SpoKen

We've been saying it for years. Dana is a money hungry president that doesn't care about anything but the money. The fighters? They get taken care of, as long as they have potential for money. Everything has to do with money for him..

But the UFC is the only organization that is thriving, could it be that his hardcore business tactics are really just to improve the sport, and not so much about money?

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xeberus

We are all young and naive at one point. The way the world works is greed.

If business is the world then money is its god.

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Toxic

Dana isnt greedy though if you actually listen to him the creation of the Hall of Fame the action figures and memorabilia its all in the hope that guys like Chuck Lidell and Anderson Silva wont have to embarass themselves the way Ken Shamrock has when they reach retirement. Dana does care but he realizes that the buisiness needs to continue to grow so that each generation can contiue to do better and expansion takes money.

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Drogo

Well I think Dana probably is greedy to some extent, you have to be to run any large business. However, what Dana has, unlike say the Shaws, is enough sense to realize there is more money to be made long term than short term. He is trying to grow the sport and keep it stable/mainstream enough that it isn't a fad.

Scarecrow

The UFC built MMA...they made it what it is today. If you as any average joe, they will refer to MMA as UFC and think the two are one in the same.

Why should Dana let any other organizations have it easy? Why should he let them ride on the UFC's coattails with all the crap they have had to go through the last decade? The way I see it, Dana is just being a businessman, and business isn't always fair. You do what you can to make a profit and you do what you can to outplay your competition.

Now while I feel there is a market for other organizations, the stupidity of the management of these failed organizations should receive more blame for their failure than Dana. It's companies like Crapdog and EliteXC that are trying to jump up into the big leagues without paying their dues.

Remember...proper planning prevents piss poor performance.

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OsborneMcCarty

Dana White is still about bringing in the benjamins for his investors but he is a very smart fight promoter backed up by some very smart business men (Fertittas bros.)

He's great for the sport and I think he knows that and is proud of it. You can talk big all you want, just as long as you back it up.

He's done that.

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slugfest

He is doing great things for the UFC brand. If he wasn't savy the way he is, there would be many more unemployed MMA fighters. The UFC is really the only org you can make a long term living with, which in the case of a fighter happens to be very short. If "I" was Dana, I crush the competition!

Bonnar426

Good management and planning doesn't make Dana White evil. It makes companies like EliteXC look stupid and pathetic.

The difference is that Dana is alot smarter then people like Gary Shaw, $kala, and the Affliction managers!

For example, Dana knows how to promote fighters and hype up fights. For instance, take Chuck Liddell. At first, Chuck Liddell was the face of the UFC at a time when people started noticing MMA. Through TUF the show started introducing people to different fighters like Rich Franklin, Matt Hughes, Tito Ortiz, GSP, Randy Couture, and Matt Serra (well the show introduced him before he became a major player). Not only did it introduce the major players of the UFC but it also introduced us to up and comers like Forrest Griffin, Michael Bisping, Joe Stevenson, Kenny Florian, etc. Now the company doesn't rest solely the Iceman's shoulders but the shoulders to many other fighters.

You can't say the same for EliteXC or even Affliction for that matter. EXC didn't promote there fighters well save 2. Kimbo Slice and Gina Carono. Most of there champions like Antonio Silva and KJ Noons weren't getting the kind of promotion these two were getting. EXC thought they could feed Kimbo cans forever and everything would be safe but in the end he lost to a nobody fighter in Seth Petruzelli. It would have been different if he lost to somebody like Ken Shamrock. The man had a name! Seth on the other hand is someone who can't be promoted.

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wolfbot

Great thread. I think the best (if highly imperfect) analogy would be between David Stern of the NBA and Dana White of the UFC:

Finances:
1. both "commissioners" took over their respective sports when they were near the brink of going under. When Stern took over in '84, NBA attendance was abysmal, and it's players had a reputation for lack of effort, drug abuse, among other negative association. Likewise, when Dana White took over, it was perceived as a farce, akin to human cockfighting and legislators were trying to ban this "sport" altogether.

Now, the NBA breaks attendance records ANNUALLY, and it's players are the best paid and compensated in the world. Dana White's achievemenst are just as notable, since PPV revenue has exceeded those for boxing and professional wrestling.

Image:
2. both "commissioners" have revived the images of their respective sports. Nothing needs to be said of the NBA, where Michael Jordan is considered the greatest athlete of all time. In the UFC, championship holders are now incrasingly welcomed in mainstream circles; Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz are two notable figures.

International Expansion:
3. Both White and Stern are intelligent enough to market their sports overseas with incredible zeal. Even though the promotion of Bisping has been a little silly, the sport's huge popularity in the UK is due to Dana White's foresight. Stern's international emphasis is almost comical in zeal, as he truly believes the future of the game is in international expansion and development.

I have a TON of respect for Dana White. Say what you will, he is easily the most intelligent and influential of the major figures in combat sports: MMA, boxing, pro wrestling. So, there you have it: Dana White is the David Stern of combat sports. And that's a good thing.

PanKrato

Yeah, I think Dana's got the right attitude towards the whole collection of business, fighters, commissions, etc. involved with the sport, and it's paying off.

WAR DANA FTW!!

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