Dana White Loves Analogies

Here’s a Dana White gem for you, from a recent interview with Carlos Arias of the Orange County Register. This is White’s response to a question about competitors in the MMA business:
“You come over to my house this weekend and we kick back and watch TV. We put on (expletive) NASCAR. We’re like, ‘Holy [...]

Fedor to M-1: I Just Need My Space Right Now

It was a whirlwind romance, but it seems the flame has burned out.  Fedor and M-1 are breaking up.  At least, that’s what one of Fedor’s agents, Apy Echteld, told ESPN’s Ryan Hockensmith.   Echteld claimed that an announcement was forthcoming in the next few days, and that Fedor would officially be a free agent.
It’s not [...]

Dana White Implores Couture to “Be a Man”

Apparently unsatisfied with calling Couture a liar in the press and suing him in court, UFC president Dana White seems now to be embarking upon a campaign intended to shame Randy Couture into returning to the Octagon. Just recently White called Couture out publicly in the Canadian Press:
“Come on Captain America, step up and [...]

A Black Day for MMA: UFC Sues Randy Couture For ‘Irreparable Damage’

It’s finally happened. The UFC has filed a lawsuit against their former heavyweight champion, alleging “irreparable damage”, “numerous intentional torts”, and conspiracy. Now things are going to get nasty. According to a report in the Las Vegas Review Journal, the UFC is seeking in excess of $10,000 in damages from Couture, as [...]

Penn-Stevenson Fight For Interim Title, And I’m As Confused As Ever

My brain hurts. It’s tired of trying to sort this mess out, and it’s getting nowhere. But it’s not my brain’s fault, it’s the UFC’s. Their tortured logic is driving me crazy, and they don’t even care.
If you’re on the UFC’s mailing list, as I am, you received an email alerting you [...]

Pithy Thoughts For a Monday Morning

The new edition of my weekly column is live at Crave Online . It focuses, naturally, on the issue of the moment regarding Dana White and Randy Couture. While I thoroughly enjoyed the back and forth between these two last week, I’m still baffled by some of White’s comments. Did he really [...]

Dueling Press Conferences: Dana White vs. Randy Couture

When Dana White announced that he would hold a press conference on the same day as the one already announced by departed UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture, it wasn’t hard to see what he had in mind. When he scheduled his media conference call to begin just thirty minutes before Couture’s Las Vegas media [...]

Aftershocks From Couture’s Resignation Reach Far and Wide

Randy Couture’s announcement yesterday that he was resigning from the UFC and abdicating his throne as heavyweight champion has thrown the MMA world into a small-scale panic. Nobody wants to lose Couture, and nobody, at first, knew what to make of his decision to leave. I imagine the reaction by MMA fans was something [...]

Liddell Talks Retirement (But I’m Not Buying It)

Following his decision loss to Keith Jardine (who has reclaimed full “Dean of Mean” status with the victory), former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell is said to be considering retirement. According to trend-follower Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports!, UFC president Dana White spoke about the possibility of Liddell hanging up his gloves.
“There’s a [...]

Upsets Leave Uncertain Future for UFC Stars

At the top of last night’s UFC pay-per-view broadcast, announcer Mike Goldberg mentioned that Chuck Liddell would fight former Pride champ Wanderlei Silva if he beat Keith Jardine in the evening’s main event.
He didn’t. Now we don’t know what’s going to happen to Liddell or Silva (much less Jardine). If Goldberg’s statement is [...]

Bashing Bisping, and Other Judging Woes

I’ll be the first to say that I don’t think Michael Bisping deserved a split decision victory over Matt Hamill at UFC 75. Hamill looked strong from start to finish, winning every round in my book, and he surprised a lot of people in doing so. But the bigger surprise came when the [...]

Dana White Talking Crazy Again

It’s hard to know what to make of UFC president Dana White. Is he an egomaniac, or a deft businessman? Is he purposely portraying himself as the thoroughly unlikable boss, ala the WWE’s Vince McMahon? Or is that his real personality? Does he knowingly draw comparisons to supervillain Lex Luther, [...]