Dana White is ‘going to go postal’
On the heels of his latest verbal tirade to the LA Times, always outspoken and often controversial UFC President Dana White has launched his latest verbal assault on Fedor Emelianenko and Strikeforce in a conversation with Dave Meltzer from Yahoo! Sports.
“CBS made its biggest mistake partnering with a tiny, small show with a roster no one cares about,” said White. “Just because you read on MMA.TV that someone is a superstar doesn’t make it true.”
While the recent airing of “Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers” on CBS didn’t shatter any records in terms of the most viewed MMA events in history, to pretend like the card didn’t deliver as a whole, or that Strikeforce is a promotion no one cares about is the the type of talk that makes that person’s word less credible in the future.
Obviously White has his job to do as a promoter, and he’s damn good at doing it, but those type of comments are a slap in the face of any mixed martial arts fan that knows better.
It’s one thing to be the best at what you do, and it’s quite another to stoop to such levels to remind yourself and the rest of the MMA community that you’re still the best.
It’s like having a girlfriend that’s absolutely crazy about you, but constantly having to go around shooting down any other guy you see just to make yourself feel better and more secure in the relationship. Just doesn’t make sense to me. She may talk to other guys, but it’s you she’s in love with.
That’s the exact type of insecure behavior that will often cause someone to flee in the other direction.
Furthermore, in what seems to be a much more revealing comment, Dana went on to state, “If I hear any of you guys [sportswriters] calling Fedor the best pound-for-pound, I’m going to go postal. Do you think Brett Rogers would have lasted two minutes with Brock [UFC heavyweight champ Lesnar]? What do you think Cain Velasquez would do to him?”
Now that statement just flat out reeks of passive aggressiveness, and subtle intimidation.
I feel confident that there a large percentage of sportswriters that very much consider Fedor Emelianenko to be the best pound for pound fighter on the planet. Many that have felt that way for years now. A quick review of many of the most respected pound for pound polls would tell you that it’s actually a quite common sentiment.
But if the president of the largest fighting promotion hears you proclaiming this belief in public, he’s going to go postal. Seriously? What does that even entail?
Just the sheer scope of the statement is enough to make many journalists hoping to get on the good side of Dana think twice about ever running a story referencing Fedor as the greatest fighter on the planet ever again in fear of the possible repercussions.
Fedor is the best pound for pound fighter in the world right now. Unlike Brock Lesnar and Anderson Silva, the man has never suffered a legit defeat in over thirty professional bouts against some of the most dangerous men on the planet. Emelianenko leaves no doubt, only speculation.
Cory Brady is the managing editor of FiveOuncesOfPain.com.
| All posts by Cory Brady
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On the Rogers Vs Lesnar/Velasquez I think any real MMA fan would realize that Rogers might be capable of beating Velasquez and I think Rogers would be an interesting matchup for Lesnar. I don’t think he’d win, but I don’t think it’d be a complete beat down. Rogers is bigger and stronger than any of Lesnars other opponents to date.
Well-Done.
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Hot debate. What do you think?
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Of course he’s capable, but its all speculation. And this whole “a REAL mma fan would know” thing is getting old, people are getting way too convinced that only people that agree with them are “real” mma fans. We’re all fans, and should all respect each other. If people are new to the sport and only get made fun of for their lack of knowledge then how can we honestly say we want mma to grow? Isn’t that very two-faced, to be elitist yet a grass-roots fan?
Well-Done.
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Weak-Sauce.
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Dana’s talking point has been people putting Fedor at the top of p4p, something that is debatable but the case can be made for GSP and Silva. More ridiculous is saying that Fedor isn’t the top ranked Heavyweight, a point Dana used to make more frequently in the past than he seems to have as of late.
Well-Done.
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Weak-Sauce.
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Cory lets get over this ish and see some previews and predictions bud!
Well-Done.
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I’m just being honest, statements like that reek of bias, the same bias everyone seems to find so ridiculous when its going the other way from dana’s mouth. Yeah fedor has fought some of the best in the planet, but theres no consistency in his level of opponent. He beats big nog then fights Hong Man Choi? Gtfoh. What would people say if they put someone like Choi against Lesnar?
Hot debate. What do you think?
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I was thinking the same thing. Lets be honest, this site is just as much propaganda as ufc when it comes to fedor, I’ve never read an article hear that didnt proclaim fedor hands down the best. Thats fine, but dont call it journalism or an unbiased perspective.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Don’t worry 105 is this weekend, and I’ll be here all next week to sing the praises of Randy Couture for you.
