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The Weekly Tapout: Dana White speaks
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Dave Doyle / FOXSports.com
Posted: 1 day ago
It's been a heady 2006 for Dana White, the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. After years of running in the red trying to put the mixed martial arts organization over the top, things have come together in spectacular fashion.
UFC has broken its own pay-per-view buy rate record four times this year, with the latest estimate for July's UFC 61 clocking in at a mind-boggling 775,000 orders (according to the Wrestling Observer), which would make it the most purchased sports or entertainment PPV not headlined by Oscar de la Hoya in the past four years. UFC entered the Southern California market with two successful shows. And the promotion has even gotten traditional media outlets to start looking at the sport beyond the stale "human cockfighting" cliche that lazy journalists have ceaselessly rehashed for years.
So when the outspoken promoter found himself at the mic at the post-UFC 62 press conference at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas along with the no-nonsense Chuck Liddell, the proceedings morphed into the Dana White show. Here's a random sample of topics on White's mind these days:
On why Liddell-Wanderlei Silva match isn't going to happen, at least not yet: "They talk a lot of s-- but never back it up. I'm here I'm ready, Chuck's here, he's ready. It's not that Wanderlei doesn't want the fight, he's a fighter. No disrespect to him. You know who I'm talking about. I've been trying to do this for five years. I sent (Liddell) over to Japan and he fought three or four times over there. They like to yap but they don't like to back it up.
Asked if Liddell would fight Silva on PRIDE's show in Las Vegas in October: Hell no. Absolutely not. That's ridiculous. I've done it three times already. They like to talk. (Liddell added: "I fought a couple times over there and they could have matched me up with Wanderlei and they didn't.") .... Obviously this is a good fight. I think it would be a great fight and it would be a sin if it didn't happen, but it's the best fight out there. ...
They suck. They talk too much. They don't back it up. They like to talk. They're in trouble over there and they're trying to make a splash over here. They're trying to talk s-- with me to get it. I think they're going to have a tough run over here. Anyone who can rub two nickels together is trying to get into the MMA business right now. It's not an easy business to be in. It took us six years to figure this out. It's going to be tough for them. It's a different market. It would be like me trying to do a show in Japan tomorrow. I wouldn't know what to do. I think they're going to burn through a lot of cash and I don't think they're going to make any money.
Tito (Ortiz) has wanted to fight Chuck, Chuck wants to fight Tito, it will probably happen. It would be in Vegas. December 30th at the MGM Grand. Tito feels he can beat Chuck, feels he didn't have the right game plan (when they last fought), he had injuries, typical Tito stuff every time he fights.
On Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, who was at UFC 62: I'd love to have him. We're talking to him. We always want to make the best fights happen with the best fighters. It's gonna happen, it's just a matter of time.
On Stephan Bonnar-Forrest Griffin II: I think people were expecting the same as the first fight, but they've matured as fighters and picked their spots and had a good fight. I thought Forrest won the first round, I thought Stephan Bonnar won the second round, and the first half of the second round, but I thought Forrest pulled it out in the second half of the third round and was stronger than Stephan was in the first half and pulled it out at the end.
On Griffin: I think Forrest is an exciting fighter. I don't think he's ready for a title shot yet. He had trouble with Stephan tonight. (Liddell jumps in at this point: "Give him some time. He's a tough kid. He's learning, he's coming along. He's not ready now, trust me")
On Cheick Kongo, the most promising heavyweight in the UFC in quite some time: I don't think he's ready for Tim Sylvia yet, but he's definitely a promising candidate. It was impressive how he got out of that armbar tonight (in his win over Christian Wellisch). It looked like he was going to get caught, but he stepped over and got out of it. He has a lot of potential and I like him a lot.
Dana White, seen here at the Matt Hughes-Royce Gracie post-fight press conference after UFC 60, has had plenty to smile about this year. (Gene Kim / FOXSports.com)
On Georges St. Pierre-Matt Hughes and Hughes-B.J. Penn: It's unfortunate. Georges St. Pierre has wanted this fight so bad for so long. We're really fortunate that when a main event of that caliber falls out we're able to replace it with one that's just as big an event. This is the type of guy Matt Hughes is. B.J. Penn is the only guy whose beaten him since he's been the champion. Three weeks before the fight, the fight falls out, I call him and say "what do you want to do." Believe me when I tell you a lot of guys in the fight business wouldn't have taken the fight. Matt doesn't care. Matt says "No problem, I'll fight B.J." B.J. wants to prove his win wasn't a fluke, Matt wants to prove it was and get that blemish off his record. It's a good fight. ... (Will St. Pierre will get the winner?) Yes. No doubt. As soon as he heals. He has a groin injury which probably will be healed in two weeks, but it's not worth risking for such a big fight
On Diego Sanchez's standing in the welterweight division: Diego is in there. Diego is definitely in the mix. That Karo Parisyan-Diego Sanchez fight was one of the best fights I've ever seen. He keeps proving he's for real. He's in the mix.
On Renato Sobral: We tried hard to let everyone know who Babalu was and how good he really is. People who really know the sport know who Babalu is and how good he is, but Chuck just destroyed him.
