UFC; Dana Whitewash likes to play his favorites
 By Nate Edwards (June 15, 2007) Doghouse Boxing
On the morning of May 26th, 2007, UFC President Dana White woke up expecting that this was going to be the day that his good friend and favorite fighter Chuck Liddell avenged his loss to Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson. But little did Dana know that what he was awakening to was a nightmare in disguise. Dana White, six months previous to this, had acquired the rights and contract for Quinton Jackson mainly to set up a future potential match-up of Liddell vs. Jackson II, since Jackson stopped Liddell in impressive fashion in 2003 via second-round TKO (Liddell’s corner threw in the towel). White apparently
bolstered to himself how he was going to market the hell out of Jackson and give him a few fights before ultimately setting up Jackson vs. Liddell II for sometime in the fall of 2007. This was, of course, before Jackson fought his first fight in the UFC against Marvin Eastman. Against Eastman, Jackson looked nervous and out of sync at times until he finally got it together and stopped Eastman in the second round. After that fight, White had a change of heart; he no longer wanted to hype Jackson up; he no longer wanted to market the Liddell vs. Jackson II potential match-up over a period of time; he now wanted Jackson to fight Liddell in May 2007. White backtracked his previous statements in the hype-up to Liddell vs. Jackson II by acting as if his intentions all along were to set up this match up for May, when the reality is that he saw Jackson’s performance in January, and figured Liddell’s best chance to beat Jackson was now. But little did he know that his plan would backfire. On the night of May 26th, 2007, Jackson would again do the exact same thing he did to Liddell in the first fight, only faster and more brutally. Jackson, using a display of great footwork, was constantly cutting off the Octagon, while Liddell was circling, and while pressing the action, he was countering off of Liddell’s shots, and the outcome was only a matter of time. Jackson, 1:53 into the first round, would finally take his opportunity, and off of a poorly-placed lead left hand to the body, countered Liddell with a thunderous leaping right hook that sent Liddell reeling to the canvas. Jackson then pounced on Liddell, landing an elbow and a few punches, until referee Big John McCarthy stepped in and kept Liddell from suffering any more punishment. The Iceman lost his second fight to Jackson, and BOTH by stoppage
After this fight, White stated that Chuck Liddell needs more fights now before a rematch against Jackson will take place
(even though Jackson is now 2-0 over Liddell). So after this big win by Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, who is as marketable and media-friendly as they come, who does White choose to market? Who else but his poster boy and best friend Chuck Liddell? White has sent Liddell on a media tour through various talk shows and appearances since his loss, while pushing Jackson to the side like a red-headed stepchild, as if he was the one that lost. Instead of embracing the comedic and marketable aura that Jackson presents, White decides to put the new UFC light-heavyweight champion on the back burner.
In an interview with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the following question was posed to White: “Chuck Liddell is among the most recognizable UFC fighters. What impact does his recent loss to Quinton Jackson have on UFC?”
Instead of taking this opportunity to plug Rampage as a great fighter who beat Liddell on two occasions, White’s answer was: “It happens in this sport. Guys lose. Chuck is one of those fighters that’s going to bounce back. He’s a tough guy. You never know who’s going to win. Chuck getting knocked out was the equivalent of Buster Douglas knocking out Mike Tyson.” So now Liddell is Mike Tyson and Jackson was equivalent to Buster Douglas? And it doesn’t stop there. On the Jim Rome Show, White talks about how the potential match-up between Wanderlei Silva and Chuck Liddell could be the biggest MMA fight in history, which might have been true if we took a time machine back to a year ago and Silva hadn’t been knocked out twice since, or Liddell knocked out just last month. So again, we have Dana choosing to play his favorites in hyping up the Liddell vs. Silva match-up – but no mention of Dan Henderson vs. Quinton Jackson? No mention of a fight between the last man who knocked out Wanderlei Silva vs. the last man who just knocked out Chuck Liddell? No mention of the Pride FC 205-lb. champion facing the UFC’s 205lb champion to see who the best is? I’d think this fight would be on a much higher scale than Silva vs. Liddell if we are talking about what is best for this sport and what it is SUPPOSED to be about. Dana White, however, does not care about what this sport is about; he only cares about the money he and the UFC make, and his media darlings like Matt Hughes and Chuck Liddell. Now I ask you, is this good for the sport of MMA when you have a biased president running the biggest organization in the sport?
More proof of White and company WHITEWASHING the industry, the fans, and sport of MMA is their acquisition of Pride FC, which for the past nine years before the sale was the biggest international MMA promotion out there. They may not have garnered much attention in North America over the past five years, but internationally, PRIDE was considered to be the best promotion in the sport, and had the deepest talent pool. Due to losing a TV contract with FUJI TV, Pride went under early this year, and the Fertitta brothers, who own the UFC, bought them out. After the sale of Pride was announced, UFC President Dana White stated that Pride would still exist as a brand, and that he was going to work on re-establishing PRIDE, but instead, since those comments were made, White has been dismantling PRIDE by taking all of its top talent and signing them to the UFC. That’s a far cry from Dana’s comments about still pushing PRIDE and marketing it. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I would think he is tarnishing the legacy of a promotion that he despised for years. After all, why would White promote and market a company that was the UFC’s main competitor the last five years when he can just break it down, take all of the talent, and then turn PRIDE into a MMA farm club of sorts?
All in all, I think my point has been made clear, and for MMA fans who don’t follow the sport as a whole, I just wanted to clear the air a bit and inform you that you don’t have to buy into this WHITEWASH anymore.
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