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Dana White, the Ultimate Bad Guy
If you have visited any MMA forums, you have probably seen the Dana White posts. They clog up so many of the forums with their unending flood of insults and flaming. You see so much that you almost begin to believe what you read. I have seen posts about how Dana is the worst thing that has happened to MMA, how Dana has ruined the UFC, and I could go on and on. It becomes a virtual river of hatred for a man most of us have never met and know little to nothing about. Honesty what do most of us know? We know what we see on television, on Pay per view, in interviews and on Internet posts. How much of this is the real Dana White and how much is hype? What is the real truth behind it? I really don't know. What I do know is that we wouldn't have MMA or a UFC without him and would have to turn our hatred elsewhere.
I remember watching the early days of the UFC and the birth of mainstream MMA. I was captivated by it. Here they had people from all different forms of martial arts and fighting disciplines putting it all out there to see who the best really was. We all came to realize that certain forms of fighting were clearly dominant and when two dominant forms met it came down to the skill and heart of the fighters. Royce Gracie clearly dominated everyone in the first few events. He calmly waited out his opponents to end the matches in classic and sometimes unbelievable style. Eventually it all came to an end. I was at Cobo Arena in Detroit for UFC 9 in 1996. I, along with everyone who witnessed this event, was very upset by the lack of action. We later found out that the fighters had been threatened with jail time for hitting with closed fists. We didn't know it then but, the UFC was slowly dying. It had lost its pay per view and most states had outlawed it.
Then it started to come back. This time it was a regulated, structured and well formatted event. It carried the same intense action as before but just seemed better. Then it exploded into the mainstream. It kept growing and growing and small promotions were popping up around the country. I personally started my own promotion, Combat X, LLC (shameless plug), because of my love for the sport and of MMA. It has held a place in my heart for years and, being that I am not physically able to compete anymore, I decided to promote. I wanted to have a promotion that took care of fans and fighters alike. I based my design off of my perceived understanding of the UFC. I know that I am not going to be as big a promotion as the UFC. I don't know if I want that kind of headache. I do know that I can run a professional promotion and give the fans what want and what they expect to see. That's what I expect from the UFC. The UFC has gone from being considered human cock fighting to evolving into a legitimate sport. Now it commands the pay per view scene, sells out every arena it goes to and shows no sign of slowing down. Your average person may not know what MMA is, but they do know what the UFC is and often think of the UFC as the name for MMA. You have to sit back and wonder how this happened. It all points back to one man, Dana White.
Dana had, as he told the story many times, convinced his friends Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta to purchase the UFC. They turned control over to Dana and the rest is history. Like him or hate him Dana White is the reason why MMA is so big, fast growing and quickly gaining respect world wide. Yes he may be outspoken and sometimes down right rude but, he pulls no punches and tells you what he thinks. It's his "In your Face" stance that makes him such a popular bad guy. He has fought hard to be where he is and to take MMA to the level that it is at today. It is quickly becoming legal in more and more states and countries. This is because of his constant fight for the sport. So next time you want to post a hate filled diatribe about the man, take a second to think about what topic you would be discussing had he not taken control of the UFC.
by John Poe
photo courtesy of UFC
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