Well-Done.
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Well-Done.
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Weak-Sauce.
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Everyone seems to this this comment sucks so it is hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Weak-Sauce.
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Calm down bud you’ll live longer. And lastly Im gonna laugh my ass off if you come back calling me a UFC hater.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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I do agree with Dana that Fedor is not in anyway hands down the #1 p4p guy in the world. In my opinion the only serious fight he’s had in almost three years now is the Arlovski fight, if it wasn’t for the fact that I have a lot of respect for him as a fighter, I wouldn’t have him in the discussion.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Your statements are invalid and laughable. Do a little research before you go spewing off at the mouth and you’d quickly relaize that the huge majority of what we cover is UFC related. News flash: There was a big event this past weekend, and guess what, people are interested in it. So I’m writing about it. I have the freedom to write about whatever I feel like, and you have the choice to read whatever you choose. That’s how it works. It’s an opinion piece, there are going to be some of those here. That’s what makes 5 Oz. so great imo. If you want nothing but straight news 24-7, there are places for that too. Take care
Well-Done.
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Tell you what, P4P is a pointless argument IMO. I tend to lean towards the guy without the loss to Ryo chonan, Matt Serra or Jens Pulver. ( oh and BJ Penn is by far my favorite fighter to watch and probably can make his own case for P4P due to him being the only one on the list to fight in nearly every weight class)
but I’ll tell you what, As this argument rages on remember to keep your facts straight, when I say FACTS , The interesting thing about the internet is that it’s pretty much archived for your use. Big Timmah, Andrei Arlovski, and many people who are considered “cans” today. Were not considered cans until they lost in impressive fashion to Fedor.
It’s not hard to be informed. So inform yourself. ( I’ll be happy to do my part in a article soon to be published)
Who is P4P , I honestly don’t care.
However The historical rankings are there for you to see. Look at fight dates, and Rankings just prior…………
Here is a little factoid.
Did you know Heath Herring ( #3) was the higher ranked HW when he fought Fedor ( unranked) the first time??
Vegas had Herring as the favorite as well Heath Herring -180
Fedor Emilianenko +140 ( complete rankings and lines coming soon)
In hindsight 7 years later, people look at a victory as something to be valued less.
9 years is a very long time. And a lot of revisionist history takes place.
All I’m saying is look at the facts. I don’t have to be correct or agreed with all the time, but things in context make for a better discussion.
Well-Done.
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Hot debate. What do you think?
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Again Arlovski and sylvia were let go from the UFC because there contract demands were too high because affliction was offering up the world to them. They were both top hws in the world at the time of the Fedor fights.
MOST mma websites have Aoki, Kawajiri, Alvarez all lurking around the top 5. Although I think BJ wipes the floor with all of them he definately hasnt cleaned out his division. Hes defended his belt twice.
He does not need to fight Nog again for Nogs sake. I never wanna see Nog take a beating like that again, and I dont think anyone should want to. His hardest two fights in the UFC would probably be Brock and Carwin. So hoepfully someday we’ll get to see him fight them but probably not. Him and Dana are just on opposite sides of the spectrum(Not puting blame on either).
There is a reason that most of the time you ask a mmartist who the best is they say Fedor. He simply never loses.
Well-Done.
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i can’t think of much that has been so beat to death in constant articles that aren’t really about anything.
i didn’t have to read it, but i did anyways.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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This.
People now look at Fedor beating Herring and think, “Big deal, dude got beat by Jake O’Brien” and don’t realize that Pride FC was “feeding” Fedor to Herring to get the Texas Crazy Horse back into a title bout with Big Nog.
Same for Mark Coleman… it was only four short years since his revival at the 2000 GP and he’d only suffered a defeat to Big Nog in that time. So Fedor beating Coleman in ‘04 with relative ease doesn’t seem so great now since Coleman is viewed as past-his-prime.
Fedor dominated Big Nog TWICE, outstruck CroCop, and choked out and knocked out two recent UFC HW champs in the past 16 months.
What more can be expected of him??
Well-Done.
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Well-Done.
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Hot debate. What do you think?
