Las Vegas Review Journal columnist Ed Graney took a swipe at Dana White last week in a column entitled “UFC head White: ‘The white Don King‘”. Dana White, as it turns out, did not care for that comparison. In an interview with Steve Cofield of ESPN Radio, White referred to Graney as a “moron”, and expressed his rage at the article thusly:

“Not only did he not compare me and Don King — because he couldn’t, okay, number one — but not only did he not compare us, he didn’t even interview me. He interviewed Tito, and then called me ‘the white Don King’. I live in Las Vegas. My kids go to school in this town. I grew up here. And you get one of these moron reporters who go out and write a half-assed story, this guy’s probably never even seen a fight in his life.”

White was subsequently informed that Graney has been to fights, and he is a columnist who writes opinion pieces. White then made it clear that his opinion was that Graney’s opinion “sucks.”

There are two things we should keep in mind here: 1) columnists don’t typically get to write their own headlines, so it’s slightly unfair to take him to task for a headline that makes a claim which isn’t really supported or even argued in the article, and 2) Graney invited that headline and that baseless comparison with one very dumb line that should have been cut entirely.

The latest Dana Vlog opens with a montage of the UFC kingpin battling his way through a torrent of media obligations stateside, including a cell phone convo in which he puts archenemy Bob Arum on blast. Once the final interview has been granted and the last F-bomb dropped, we see him jet off to Rio courtesy of some broke-ass “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego” graphic.

While mingling with the segregated Brazilian and American camps, Dana makes a few weight inquiries which reveal that a disgruntled Forest Griffin was walking around at 216 lbs. one day removed from the official weigh-ins while Shogun was hovering just above the limit at 207 lbs. As for Middleweight challenger Yushin Okami, he was tipping the scales at a solid Thursday 89 kilos 196 lbs.

Full weigh-in results after the jump. And if you didn’t get to drop your predictions in our Fight Picking contest, you’ve still got time to tell the Nation how it’s all going down tonight!

Last week we showed you a BJ Penn video interview from Karyn Bryant in which the former champion vaguely spoke about his future, saying he had no plans to fight but refusing to say the word “retire.” However, according to UFC president Dana White, Penn told him that same week in Stockholm that he would in fact fight again.

“I heard some sh_t that he said he was going to retire and all this stuff,” White said. “[BJ] was like, ‘Nah, I’m going to fight again,’” MMA Fighting reports.

So there you have it. Despite saying that he was “done,” after losing to Nick Diaz last October, BJ will scrap again, according to his boss. I suppose we all figured as much, considering how much Penn loves fighting and how much money he makes doing it.

But the question is, who would BJ fight? Penn has only won one bout in his last five, albeit all against very top competition. At lightweight, the 33 year-old has seemed to have lost a bit of of quickness and reaction time — which is death in the lighter weight classes, and specifically for astalking counter-puncher like Penn. At welterweight, Penn is forced to pack on 15 pounds of unnecessary bulk, which has always been unfair but his crazy talent still allowed him to be successful there.

(“… and I paid a three-year old $14 million for this work of art.”)

In this edition of Dana’s video blog, we take a behind the scenes look at the inaugural UFC on Fox show.

Man, it must get old for Dana to meet fans every day who beg him for free tickets. Seriously, do people have no couth? And what’s up with the fan that suggests Cain looks like Shrek and should call himself “The Shrexican?” What’s wrong with people?

Check out the vid after the jump.

(“Viacom paid WHAT for Bellator?” I got PRIDE, WEC, Strikeforce and Chandella for less than that.”)

Dana White put out an unprecedented second video blog today for the first time in a long time. In this instalment of his UFC 137 video diary, White admires the venue for the pre-fight press conference, pokes fun at Nick Diaz for being Nick Diaz and gives out a bunch of free tickets to whoever asks.

A word of advice: If you’re ever needing tickets to a certain event, stand in line at the weigh-ins or press conference and have a friend point a camera at Dana while you shamelessly beg the UFC president for some freebies. Works every time.

Of note is Diaz’s revelation that they brought him to the presser an hour early to make sure he was there. He missed his flight from Stockton this week and the UFC had to rebook, so it looks like they aren’t taking any chances. Reed Harris has been appointed as Nick’s official babysitter so there’s little or no chance that he’s going to sleep through his fight Saturday night.

Check out the video after the jump.

DW’s infamous vlog’s are back ladies and gentlemen, and it seems his aforementioned pattern of showing loads of footage from the previous UFC event is holding true, this time with UFC 135. It’s hard to even call these Danavlog’s anymore because besides his introduction, The Baldfather doesn’t even make an appearance until 7 minutes into the video. Though I must admit, it is pretty interesting to see the post fight medical examinations, especially Aaron Riley’s, who, after spitting up as much blood as he can manage, declares he’d rather not have his jaw wired shut again. As a fan of solid food, I can’t really blame the guy.

