweight champ scored a controversial decision win ove…

Rumbles have been made in the MMA media that Dana White has crossed a line in regard to his handling of the Georges St-Pierre situation. 

For those who somehow missed it, the long-reigning welterweight champ scored a controversial decision win over challenger Johny Hendricks. After the decision was read, St-Pierre poured his heart out in a way rarely seen in sports, never mind MMA. On the verge of tears, he choked out that he needed to take a leave of absence due to undisclosed personal issues and the toll his sport had taken on his body and mind.

I’ll defer to Jonathan Snowden’s summary of White’s reaction (which you can find the full version of here):

To say UFC promoter Dana White didn’t take this news particularly well is an understatement of somewhat epic proportions. White was furious, directing his anger at the Nevada State Athletic Commission, reporters who scored the fight for St-Pierre and even the champion himself. Despite St-Pierre’s clear personal and physical struggles, White had only one thing on his mind: getting his unraveling champion back in the cage.

White is known for his intense, emotional, off-the-cuff reactions to basically everything. It has, on numerous occasions, landed him in hot water. But after an intense night of fights, White said what is perhaps the most ludicrous thing of his career.

He said that Georges St-Pierre owes the UFC.

If you can read that without either rolling your eyes at the audacity of that statement or chuckling at its ridiculousness, then you probably haven’t been watching MMA very long. GSP has done so much for the UFC that it is beyond ungrateful to even ask him for more, never even publicly demeaning him the way White did when he wasn’t around. 

GSP isn’t alone. The UFC “owes” many fighters, not the other way around. Most of those fighters, though, have been been vilified and blackballed over the years. Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture, for example, are two of the most successful mixed martial artists to ever compete in the promotion, and they were by far the biggest draws during the the early days of the UFC’s Zuffa era.

That isn’t to say they didn’t do anything to deserve it. Ortiz constantly barbed White as a means of self-promotion, and to this day hasn’t stopped in spite of the fact that he is with Bellator. Couture bounced from the UFC, heavyweight strap in hand, in 1997, then tried to do the same again in 2007.

That, really, is what makes St-Pierre unique. He is one of the few champions who has given the promotion no trouble.

The UFC has relegated many of its should-be legends to the fringe of MMA’s spotlight over both real and perceived slights. Pat Miletich, Ken Shamrock, Frank Shamrock, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Murilo Bustamante, Tim Sylvia, Brock Lesnar, Jens Pulver and Andrei Arlovski have all found themselves on the wrong end of incomprehensible White rants and been conspicuously shoved out of UFC lore. 

St-Pierre has separated himself from that lot. Remarkably, it doesn’t even end there.

It’s worth remembering that during GSP‘s time in the UFC, Anderson Silva once hurt his own drawing power so badly that he found himself in the co-main event of UFC 101 (BJ Penn vs. Kenny Florian headlined). Lyoto Machida twice turned down main event fights (once at UFC 133, then again at UFC 151). BJ Penn had a bitter divorce from the company after taking the belt from Matt Hughes.

St-Pierre, though? 

He has been an ambassador for the sport, an almost unrivaled box office and pay-per-view draw, the bread and butter for one of their most successful markets and possibly the biggest company man the UFC has on roster. All of that on top of his willingness to sacrifice his time and body for the entertainment of others.

So, make no mistake. When White or anybody else says that St-Pierre owes him, Hendricks or the UFC anything, it is absolutely untrue. St-Pierre doesn’t owe anyone anything when it comes to his combat sports career.

He certainly doesn’t owe anything to the company that he has helped carry for seven years now.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Ben Askren Will Fight Rory MacDonald for Free in the UFC, Retire If He Loses

Ben Askren is willing to prove his worth inside the UFC Octagon for free. 
The former Bellator welterweight champion, Askren spoke Monday with MMAfighting.com’s Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour, addressing UFC President Dana White’s claims that …

Ben Askren is willing to prove his worth inside the UFC Octagon for free. 

The former Bellator welterweight champion, Askren spoke Monday with MMAfighting.com‘s Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour, addressing UFC President Dana White‘s claims that the UFC had “no interest” in bringing him on to their star-studded roster. 

Despite previously pestering White for a shot at UFC welterweight champion and pound-for-pound great Georges St-Pierre, Askren cut a new deal on air, this time angling for a matchup with GSP‘s teammate and friend, Rory MacDonald. 

Obviously, GSP and Hendricks are going to have a rematch, barring GSP‘s retirement, which I don’t think is going to stand. That was in the heat of the moment. Rory MacDonald is another guy that…he really just bugs me and he irks me. It was really nice to see him get knocked off his pedestal on Saturday night, but, if Dana White were willing, if I lost to him (Rory), I would fight for free and retire from the sport of MMA because that’s how confident I am that I will beat Rory MacDonald. I am not completely financially motivated. I obviously want to make a living, but, at the same time, I want to beat up the best guys in the world.