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I agree that people do a lot of looking back and discounting wins, but people also look back and give 4-5 year old wins too much credit to what’s going on now. My point being that beating Big Nog 5 years ago and Mirko 4 years ago looks great when you’re considering the best fighter of all time, but right now Fedor’s most recent wins aren’t nearly as impressive as other people on the list. Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not saying Fedor is ducking people or can’t hang with the best of the division… I just don’t think M1 wants to give him the opportunity. To me Anderson is above the rest just because he’s killed his division and has started murdering people at LHW. Overall I’d go Anderson > Fedor > GSP.
Fedor’s wins in the past 3 years: Mark Hunt, Matt Lindland, Hong Man-Choi, Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski and Brett Rogers.
Anderson’s: Travis Lutter, Nate Marquardt, Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson, James Irvin, Patrick Cote, Thales Leites, and Forrest Griffin
GSP’s: Matt Hughes x2, a loss and a win to Matt Sera, Josh Koschek, Jon Fitch, BJ Penn, and Thiago Alves
Well-Done.
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Weak-Sauce.
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Hot debate. What do you think?
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I don’t know how many of you guys have ever gone to business school or not, but reality here is that one of the very first things you are taught is never slag the competition.
Corey is absolutely right about how things look when someone like Dana White flies off the handle and starts to say all sorts of negatives about his competition. As a fan I have never like Dana White’s persona and I really do think it’s counter productive to the sports continual growth.
I hope that Dana learns to clean up his act and be a professional CEO, this is the most important aspect missing from the world’s largest promotion.
There are lots of venues that could put on huge shows like NY, or Toronto but they are going to be more difficult to accept mma when Dana White is leading the way. Dana perpetuates the white trash unsophisticated stigma that goes with the mainstream regarding this sport.
I love watching the UFC, just as I do SF, K1 etc, let’s just get more professionalism into the sport from a management perspective.
Scott Coker on the other hand at least as a front man will do wonders for this sport if he continues the way he’s going. I like the smart and well spoken aspect of his game.
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So White said something about Fedor that wasn’t sufficiently worshipful and it gets reported. Angry blogging furball ensues with some people villifying White and others defending what he said.
It’s a bit like a sit-com that’s gone into syndication. You’ve seen all the episodes so many times before, and yet you watch them over and over again anyway.
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Win Brett Rogers TKO (Punches) Strikeforce / M-1 Global – Fedor vs. Rogers 11/7/2009 2 1:48
Win Andrei Arlovski KO (Punch) Affliction – Day of Reckoning 1/24/2009 1 3:14
Win Tim Sylvia Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) Affliction – Banned 7/19/2008 1 0:36
Win Hong Man Choi Submission (Armbar) Yarennoka – New Years Eve 2007 12/31/2007 1 1:54
Win Matt Lindland Submission (Armbar) Bodog Fight – Clash of the Nations 4/14/2007 1 2:58
Win Mark Hunt Submission (Kimura) PRIDE – Shockwave 2006 12/31/2006 1 8:16
Win Mark Coleman Submission (Armbar) PRIDE 32 – The Real Deal 10/21/2006 2 1:15
Win Wagner da Conceicao Martins Submission (Punches) PRIDE – Shockwave 2005 12/31/2005 1 0:26
Win Mirko Filipovic Decision (Unaminous) PRIDE – Final Conflict 2005 8/28/2005 3 5:00
Win Tsuyoshi Kosaka TKO (Doctor Stoppage) PRIDE – Bushido 6 4/3/2005 1 10:00
Win Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Decision (Unanimous) PRIDE – Shockwave 2004 12/31/2004 3 5:00
NC Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira No Contest – Accidental Cut PRIDE – Final Conflict 2004 8/15/2004 1 3:52
Win Naoya Ogawa Submission (Armbar) PRIDE – Final Conflict 2004 8/15/2004 1 0:54
Win Kevin Randleman Submission (Kimura) PRIDE – Critical Countdown 2004 6/20/2004 1 1:33
Win Mark Coleman Subm
Arlovski and Sylvia were not cut fools they wanted more money. Do you cut top 10 talent?. cuz they were both ranked above 5 at the time they were “cut”. So stupid. Ive just listed 15 fights and it includes 11 top 10 fighters and most in their prime. 4 or 5 UFC champions and a k1 champ. Bias is right. Anyone who is not in the UFC or has left the UFC is shit to guys like you. His last 3 fights were against guys who were top 5 or top 10. Sure he has faced some cans but he has faced more top fighters than anyone…ever…ever, ever. 31-1.Are you blind or stupid?.