If you’re too busy to watch the entire video, come check out a few of our notes after the jump:

(Video courtesy of YouTube/UFC)

Dana White is back with another instalment of his acclaimed retrospective video series and we’re starting to notice a pattern here. The UFC president seems to be phoning it it these days, appearing sparingly in the videos and filling the remainder up with footage from previous events, which is false advertising considering this was supposed to be the UFC 135 Video Blog 1.

The Cliff’s Notes of what we learned this episode is after the jump.

(Round 5′s new Talking Dana White action figure says eight phrases. All of them are “Fuck you.” / Photo courtesy of liverkick.)

The rules of Make It/Take It are simple. Two MMA writers face off on opposite sides of a hot-button topic, and make their case to the Potato Nation. The “winning” writer — based on number of votes cast in the poll on page 3 — returns next time to battle a different MMA pundit.

This week, “Writer X” from Parts Unknown (aka, a friend of ours from a different site who has chosen to remain anonymous*) goes up against CagePotato’s own Ben Goldstein. Read on, and let us know your thoughts…

* No, it’s not Maggie Hendricks. Or Chad Dundas.

“The UFC Needs a Businessman at the Helm, Not a Character”

By Writer X

Dana White and the Fertitta brothers have taken a sport that was once referred to as “human cockfighting” and built it into a business worth billions of dollars and for that they should be commended.

On its website, the UFC claims that it is the fastest growing sports organization in the world and while that very well be 100 percent true, is there really that much competition out there for them? NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, FIFA, these are all established organizations that have put in their time and gone through their growing pains. They all have been where the UFC is now.

The dilemma the UFC now faces is how does it grow beyond a niche sport into a major league sport like those mentioned above? To start, the promotion needs to move Dana White out of the spotlight and replace him with a new president that is more acceptable to the masses.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/UFC)

In this episode of his UFC 130 vlog, Dana  spends some time with his son, attends the UFC Fighter Summit and gears up for this weekend’s event.

If you don’t have time to watch it or your boss is a tight ass who banned YouTube in your workplace, the key points in a nutshell are after the jump.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/UFC)

Dana White’s fight week video blogs are back for UFC 130 this weekend, but the most interesting part of this edition is something that happened at UFC 129 last month in Toronto.

At around the 1:00 mark, White has a brief interaction in the locker room with Strikeforce welterweight champ Nick Diaz and to say it was awkward would be a major understatement. Dana tries to make smalltalk with Nick and it seems like he’s trying to talk to a child.

It’s largely business as usual for yesterday’s Dana vlog. We see Dana make good on his promise to treat MMA enthusiast/homicidal maniac-thwarter Joseph Lozito to a behind the scenes weekend at UFC 128. Yesterday’s weigh-ins may have been low on seething anger and hostility, but it’s always cool to catch the action up close and personal.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/UFC)

Damn, New Yorkers are crazy for the UFC — that and free shit. I can’t imagine begging Dana and the fighters for their clothes, tickets or autographs. Maybe it’s just me.

The Cliffs Notes of this episode are after the jump.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/UFC)

It’s UFC fight week, which means Dana White is back with another video blog giving us mortal men a small behind-the-scenes glimpse of his life as a multi-millionaire jet-setter.

(Video courtesy YouTube/UFC)

When I clicked on the latest episode of Dana White’s fight week video blogs, I was hoping to at least hear the UFC president mention the candid private conversation he had with Ben on Saturday afternoon about Arianny’s Playboy spread, but instead I was treated to the usual inside jokes and inane banter between The Baldfather and his homeboys.

For more on what Dana had to say to Ben (and trust me, you don’t want to miss it) tune into The Bum Rush Friday morning.

Let’s just say Dana makes Gus Johnson seem like a polite telemarketer.

 
(I knew Dana reminded me of someone, I just couldn’t put my finger on who.)

Filed under the "Now I’ve heard everything" category, UFC president Dana White revealed in a recent story in the Vancouver Sun that he’s a big fan of self-proclaimed self-help guru Dr. Phil McGraw. White admits in the interview that he didn’t know much about McGraw before appearing on an episode of his daytime talk show last year, but he says now he really respects Dr. Phil.

(In your face, Hemingway.)

