Dana White at UFC 69 teleconference
Apr 02, 2007 - 2:05PM
A few quick notes from a UFC 69 telephone press conference:
*UFC president Dana White had strong words for Floyd Mayweather's recent disrespectful comments about mixed martial arts: "He says he wants to pay Chuck Liddell a million dollars to fight with a heavyweight boxer and see if he'll last. How about this? How about we pay Floyd a million dollars to fight MMA and see how long he lasts. Or even better ... I'll give him a million dollars of my own money if he boxes anyone other than Oscar (De La Hoya) and more than 10 people buy tickets."
Mayweather was quoted in an article on the boxing Web site Thesweetscience.com as saying: “UFC ain’t s--,. It ain’t but a fad. Anyone can put a tattoo on their head and get in a street fight. We should put Liddell against a good heavyweight, under Mayweather Promotions, and if Chuck wins, then I’ll give him a million dollars out of my own pocket. These are guys who couldn’t make it in boxing."
*White also slapped down a boxing-based writer who criticized MMA fighters for their boxing technique, claiming their footwork was "wrong." White patiently explained that unlike a boxer, an MMA competitor also needs to be watching for other forms of strikes, or a potential takedown, and thus need to set up their punches differently than boxers.
*White said it could take as long as a year before we see matchups with PRIDE vs. UFC fighters.
*He said they're looking at August or September for a potential Randy Couture vs. Mirko Cro Cop match.
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Dana White on PRIDE: ‘I run everything’
During a conference call earlier today with national media to discuss UFC 69, Dana White departed from recent statements that he will not run PRIDE FC, inferring that he will indeed be involved with steering the promotion.
We weren’t invited to participate in the call (sob), so we’ll lean on Steve Seivert at the Houston Chronicle and Loretta Hunt at FightNetwork.com for all the particulars.
Here’s a snip from the UFC President vis-à-vis the Chronicle:
“PRIDE is still going to be a Japanese organization. PRIDE is going to be run the way PRIDE was. I’m, obviously, ramping up the American side of it, and I am going to do what I do in America. I run everything.”
And similar statements from White courtesy of Ms. Hunt:
“Though it was announced at last week’s press conference in Japan that the newly-formed PRIDE Worldwide Holdings LLC. would be run separately from the UFC, White conceded he’ll have some say in its direction. ‘I run everything,’ White quipped, explaining the company will keep its Japanese employees and remain Japanese-run, though he would ‘amp up the American side.’”
Not too shocking, considering White admitted to being a “control freak” during the session. It’s unclear, however, as to the reasons behind the shift in public statements.
Perhaps the Fertittas and Dream Stage Entertainment (DSE) President and CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara agreed that it was best to ensure that the recent acquisition did not become the Dana White show.
Regardless, it was naïve to think that White wouldn’t be pulling the strings to some degree, whether it was overt or behind closed doors.
There are a lot of other goodies contained within both write ups, including when to expect the “SuperBowl of MMA” (sometime next year), the UFC will only award one contract during the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter (in previous seasons two fighters earned six-figure deals), as well as more on the HBO and ESPN deals (announcers aren’t the sticking point, according to White, it’s the overall production).
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