Well-Done.
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Come on man give it up, why is it that so many guys like to throw that same old argument out? It absolutely has no merit to it if you think things through.
Fedor didn’t sign in the UFC for reasons only Fedor and the UFC know, everything else was rumour.
No if we follow your logic Fedor didn’t sign in the UFC because he’s scared he’ll lose, ok.
Well this can be argued many different ways and here’s my rebuttal. Fedor is and has been considered the top HW on earth for almost 8 years now. If we follow the reasoning that in order to be the best you have to fight the best, that leaves almost every UFC HW in a tough position as they never signed where the best was or is today.
As far as I know the UFC HW division is made up of mostly has been’s or up and comers. Randy Couture was the only current UFC HW who attempted to leave for a chance against Fedor, but the UFC stopped that. Why, because Couture was the current HW champ and the UFC used the champions clause to keep him from giving the fans the fight they wanted. Brock Lesnar’s 1st fight was in K1, he signed to fight Hong Man Choi, but at the last minute the fight was changed to some Min Soo Kim (or something like that) with a 3-6 record in mma.
If Brock wanted to be the best all he had to do was stay in K1 and a fight with Fedor would have been assured as his organization was aligned with K1. Why would Brock leave a chance at fighting Fedor if he wanted to be the best? If he wanted notoriety what better way than to beat Fedor and then come to the UFC, but he didn’t.
Then we look at two recent UFC HW champs in Sylvia and Arlovski, they both sought their release (as ex-Champs) they achieved this to seek out the best. They threw their hats into the ring, got taken out and all they’ve received is hate and criticism with statements that they were washed up. I don’t think any of that criticism was warranted or fair, they did what most didn’t have the balls to do and lost.
In short every young UFC HW signed in the UFC instead of seeking Fedor, that to me tells me none of them felt ready to take on that challenge so in short your argument rings hollow to me.
When Muhammad Ali was Cassius Clay he followed HW champ Sonny Liston everywhere, he even went to his house looking for a challenge. Once the fight was granted Muhammad Ali kicked butt and was crowned HW champ. From that time on Ali never sought a fight, he waited for all comers.
I will contend anyone wanting to be proven the best needs to fight Fedor, not vice versa.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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“As far as I know the UFC HW division is made up of mostly has been’s or up and comers.”
Thats about as ridiculous as the statements that were made earlier.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Also want to say that even though you let your opinion show through it is always well thought out and intelligent. You usually make great points.
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I personally don’t think I’m out of line with my previous statement “As far as I know the UFC HW division is made up of mostly has been’s or up and comers.” I used that line to provoke thought about what followed it.
Reality here the UFC HW division is just that, Cain Velasquez, Shane Carwin, Dos Santos, Berry all represent the up and comers not thoroughly tested enough to say they are all legit. Do they look the part, absolutely but they are all a couple fights away before I’m ready to say these guys are for real. We have has been’s in Heath Herring, Frank Mir, Randy Couture (still better than most), and Big Nog is on the periphery as I think he’s the UFC’s best, but not quite what he used to be.
I don’t think my statement is as crazy as you think if you look at closer.
Either way, yeah nothing gets my blood boiling quicker than the crap statements that Fedor is a coward and beat no-one. Really he is the best and nobody that is supposedly supposed to be chasing the best is pursuing him, yet he’s the only one being criticized.
Well-Done.
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Does anyone really believe he will go postal? for real?? couldn’t he just be talking smack as usual?
I say what till it happens first.
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Well-Done.
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Hot debate. What do you think?
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fedor ko’s someone over the weekend and were all here talking about Dana and his mouth. lets get the predictions on saturdays fight
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DW needs to STFU…
Hot debate. What do you think?
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“Just because you read on MMA.TV that someone is a superstar doesn’t make it true.”
But we are expected to listen to you right? The promoter of the competition.
P.S. Vogarian 5 out of Fedor’s last 7opponents were considered top 10 at the time Fedor fought them. even Hunt had just come off victories over crocop and Wanderlei. he doesn’t have access to UFC fighters. As you can see though as soon as Arlovski and Sylvia were available he fought them.
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Undefeated 30 fights Fedor–We know we have heard it before 28 of those fighters where unkowns know bodies never heard of’s– Id love to see Fedor use his tallent against some top contenders and heres the clinch top fighters that are on top of there game- Challenge yourself but until then how can anyone consider Fedor a top fighter.
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