If you look at what’s going on with the UFC these days, it’s a tough stretch. The latest news is that Anderson Silva, the greatest MMA fighter of all time (according to most everyone) just popped for two steroids in an out-of-competition drug test. PED use in MMA has been coming to the forefront more and more. Beyond that, the UFC continues to see its fair share of injuries that is causing last minute replacements and altering of many cards. A third misfortune as of late is that a group of ex UFC fighters have begun the process of a class action lawsuit against the UFC. Unfair business practices and unfair pay being the thrust of the legal action.
The man of the UFC brand is Dana White. He’s been the frontman to the organization. He’s been the guy making the headlines over the years with his brutal honesty of pretty much every situation that comes about. MMA websites had a field day with Dana White’s post fight scrums. Any question goes, and Dana White served up some real nuggets.
But as we get into 2015, it’s becoming rather clear. For some reason, Dana White is no longer grabbing headlines. The media interviews are few and far between. The post fight scrums are all but gone. All this in the past six months or so. I can tell you as an observer of the sport and the UFC, something is definitely askew here.
What I can say, is that the lack of Dana White speaking, things are rather stale. Yes, there is the juicy drug test results and regular ongoing controversies within the UFC, but not seeing and hearing from the frontman is highly troublesome. I don’t like it.
Dana White has said that the change of openess with media is because reports want to talk about everything other than the fights he’s trying to promote. Ok, but the fact is reporters and the media have always done what they do, and that was never a problem. For years it was never a problem I might add. People wanted to ask Dana about pretty much everything and he obliged. As he said, the classic post fight scrums with the media were his way of thanking all the reporters who make it out to all the events.
So this change is odd. Dana White is the promoter of the UFC. If he’s not out there, he’s not promoting. Believe me, he is and was incredible at doing and saying things that people in his position simply wouldn’t do or say. It’s like suddenly he has to play it safe. Most likely in this situation, the looming lawsuit means it’s better to say less, than to say more. Dare I say Dana has been ducking the typical MMA media lately? I think when it comes to lawsuits of this nature, the presidents words can and will be used against the UFC. A lot has already been said, so perhaps the UFC is sweating bullets. Who knows.
All I know is that it’s nowhere near as fun following the UFC without hearing from Dana. All this juicy stuff with Anderson Silva testing postitive and Jon Jones testing positive for cocaine, and we hear next to nothing from Dana himself. I miss it and I hope Dana being Dana returns soon. Let’s hope it’s the court case and not the way it’s going to be from not until forever. That would be just too boring!
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