Dana White- Act Like a President!

Dana White, it’s a name synonymous with Mixed Martial Arts just like Couture and Gracie. It’s also a name surrounded by progress, money, unprofessionalism and controversy.
White, the current President of the UFC, has brought the UFC from its barbaric beginnings when there were essentially no rules in 1993 to its current state as the biggest promotion of one of the fastest growing sports in the world, and of the preferred combat sport of the United States.
White has done so much for the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, but fans are growing tired of his antics. His official title is “President of the UFC,” but lately it seems that he is more of a dictator than president. White will not allow his fighters to fight in any other promotion like M1 Global, Strikeforce, Dream, Deep and K1 kickboxing. This makes some of the best matchups in the sport impossible. Fighters like Alistair Overeem, Fedor Emelianenko, Nick Diaz, Gilbert Melendez and Eddie Alvarez will not see many of what is considered to be the sport’s best because they fight outside the UFC. These fighters could sign with the UFC, I have no doubt that White would sign these incredible talents, but they don’t want to be trapped inside his web once they do.
All of the afore mentioned fighters could unseat the champions in their respective weight classes, with the only uncertainty being Emelianenko’s age. Overeem, Diaz and Melendez all fight under Strikeforce’s banner, the latest acquisition in the Mixed Martial Arts monopoly that the UFC is becoming. I have no doubt, despite what Dana White says, that the UFC will merge Strikeforce much as it did with the PRIDE Fighting Championships in 2007. When that does happen, fans may finally see Overeem sweep through the UFC’s heavyweight ranks without much opposition, and Melendez and Diaz may take the lightweight and welterweight crowns.
Eddie Alvarez, Bellator’s 155-pound king, has been very critical of the UFC, and White in particular. In a post fight interview with ESPN’s Josh Gross at Bellator 36 after successfully defending his title, he said that he saw a number of problems with the way fighters in the UFC were treated.
“I think they're running their business the way they are supposed to. But my issue with it is the way fighters lose one or two fights and they're fired and, not only that, there is no like (pay scale)”
White has been criticized by many fighters for his pay scale, one that seems to be a pick-and-choose system. At UFC 106, Forrest Griffin was paid a $150,000 win bonus, and still wound up receiving the same $250,000 pay that his opponent Tito Ortiz got. At that same event, former UFC welterweight Ben Saunders, received a $10,000 win bonus, and still made less than his opponent Marcus Davis. Fast forward to UFC 126 when Anderson Silva defended his middleweight title for a record eighth time against Vitor Belfort. Guess who got paid more? The loser by knockout, Vitor Belfort made $75,000 more than the champion, Silva.
On top of his obvious payout problems, Dana White has a trigger-happy finger. He always is ready to cut a fighter, even after a close loss. My most recent problem with White was how he handled former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Lyoto Machida.
Machida who has one of the most impressive records in all of MMA, went 16-0 to start his career, capturing the UFC’s Light Heavyweight title in the process with a knockout win over the then undefeated Rashad Evans. Machida went on to defend his title with a highly controversial decision win over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, and subsequently lost the title in their rematch just over five months later. In his next bout, Machida faced a top contender in Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and ended up on the wrong side of an again controversial decision. With back to back losses over the division’s finest fighters, White claimed that Machida was on the “hot seat” and in a “must win situation” when he faced MMA legend Randy Couture at UFC 129 this past April. Machida took care of the problem by sending Couture packing at 1:05 of the second round with a spectacular front kick knockout.
So the problem was avoided, but it doesn’t change the fact that White was going to cut a guy after losing three straight bouts to a current UFC Hall-of-Famer, a future UFC Hall-of-Famer and a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion still in his prime. Add to that the fact that those losses would have been his only losses, and he would still have a stellar record.
So White monopolizes MMA, picks who gets paid the most for no apparent reason and cuts guys unmerited. There couldn’t be more could there?
If you were to ask Dana White tomorrow what his system for deciding who gets a title shot he would probably tell you something along the lines of, “Hell, I don’t know.”
Actually if you were to ask White any question in a press conference you would be lucky to get any answer not laced with cusswords. I am not someone offended by use of such language, it is actually a common part of my vernacular, but you’ll notice I don’t pepper my stories with its use. White is the President of a major company, and represents MMA as a whole in North America; he is essentially the commissioner of MMA. Roger Goodell, commissioner of the NFL doesn’t get up on stage at the draft and announce the number one pick with a few good ol’ f-bombs thrown in now does he? Dana White may have taken the sport leaps and bounds ahead of where it was, but his obvious lack of professionalism brings the sport back to its barbaric roots and puts it in a monstrous light, part of the reason why New York, among other states still does not sanction MMA bouts.
Back to the mention of the system for deciding who fights the champion. I can’t say I disagree with who gets a shot at the title too often, but sometimes I sit back and scratch my head. The latest head scratcher for me was when Josh Koscheck was chosen to coach The Ultimate Fighter season 12. Sure, the rivalry between Koscheck and UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre made for good TV, but Koscheck leapfrogged Thiago Alves, and teammate Jon Fitch for the shot.
White wanted to have a title eliminator bout between Fitch and Koscheck, but as teammates, they did not wish to fight one another. White, who has never gotten along with Fitch due to his inability to finish fights, picked Koscheck to fight for the title, even though Fitch was rightfully the next in line.
Why did he do this? His disdain for Fitch, combined with the fact that he knew a rivalry between Koscheck and St-Pierre would draw in viewers, decided who fought for the welterweight title.
Another choice that I didn’t understand was when former UFC Lightweight champ, B.J. Penn was awarded an immediate title rematch with Frank Edgar at UFC 118. Penn was completely outmatched and dominated in their first fight at UFC 112, but he was awarded a title shot rematch. B.J. is a legend, and was champion of the lightweight division for a long time, but with as poor a showing as he put on at UFC 112 to lose the belt he should have had a few fights to work his way back to the title. It would have been better for him, and the integrity of the UFC.
On the subject of integrity, Dana White seems to be a man without much. He is all about the dollar, and not the sport. Every UFC fan remembers Kimbo Slice, the UFC poster child. He lost fair and square on The Ultimate Fighter, but still received a contract with the UFC. His inaugural fight against Houston Alexander seemed to be fixed. The UFC and Dana White did everything in their power to ensure his success in the UFC because he was such a moneymaker.
White has and still does incredible things for the sport, but it is time to examine a few of his practices and make some major changes for the betterment of the sport.