Askren‘s deal—if he’s 100 percent serious—is tantalizing. 

A world-class wrestler with a smothering top game, Askren has yet to be truly tested in professional MMA action, and nobody to this point has nullified his game plan. 

His toughest test to date, Jay Hieron, was scooped up by the UFC after losing to Askren in a Bellator title fight, a point not lost on the curly-headed champ. 

After I beat Jay Hieron, they (the UFC) signed Jay Hieron, so clearly Jay Hieron was good enough to be in the UFC. Surely somebody who could beat him would be, also. Anthony Lapsley, who Jay Hieron choked out in the first round at Bellator was in the UFC last week, so obviously, there’s a few flaws with that.

What do you make of Askren‘s comments? Could he hang with MacDonald inside the Octagon, or would “Ares” teach him that the sport has evolved beyond past his one-dimensional skill set? 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

White: I’m Confident That GSP Will Come Back (UPDATE)

UPDATE 3:05 P.M. Pacific Time
Dana White told LA Times reporter Lance Pugmire earlier today that, “As far as a rematch, we’re on schedule and I’ll have a date within a couple weeks.  I feel confident that Georges is fine with that and…

UPDATE 3:05 P.M. Pacific Time

Dana White told LA Times reporter Lance Pugmire earlier today that, “As far as a rematch, we’re on schedule and I’ll have a date within a couple weeks.  I feel confident that Georges is fine with that and all is on track.”

It was previously thought that GSP’s father was terminally ill and that was the reason why he decided to take time off, but White also refuted those rumors during his phone conversation with The Times.

Now while the UFC president doesn’t have an exact day in mind for the potential rematch, he did briefly mention the UFC’s annual Memorial Day card in Las Vegas.  That’s a good possibility, but nothing at this point is set in stone.

—End of Update—

Saturday’s welterweight championship clash at UFC 167 produced remarkable and unsatisfying results.

First off, divisional king Georges St-Pierre stole a split-decision from a hungry Johny Hendricks, who seemingly had the victory in the bag.  Unfortunately for his efforts, the judges scored it for the champ.

But what happened next captured everybody’s surprise more than the actual decision did.  Following Bruce Buffer’s post-fight announcement, a victorious and battered GSP stood in front of a sold out Las Vegas crowd and emotionally closed the curtains on his UFC career for the foreseeable future.

The unexpected Octagon walk away not only left a welterweight division in limbo, but it ultimately confused the MMA community.

St-Pierre has consistently been one of the best fighters in the world.  He carries himself with the utmost professionalism and rarely does anything to challenge the powers of Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta.

But despite the shocking news, White doesn’t seem too worried about losing his biggest pay-per-view draw.  During the post-fight media scrum following one of the most hotly talked about title fights in recent memory, the face of the UFC made things seem better than they actually may be.

“I’m in a better mood now,” said White, which was originally reported by MMAMania.  “[We talked] about his problems and his problems aren’t as bad as he thinks they are.  I’m not Dr. Oz, or whoever that guy is, but Lorenzo is still in there talking to him.  We’ll get through this.  I’m confident that he will come back.  One of the things that makes Georges as great as he is, is that things drive him crazy.”

“Little things drive him nuts…like the whole obsession thing he was talking about,” added White.  “He’s obsessing over something else right now that he thinks might be the end of the world now but it’s not.  He got his ass whooped tonight, whether that was it or it wasn’t, I don’t know.  I wasn’t being harsh, it’s reality…”

However, things may be worse than White initially thought, as recent reports by MMA Frenzy and TMZ suggest, an ill father and unexpected pregnancy are supposedly weighing heavy on the champ’s mind—(though the reports regarding his father’s health were recently shot down according to La Presse, h/t Bloody Elbow). Those are serious problems for any person to deal with, let alone a polarizing MMA fighter who trains months on end.

But if anybody knows what St-Pierre is capable of doing in the toughest of struggles, whether in the ring or in his personal life, it’s probably his boss.

“How long has Georges been here…eight, nine years?” proclaimed White.  “This is the first time Georges St. Pierre had a problem.  It happens, he’s a human being.  …  He was very emotional about some s— that was going on with him right now and it’s really not that bad, but to him it’s bad, it’s the end of the world.  He’s mentally strong guy, he’s a hard-working guy, he’s an honest guy.  He’ll work it out.”

So will GSP be back?  Will he return next year to face off with Hendricks one more time?  Or will he be bound by serious personal problems that are understandably his first priority?

Time will tell.  Hopefully, Saturday wasn’t the last time we get to see the pound-for-pound legend inside the cage.

 

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