MMA

UFC President Dana White Says EliteXC Has Damaged Mixed Martial Arts and the UFC

Posted Oct 23, 2008 7:54PM By Michael David Smith (RSS feed)

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At today's UFC 90 press conference, Dana White got animated when the subject turned to the now-defunct EliteXC. (Warning: Not safe for work language)

It's clear that White feels strongly that EliteXC has damaged the sport of mixed martial arts.

Among the highlights:
-- White feels sorry for office staff and other people who lost their jobs when EliteXC closed its doors, but said of the people who ran EliteXC, "Too f---ing bad. Go get another job."

-- White says it's "a hot market" in MMA right now, so guys like Jake Shields should be fine.

-- White reiterated that he will not promote women's mixed martial arts, so Gina Carano will have to look elsewhere.

-- White said there has been more wrongdoing by EliteXC than just offering Seth Petruzelli money not to take Kimbo Slice to the ground. (White made his comments before news surfaced that EliteXC had been cleared of wrongdoing.)

-- White says UFC will be on network television just as soon as the right deal comes along.

Tags: Dana+White, DanaWhite, Jake+Shields, JakeShields, UFC+90, Ufc90

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-24-2008 @ 10:40AM

Brayan said...

As i said before, Dana does not respect people or fighters not contributing to his legacy. The interviewer re-emphasized the question twice to him because they were all frowning when Dana said those things about out-of-work fighters.
Hes a business Machine and a very Jaded one. Affliction needs to come up so this guy Dana doesnt become more of a cold power monger.
I like the guy, i just dont want to see his kind of character in charge of a fighters fate. Hes too radical and doesnt know how many of these guys are dirt poor with kids fighting their assess off for a bonus"thank lytle".

10-24-2008 @ 11:44AM

Eric said...

Dana speaks very candidly in this interview as he often does, but I agree with everything he has to say. If people are without jobs it is Pro-Elite and CBS's fault. The good fighters will quickly be picked up by another promotions.

All you have to do is watch the Kimbo/Petruzelli fight and look at Jared Shaw jumping around like a monkey, to know that EliteXC has no business in MMA. It also shows that his intentions about the outcome of the fight weren't pure (fight fixing).

At the end of the day, the women fighters are hit the hardest by this.

11-05-2008 @ 11:24PM

elwood said...

Dana have you lost your mind? I turn on the UFC to watch guys pissing in thier food and Jerking off on someones dinner. You have brought this sport to us from no where and you arre now dragging it into the gutter. How can I sit and watch this show with my teenage grand son? How do guys like GSP, Randy Couture and Chuck Lidell feel about you degrading their sport? You should stop this gross bullshit very few that I have talked to are entertained by it or think it is funny. This should be more like pro boxing instead of wwf we need an apology on your show and a promise that there will be no more of this demonstration that these competitors are nothing more than a bunch of retarded bottom feeders. You are killing what you gave birth to.