If you’re wondering how the lives of the super-rich are different from those of us average plebes, you might want to take a look at Dana White’s Twitter today.  With the TUF 10 Finale just a couple of days away, he’s off hunting wild boar in Morocco with Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Tahnoon.  Oh, and they took a private helicopter to get there.  You know, rich guy stuff.

Only it turns out that DW is not a killer.  Updating us on the hunt, White wrote that he "pussed out and didn’t shoot."  Lorenzo Fertitta apparently had no such problems, because he totally shot one.  At least Dana is aware that this story is not going to impress hardened animal slayers like Brock Lesnar and Matt Hughes.  Neither will it impress them to learn that he’s skipping out of work to go watch other people shoot, but that’s the good part of being the incredibly wealthy boss — you never have to call in sick just to hang out with Arab sheikhs. 

Okay, maybe some explanation is in order…

(The #1 clown in Las Vegas poses with some guy named Charlie. Props: CharlieTheClown.net via MMA Splatter.)

“How do I feel about them trying to counter-program UFC 100? I love it. I fucking love it. I love it. I don’t like these guys and I want to see them spend more of their t-shirt money. What they should be worrying about is — they’ve already seen first hand that nobody gives a shit about Affliction MMA — what they need to start worrying about is nobody wants to wear their goofy fucking clothes anymore either. The fad is over and they better start saving as much of that t-shirt money as they can.” — DW to FiveOuncesofPain, regarding the recent reports that Affliction will hold its third (and likely final) event on July 11th, the same day as UFC 100.

"I called BJ to tell him to stop with the BS and to start fucking training." — DW on Sirius Radio yesterday (via BloodyElbow). Our thoughts exactly.

"Apparently he doesn’t know what guys who are on steroids look like, okay? They don’t fuckin’ look like me…You know what I’m on? I’m on fuckin’ pizza, chicken fingers, and cheeseburgers, okay?…Pregnant bitches don’t eat as much as fuckin’ I do right now." — DW responds to allegations made by Tiki Ghosn that he’s a steroid abuser, in a new video for Trumph United (via CageWriter).

(‘This guy…..appears to be wearing some kind of weird robe.’)

Dana White and Alistair Oveerem are living it up at UFC 93 in this picture from our friends at Free Fight Videos.  Semmy Schilt also made it out to the event, but man does Dana ever look chummy with "The Demolition Man."  Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but does the look on Overeem’s face say, ‘I’m putting my arm around this man because he is my new boss,’ to you?

Dana White’s UFC 92 Video Blog, Ep. 1 – Watch more free videos

The Dana White pre-event video blog returns…kind of.  As White breathlessly explains at the onset, he’s been busy.  So instead of a real video blog covering his event week activities, he’s starting us off with some behind-the-scenes stuff from the Spike TV video game awards.

Highlights here include a meet and greet with Mike Tyson, who almost seems ready to say something to Nogueira about Frank Mir until he’s alerted that Mir is standing right behind him.  Then it’s on to that awkward portion of the evening when an LL Cool J performance turns into a UFC 92 promo.  In case you were wondering whether it was as weird and stilted live as it was on TV, this video clearly answers that question from one of the worst seats in the house — right behind the guy who really loves LL Cool J. 

It’s like it doesn’t matter where you go, whether it’s the movies or an awards show, that guy is always there, standing just in front of you and shouting "Mama said knock you out!"

In the interest of finishing what we’ve started in regards to this whole Dana White UFC 87 video blog business, here’s the closing entry. We get to see some of White’s fight night routine, which includes a fair amount of smokin’ and jokin’ (no actual smoking occurs) backstage with Rampage Jackson. We also hear once more about White’s enthusiasm for the city of Minneapolis, also known as “no bullshit, America’s best-kept secret.” And here I thought our best-kept secret was The Trail of Tears.

In case you’re sitting there all weepy-eyed over this little experiment in “vlogging” having come to an end, have no fear. Dana White vows that they’re going to start doing this before every event. Looks like someone has been won over by the power of the internets.

The UFC’s reluctance to put on female fights became a topic for discussion on Tuesday’s Elite XC conference call. Shayna Baszler and Christiane Cyborg, who will square off on the CBS portion of the card, each had different though equally telling responses:

QUESTION: When asked if he has any interest in setting up any female divisions in the UFC, Dana White politely questioned the depth of talent. What is your response to that?

Shayna Baszler: I don’t care what Dana White has to say. If he wants to question the depth of talent; that is just going to give companies like EliteXC one more thing to tap into that he’s not. He wants to question the depth of the female division, but every fight, every female fight that ProElite has put on has been a showcase of women’s talent and has been “fight of the night” type material. If he wants to give that avenue to others to pursue, then, fine. The more the merrier. I don’t care. I just want to fight the best. I don’t know, if he wants to question that, then I’d question the talent of his heavyweight division.

