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cnnWriteBotNav_transition(); </script> </div> </div> <script type="text/javascript"> $('.hiddenNav').hover(function() { $('.globalNav').show(); }, function(){ $('.globalNav').delay(3000).hide(); }); </script> <div id="banner"> <script language="JavaScript"> siAds.render('mma_boxing/top.728x90', 728, 90); </script> </div>  <div id="content"> <div class="left-column"> <h1 class="pagetitle">Posts Tagged ‘Dana White’</h1> <div class="post-wrap"> <div class="post-top"></div> <div class="post" id="post-3306"> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/09/22/jones-white-spar-over-details-surrounding-ufc-event-cancellation/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Jones, White spar over details surrounding UFC event cancellation">Jones, White spar over details surrounding UFC event cancellation</a></h1> <div class="category"> <a href="/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/category/mma/">MMA</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/09/22/jones-white-spar-over-details-surrounding-ufc-event-cancellation/#comment"><span class="js-kit-comments-count" exclude-sources="Twitter" include-sources="Comments" uniq="/2012/09/22/jones-white-spar-over-details-surrounding-ufc-event-cancellation/"></span> Comments </a> </div> <div class="entry"> <div id="cnnSCFontButtons"> <div id="cnnSCFontLabel"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize.gif"/></div> <div id="cnnSCFontMinusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('default'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_d.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_l.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"></div> <div id="cnnSCFontPlusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('LargeFont'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_d.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_l.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"></div> </div> <div id="attachment_3311" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 308px"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/jonjonesufc.gif"><img class="size-full wp-image-3311" title="jonjonesufc" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/jonjonesufc.gif" alt="" width="298" height="400"/></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Jon Jones denied responsibility for UFC 151′s cancellation. (ZUMPRESS.com)</p></div> <p>TORONTO — The dance begins with one fighter walking out onto the stage, stripping down to his skivvies and stepping onto the scale. When his weight is announced, he flexes for the crowd, then moves off to the side and dresses while his opponent walks out, strips, weighs in, flexes, dresses. The two meet at center stage, face to face, fists up, striking a combative pose for the cameras. And after a dozen shutter clicks they’re done, off to rehydrate. Next set of fighters, please?</p> <p>There may be no element of a mixed martial arts event more choreographed than the weigh-ins.</p> <p>So how did light heavyweight champion Jon Jones end up having an off-the-script moment Friday afternoon after stepping off the scale?</p> <p>It came about when Jones found himself staring into the eyes of not one but two people ready to go face to face with him. One was Vitor Belfort, who’ll be his opponent in the main event of UFC 152 on Saturday night at the Air Canada Centre (10 p.m. ET, PPV). The other was Dana White.</p> <p>The UFC president and his 205-pound megastar had been sparring verbally for weeks, ever since Jones, upon being notified nine days prior to UFC 151 that challenger Dan Henderson was injured, turned down replacement opponent Chael Sonnen. The UFC ended up cancelling the Sept. 1 event — a first in the 11 years White has been running the show — and a fired-up White went on the offensive, calling Jones “selfish and disgusting” and his trainer/adviser/guru, Greg Jackson, “a [expletive] sport killer.”</p> <p>As this weekend’s event neared, with Jones having been added to the top of the bill, he and White indicated that they would meet face to face here in Toronto to clear the air. The meeting was to take place just prior to the weigh-ins. So all eyes were on Jones as he stepped off the scale. Would he and White shake hands or even embrace, an indication that the cold war was over? Or would an icy chill pervade the stage set up atop a hockey rink at the old Maple Leaf Gardens, telling us that Dana might not have renewed his membership in the Jonny Bones Fan Club?</p> <p>What we saw instead from Jones was an uncharacteristic moment of uncertainty. This phenom fighter who never hesitates to attack inside the octagon seemed to waver when he spotted White. Then he smiled, White smiled, even Belfort smiled, and the choreography resumed.</p> <p>What did it all mean? It meant that Jones and White had not yet met. They apparently planned to do so a few minutes later. And say what? “None of your business,” White responded when asked that very question in <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U4A4qKNG7o&feature=plcp">a <em>Fuel TV</em> interview</a> following the weigh-ins.</p> <p>We can at least surmise that the discussion explored areas of disagreement. A case in point: At a Thursday press conference, Jones spoke respectfully of the boss — “Dana White is awesome, man” — but steered clear of accepting responsibility for the UFC 151 fiasco. “I have actually zero power to cancel an event,” he said. “When I was actually talking to Dana and [UFC chairman/CEO] Lorenzo [Fertitta] about accepting the Chael Sonnen fight, they never told me if I didn’t accept the fight that they were going to cancel the event.”</p> <p>It would have been interesting to hear White respond to that, but he was absent from the press conference, laid up at his hotel with an episode of Ménière’s disease. But in the <em>Fuel TV</em> interview, Dana had his say. “I don’t think he would have said that if I was there,” said White. “So today we’re going to be face to face and we’ll see what he says and what he doesn’t say. The fact that he says that he didn’t know that the show would get cancelled is false. I did tell him that the show would be cancelled.”