We all know that Dana White has one of the hardest jobs in the business and did not come into the UFC with a degree from Harvard business school. He was a normal guy, who with the help of the Fertitta brothers was able to turn around a company that was about to go out of business and turned it into the world’s largest Mixed Martial Arts company. Along the way he lost $40 million, but was able to help create The Ultimate Fighter which brought the sport in the spotlight once again. Now with the UFC in the process of global expansion and a plan to become a household name. Many have questioned if Dana White is the man to take the UFC to “The next level” and put the world’s biggest MMA company on par with MLB, FIFA, NHL and the NFL.
Dana White responded to the question that ESPN “E:60” raised in their segment on the UFC president in a new interview with Eurosport Yahoo!.
Dana on E:60
“The whole ESPN thing, ‘Can the UFC go where it needs to go with Dana White?’ Shut the (expletive) up. Who’s going to do it? I’m the one who’s been doing it. Now someone else is going to come in and take things over?”
“Smart guys with a lot of money are out there trying to make this work and they aren’t,” White said, laughing that a lot of rich, learned people have failed where a guy whose formal education consists of dropping out before completing one semester at UMass-Boston and doing a brief stint at a community college. This wasn’t a conventional business and I didn’t go by the business school books on how this should be built.”
White also responded to the criticism that he faced over the infamous “Video game rights” war between UFC management and American Kickboxing Academy. He responded by pointing out that he is attempting to make his fighters money down the line for their image and likeness.
“We’ve created a business where 15 years from now Chuck Liddell can still be making money on royalty checks,” White said. “I can tell you this right now; Leon Spinks isn’t collecting any checks right now. He’s not collecting royalties because he once boxed on a Don King or a Bob Arum card.”
White once again pointed out that while “E:60″ raised the question (if he is the best man to take the UFC into the next level) they never actually did mention someone who may be better for the job. He also pointed out that he is the man with the plan right now and will guide the UFC there in the future.
“Idiotic,” he said. “Nobody wants this (expletive) job, believe me. You better love this job to do it.
“Here’s what I believe,” he said. “I’m the guy with the road map. I’m the guy who knows where I want to go with this thing. I know what my end game is. I know where it is. When this thing is a sport, all over the entire world, and you can take the UFC to any city in any country, just like soccer, then I did it. I did what I set out to do. That’s why I was put on this planet. That’s my job, my destiny, whatever the (expletive) you want to call it.”
“My 2 Cents”
While ESPN’s question raised the question if White is the man to guide the UFC into the future, one thing they also did not do is provide us with a name of a person who could do a better job. One thing that I know regardless of how people feel about Dana White as a person, he has only made on mistake that hurts the UFC’s credibility or exposure was calling Loretta Hunt’s source a Gay slur. While this is not something we could ignore, we also cannot ignore the fact that he also did apologize right away (which is still no excuse) and did not get mainstream exposure which would have really hurt the UFC.
White may be a “Brute” in some ways and you may not always agree with the way that he conducts business, but the bottom line is we are approaching a summer stacked with great UFC cards while Affliction may be making ”Trilogy” their last card.
Dana White may not be the most popular person in the sport, but he produces time and time again the best cards MMA fans want to see. Dana White’s work ethic is also something of legend as you have seen in his video blogs when his cameraman has fallen asleep several times attempting to keep up with him during his normal business day before an event. White has said on several occasions that he only sleeps 3 to 4 hours a night, because he loves the business so much. Which is something me and Nelo can tell you, you have to do when attempting to run a business at it’s full strength and maximum potential.
Now he needs to produce the best cards that will gain the attention of mainstream consumers and potential sports fans who have never watched the UFC before.