On Michael Bisping: He's hurt right now. He got hurt, or he would have been on the Ken-Tito fight (in October). A lot of the guys from season three will be on that show.
On Ortiz-Shamrock III: No one's more tired of the Ken and Tito drama than I am. A lot of people invested 13 weeks into the TV show, it was a great season, and I felt like people didn't get a payoff at the end. I was a boxing fan for many years and you'd wait for the big fight on Saturday night pay your $44.95, and the fight sucked, and you were let down. After that fight, that's the first time, I've never, in the six years we've owned the company, that's the first time that's ever happened where people were so angry they were throwing things. I'd go out to the supermarket and people would tell me it was horrible and the show sucked and they felt like they got robbed. I don't ever want our fans to feel that way after a show. So we're going to put this on TV for free and we're going to finish it. That's why its happening.
On scheduling a show on Nov. 18 in Las Vegas, head-to-head with Manny Pacquiao-Erik Morales III: We're doing a pay per view a month, sometimes two shows a month. Everyone thinks I sit in my office masterminding all these dates. There's only so many dates available for pay per view. We ended up going at the same time. I think boxing and MMA can co-exist. There will be a lot of fans who will watch the boxing fight, and a lot who will watch UFC. We're going to trample over each other sometimes. The other things we go up against, the NBA playoffs, the World Series, there's a lot of other things out there we have to watch out for.
On Andrei Arlovski: Andrei's a good fighter. In his last fight he fought to not get knocked out, and you didn't see the best of Andrei Arlovski. You never know, some fights break guys. Randy Couture destroyed Perdo Rizzo in their second fight, and Pedro Rizzo was never the same fighter after that. Is Andrei in the same position? We'll find out.
On the middleweight title match between Rich Franklin and Anderson Silva on Oct. 14: An awesome fight, A great fight. I couldn't pick a winner right now, honestly. This is going to be the first real test for Rich Franklin.
And finally, this exchange between White and Liddell:
Liddell, on how he'd prepare for Ortiz: I don't give him a shot at beating me. Not in the slightest. I'm going to be in the best shape of my life.
White: Way to sell a fight, Chuck. Way to sell a fight. (Laughter busts out in the room).
Liddell: OK, I'm going to beat him for five rounds. I'm going to try to beat him for five rounds.
White: There you go, now you're talking.
Liddell: I'm serious. I want to punsh him. I want to shut him up for good. I'm going to punish him.
IFL back on FSN
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The International Fight League announced a new deal with FOX Sports Net this week as it gears up for the Fall 2006 season. The team-based IFL features eight squads, which will square off in dual meets in a manner similar to amateur wrestling, with a point awarded for a victory in each of the five weight classes.
The IFL will air eight shows on FSN, the first on Sun. Sept. 24. This includes a pair two-hour specials, one on Oct. 2, run in conjunction with the Best Damn Sports Show, Period; and a two-hour IFL championship special, which will run on Dec. 31.
The IFL has two live events of note in September: The first is on Sept. 9 at the Memorial Colisuem in Portland, Ore., with a main event of Matt "The Law" Lindland vs. Jeremy Horn. There will also be meets between the Seattle Tigersharks, coached by Maurice Smith, and Lindland's Portland Wolfpack; as well as Antonio Inoki's Tokyo Sabres vs. Bas Rutten's L.A. Anacondas. On Sept. 23, the IFL will run at the MARK of the Quad in Moline, Ill., highlighted by the return of the legendary Pat Miletich against Renzo Gracie. Miletich's Silverbacks, considered by many the favorites to win the IFL championship, take on Gracie's New York Pitbulls in team action, and Frank Shamrock's San Jose Razorclaws square off with Carlos Newton's Toronto Dragons. For more information on the IFL, check out their Web site.
PRIDE in Vegas
Tickets are on sale now for PRIDE: The Real Deal at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas on Oct. 21. While PRIDE has chosen to wring every last bit of Mike Tyson's remaining star power to get attention, they should be focusing on their own fighters, considering the top two matches already announced, Fedor Emelianenko vs. Mark Coleman and Mauricio Rua vs. Kevin Randleman, are more worthy of said attention. We'll have more on this show as the event draws closer.
Behind the entrance music: Matt Hughes
In the latest installment of The Weekly Tapout's quest to find out why mixed martial artists pick particular songs to make their arena entrance, I asked UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes about his theme, the Hank Williams Jr. classic A Country Boy Can Survive.
"This has been one of my favorite songs forever," said Hughes. "When I first came to the UFC and wanted to use it, they wouldn't let me. They said it was too slow for UFC. So for a while I came out to that song American Badass, (by Kid Rock) which isn't bad, but it's not really me. I listen to country."
"Then it became obvious that I was going to hold the belt for a good long time and I wasn't going away, so I went back and I told them this is my song and it's what I'm coming out to. Country Boy Can Survive is what I'm all about. When the lights go down and A Country Boy Can Survive plays, everyone in the arena knows that Matt Hughes is about to make his entrance."
Dave Doyle is an editor for FOXSports.com. You can also check out the FOXSports.com MMA blog.