Cristiane Cyborg: I’d love to fight Dana White to show him how tough women are.

Oh, snap! Ok, not really. He never questioned their toughness, which makes me think Cyborg misunderstood the question, and there is probably just as much reason to question the depth of women’s MMA as there is to question the depth of the UFC’s current heavyweight division, so we’ll rule that one a tie for the moment.

(Big announcement forthcoming? Are the words “love child” involved?)

In a recent interview with ESPN the Magazine, Dana White promises some big announcements coming soon. What kind of announcement? We don’t know. But it’s going to be huge, or so White says:

You have no idea some of the stuff that we have planned. I’m going to make an announcement next week that is going to blow people’s minds. That deal is done, but my employees don’t even know yet. I’m renting out a place next Thursday and I’m going to tell them. Then we’ll make the announcement later that day. It’s an indicator of where this business is going over the next five years.

So, he’s renting out a place just to tell his employees? They couldn’t just meet in the office, maybe have a conference call? I got it. It’s King Kong, isn’t it? That’s the big announcement.

Zuffa has captured King Kong and will display him in chains in front of the world. Then when he escapes they’ll be forced to mend fences with Randy Couture just to get him to save the world. At first Couture won’t want to do it, but he’ll eventually become our reluctant hero while constantly griping that he’s getting “too old for this shit.” Damn, now I’ve gone and ruined the surprise. Sorry, everybody.

White also divulged that Chuck Liddell’s next fight will be in Atlanta, Georgia, though his opponent is as of yet unnamed (Godzilla?). Then he lit right into ESPN for giving Kimbo Slice and Elite XC so much attention. This, despite the fact that he had not been asked about either.

(Fedor feeding the geese, or catching them for his supper? You be the judge.)

We’ve heard from Randy Couture about all the shit surrounding the attempt to make the Fedor/Randy fight happen and the subsequent lawsuit spin-offs. And we’ve heard from Dana White almost daily defending his ridiculous position. Now we’re hearing from Fedor Emelianenko himself about the fight and Lex Luthor’s repeated public bashings of him. In an open letter to Dana White that was posted on m1mixfight.com, the site of Fedor’s management team, the Russian superstar let it all out.

As posted on MMA Junkie:

As Emelianenko wrote (keep in mind it’s been translated by a third party):

Numerous times have I read mister White’s statements on Internet concerning myself. In my opinion, allowing yourself to say those things is not a sign of a gentleman or a grown man at all! If he candidly wants to prove himself right then let my fight with Randy happen or let me face the reigning UFC champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. In the future I wouldn’t want to hear those statements in my address ever again and I won’t tolerate that.

My last fight in Japan proved that I’m ready to fight anybody with any height advantage, skillset or experience. I have fought and still wish to fight the best athletes. The Randy fight is my goal number one right now, he’s a great fighter and this is a very unfortunate situation when too strict and one-sided UFC contracts don’t let this fight happen.

The whole world is eager to see me fight your champions, people don’t want to listen to your press-conferences. I’m signed with M-1 Global and this promotion is ready to organize such fights under our banner or in co-promoted events.

Fedor wants to fight the best. For those out there who thinks he only takes mediocre fights, he wants to shut them up. But he didn’t sign with the UFC because of the restrictive contracts and Dana White’s business tactics. We all know Dana’s style. If you don’t want to play by his sometimes-absurd rules, he’ll make it his life’s work to kick shit on your name. And he’s tried to do that with Fedor and now Randy.

Yet again, M-1 is ready to make this happen. Fedor has penned a letter begging for it. Randy is willing to be sued in order to hold out for it. Dana, you blow.

How weak of a puff-piece B.J. was last night’s “Ultimate Fighting: From Blood Sport to Big Time” special on CNBC? I think this quote says it all:

“At six feet and a chiseled 210 pounds, Dana White looks every bit the ferocious ultimate fighting champion.”

Whaaaaaa? You mean the paunchy, doughy Dana White? That one? Look, we realize you’ve been paid off, but at least try to maintain the illusion of journalistic integriity. This is television — you can’t tell us things that are straight-up contradicted by the images on the screen. FightOpinion has a full recap of the half-assed UFC informercial, so give it look if you’d like to be disgusted even further.

And here’s something I learned today: When you do a Google Image Search for Dana White (no quotes), the first result takes you to SlyBaldGuys.com (“the place where bald guys rule!”). Among the support group message boards and product reviews of balm and wipes, White is featured in a roundup page called “5 Successful Bald Men,” where he shares space with such hairless luminaries as Iron Chef America winner Michael Symon and creepy character actor Jackie Earle Haley. Kind of a low-rent list, if you ask me. They couldn’t find room for Bruce Willis, Neil Strauss and Edward Norton in American History X?

