It didn’t take lengthy for Dana White to get again to enterprise as standard.
On Wednesday he spent a whole press convention discussing how mistaken he was after being recorded slapping his spouse at a New Year’s Eve celebration. By Saturday, he was again to defending the best way that the UFC compensates its fighters after deciding to let Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou stroll.
T-Mobile Arena made a mistake when it revealed on its outside video boards that Jon “Bones” Jones and Ciryl Gane can be combating for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Advertisements for that combat weren’t speculated to have been launched at the moment. The outcome, following UFC Vegas 67, White took a while to elucidate why this specific combat had been scheduled though Francis Ngannou defeated Gane on heavyweight title combat a yr in the past.
White performs the blame recreation
White didn’t even await a query. He dove proper into how negotiations with Ngannou for a brand new contract fell aside, and he put the blame squarely on the previous UFC Heavyweight Champion.
White informed the media that UFC was keen to make Ngannou the highest-paid heavyweight within the group’s historical past, but it surely wasn’t sufficient for the champ. Also, White tried to take a shot at Ngannou’s skilled integrity. He stated to the media, a number of instances, that Ngannou is extra fascinated by taking over lesser fighters for more cash than dealing with Jones, whom White repeatedly known as the best fighter of all time.
In White’s second press convention after hanging his spouse, he determined to spend time pumping up a fighter who has not competed in three years, partly due to his personal home violence allegations. In late 2021, Jones confronted prices of home battery together with headbutting a police automobile. He finally pleaded nolo contendere to a misdemeanor cost – destroying property of one other — and his home violence cost was dropped.
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Who disciplines Dana White?
After the video of White striking his wife went public, he first said that he accepts full duty for his wrongdoing on TMZ. Then on Wednesday, on the UFC Vegas 67 Media Day, White spent almost quarter-hour taking questions concerning the incident. To his credit score, he supplied no protection and he additionally requested those that are talking up for him to cease. However, when requested a few potential punishment, the president of the UFC replied that if he hung out away on punishment the group would undergo, not him. White stated that his punishment is that he must stay with the stain of what he did for the remainder of his life, and any lack of respect that comes consequently.
That is a burden that I actually wouldn’t need to bear, particularly if I had offspring who additionally need to cope with the fallout of my shameful act. Anyone who wishes to be considered a good individual wouldn’t need to be related to the act that White was recorded committing, however he’s fairly lucky that his wealth and standing gained’t be harmed by what he did.
It’s the soiled elephant within the room that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver introduced consideration to as soon as the league’s unbiased report on Phoenix Suns proprietor Robert Sarver’s misconduct was launched. Silver stated flatly that proudly owning a crew is completely different from being an worker of the NBA or one among its franchises. The league later launched an announcement that tried to stroll Silver’s feedback again, but it surely was too late to divert peoples’ consideration from that dirty elephant.
White doesn’t even personal the UFC. He is the president. It’s a task that might be thought of much like Silver’s as NBA Commissioner, aside from the truth that the UFC doesn’t have 30 homeowners, it has one. It’s owned by a publicly traded leisure firm — Endeavor.
However, the entity that Endeavor bought is one which White has run for greater than 20 years. He does the press conferences earlier than and after the occasions. He wraps the championship belts round fighter’s waists, and It’s his voice that screams expletives when UFC is questioned about fighter pay.
There is not any group of crew homeowners, no different promoters, and no union that White solutions to. For essentially the most half, what he says about UFC is the legislation. In some methods, he’s extra highly effective than any crew proprietor in a significant American sport. In these sports activities, the entire crew homeowners need to reply to one another.
White solutions to at least one firm a few product that has grow to be a power below his management. That’s why as remorseful as he could also be about that New Year’s Eve second, it didn’t take lengthy for him to begin publicly bashing a fighter who was upset with compensation. It’s already again to the often scheduled program for White.