You know, I may not have a fleet of G5 airplanes or an insanely successful, multi-million dollar company at my disposal, although I totally could if it wasn’t for my bum knee. I may not be part of a secret group of rich adulterers that smash the hottest trim in shanty towns across the globe, or show up to Hollywood premiers with Ronda Rousey on my arm — again, I’m blaming the bum knee. But despite all this, I take solace in the fact that — regardless of whether you’re UFC President Dana White or Skeeter the local angry drunk – as men, we all like to let loose in pretty much the same fashion. Mainly, getting our friends to embarrass themselves and blowing shit up.

So goes the latest Danavlog (seen above), in which The Baldfather grants us behind-the-scenes access to the one day off he gets each year. And oddly enough, DW doesn’t spend it getting a mani-pedi and eating veal that was killed in front of him like most of his fellow 1%ers. Instead, he spends it at his house in Maine with a few of his closest buddies, completing the redneck superfecta of hot sauce challenges, goat milking, skeet shooting, and hitting 125 mph on his dirt bike. Seriously, if White did all of this while slugging down Labbatt Blues, chain smoking cowboy killers, and demanding that Barack Obama show us his damn birth certificate already, I’d be convinced that we were born in the same town.

Then again, this is the same millionaire who willingly throws himself into mosh pits when he’s not cussing out members of the MMA media, so perhaps we should stop acting surprised when DW continuously defies our expectations for how the President of a major sports organization should act. Party on, Dana. Party on.

-J. Jones

(Video via MMAFighting.com)

Considering all the shit he’s taken over the past couple weeks from UFC fans and his boss since the cancelation of UFC 151, it’s actually good to see that light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones is relaxed and in good-spirits during this interview yesterday with Ariel Helwani. Jones has put the ugly recent past behind him, and when he finally gets the chance to have a one-on-one conversation with Dana White — because he hasn’t yet, if you can believe it — he plans to look DW dead in his beet-red face and forgive him. Here’s the transcription via FightOpinion:

JON JONES: “I’m going to say, Dana… you know, I’m just going to tell him that I forgive him, pretty much. I have a general intention of what I want to happen and basically it’s going to based on forgiveness. I’m not expecting him to apologize but I’m moving forward, you know, I’m moving forward and Dana… spoke his mind and, you know, ultimately he can’t take back what happened, I can’t take back what happened. I don’t think he wants to and I don’t want to, so, we’re just going to be men and keep this great journey that we have going. You know, we’re both ambassadors for the UFC and as for not being on the same page, as I said (Tuesday) on Sportscenter it makes no sense for us MMA fans, MMA nation so, uh, you know, I want to do great things and I think having them on my side or working with them and not being known as like, you know, a troublemaker with him will be beneficial for both of us.

ARIEL HELWANI: “How do you forgive someone who hasn’t apologized?”

JON JONES: “You know, I don’t know. I don’t know how that works but I want to try it.”

Dana’s Video Blogs are often great for two reasons: you get to see some cool shit from just over his shoulder, and you get just a small hint of how much money he has. This final UFC 133 entry is no different.

Following the UFC 133 Press Conference, Dana takes your standard helicopter ride to Atlantic City, where he proceeds to “kick the shit out of Caesar’s Palace”. Judging by the fat stacks of cash in his hotel room, The Baldfather is rapidly approaching the point where he must weigh his money rather than count it. We also get a closer look at last night’s weigh-ins and learn that Ivan Menjivar knew that he wouldn’t be cutting any additional weight as soon as he stepped off the scales, opting for a fine instead. A tough weight cut is always something to consider for those of you looking to place any last minute bets.

Here’s your chance to get it on the record. Who is getting their hand raised tonight?

(Video courtesy of YouTube/UFC)

UFC president and ardent CagePotato hater, Dana White is back with another episode of his fight week video blogs and the most pertinent thing to come from the latest episode above is hearing him *finally* admit he’s a Strikeforce fan.

Surreal, ain’t it?

(Video courtesy YouTube/UFC)

Watching the most recent edition of Dana White’s video blog series, one thing becomes abundantly clear: the dude is fucking rich.

When he isn’t sitting courtside in L.A. at the end of the Celtics bench with his kids during an NBA game, The Baldfather is throwing around cash like it’s confetti on things like souping up his SUVs with Corvette engines.

Ah, to be a multi-millionaire…

I still pick up change when I find it on the street.