</p> <p>And with that, White headed off to a windowless room with his light heavyweight champ. And then? Nothing. Nada. Not a word. (OK, chief, you can deactivate the Cone of Silence now.) My colleague from Yahoo! Sports, Kevin Iole, texted White to ask about the meeting and got this terse text back: “It went well.” Other than that, White, who posts his thoughts on Twitter about as often as he takes a breath, has gone quiet. So has Jones, unless we can read something into his only post-meeting tweet, a quote attributed to Michael Jordan: “Limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.”</p> <p>So stay tuned. Like any long-running soap opera, there’s always another episode to come.</p> <p align="right"><em><strong>—Jeff Wagenheim</strong></em></p> <div id="jp-post-flair" class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"></div> <br/> </div> </div> <div class="post-bottom"> <li>Published On <span>Sep 22, 2012</span></li> <li id="right"><span><div><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/09/22/jones-white-spar-over-details-surrounding-ufc-event-cancellation/#comments" title="Comment on Jones, White spar over details surrounding UFC event cancellation"><span data-lf-article-id="3306" data-lf-site-id="308691" class="livefyre-commentcount">Read 4 Comments</span></a></div></span></li> </div> </div> <div class="post-wrap"> <div class="post-top"></div> <div class="post" id="post-3103"> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/09/05/dana-white-hints-at-superfight-between-anderson-silva-georges-st-pierre/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Dana White hints at superfight between Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre">Dana White hints at superfight between Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre</a></h1> <div class="category"> <a href="/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/category/mma/">MMA</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/09/05/dana-white-hints-at-superfight-between-anderson-silva-georges-st-pierre/#comment"><span class="js-kit-comments-count" exclude-sources="Twitter" include-sources="Comments" uniq="/2012/09/05/dana-white-hints-at-superfight-between-anderson-silva-georges-st-pierre/"></span> Comments </a> </div> <div class="entry"> <div id="cnnSCFontButtons"> <div id="cnnSCFontLabel"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize.gif"/></div> <div id="cnnSCFontMinusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('default'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_d.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_l.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"></div> <div id="cnnSCFontPlusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('LargeFont'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_d.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_l.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"></div> </div> <p>When Cowboys Stadium opened three years ago, Jerry Jones envisioned it as a grand showcase for champions. That’s a promise still unfulfilled by his NFL team, which has but one wild-card win in the $1.3 billion facility and missed the playoffs the last two seasons. But the domed stadium in Arlington, Texas, might very well soon have championships on display. Two of them.</p> <p>Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre, the UFC champs at middleweight and welterweight, respectively, appear headed on a collision course deep in the heart of Texas.</p> <p>Nothing is official, and nothing will be until after St-Pierre makes his return from knee surgery and fights Carlos Condit at UFC 154 on Nov. 17 in Montreal. But UFC president Dana White acknowledged on Tuesday night that if GSP handles business against Condit, a superfight with Silva likely would be next.</p> <p>“These guys want to fight each other now,” White said during <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onQsQQSKsL8/”" target="”_blank”"> an extended interview on the Fuel TV show <em>UFC Tonight.</em></a> “If you’re a fighter and you’ve dominated as long as Anderson has, and you’ve been great as long as Georges has, you finally want to say, ‘I want to test myself. I think I can beat this guy.’”</p> <p>Though Silva vs. St-Pierre is hypothetical at this point, White has given the matter enough thought to specify that the champions of his 185- and 170-pound weight classes would meet somewhere in the middle, likely at 180 pounds, and that the fight would take place at Cowboys Stadium. The facility seats 80,000 for football but has a capacity of 110,000, including standing room. A 2010 boxing match between Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey drew 51,000.</p> <p>Silva (32-4) is coming off a July TKO win over Chael Sonnen, his 16th straight victory and 10th title defense. St-Pierre (22-2) has won nine straight and defended his belt six times, but has not fought since an April 2011 unanimous decision over Jake Shields. He was training for a Condit fight when he injured his knee last December, requiring surgery.</p> <p>So GSP is going from sitting on the shelf to jumping into perhaps the biggest fight in UFC history? Said White, “I think we’re pretty close.”</p> <p style="text-align:right;"><em><strong>–Jeff Wagenheim</strong></em></p> <div id="jp-post-flair" class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"></div> <br/> </div> </div> <div class="post-bottom"> <li>Published On <span>Sep 05, 2012</span></li> <li id="right"><span><div><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/09/05/dana-white-hints-at-superfight-between-anderson-silva-georges-st-pierre/#comments" title="Comment on Dana White hints at superfight between Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre"><span data-lf-article-id="3103" data-lf-site-id="308691" class="livefyre-commentcount">Read 16 Comments</span></a></div></span></li> </div> </div> <div class="post-wrap"> <div class="post-top"></div> <div class="post" id="post-3050"> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/08/30/silva-suddenly-rooting-against-jones-ok-its-not-much-but-its-a-start/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Silva suddenly rooting against Jones? OK, it’s not much … but it’s a start">Silva suddenly rooting against Jones? OK, it’s not much … but it’s a start</a></h1> <div class="category"> <a href="/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/category/mma/">MMA</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/08/30/silva-suddenly-rooting-against-jones-ok-its-not-much-but-its-a-start/#comment"><span class="js-kit-comments-count" exclude-sources="Twitter" include-sources="Comments" uniq="/2012/08/30/silva-suddenly-rooting-against-jones-ok-its-not-much-but-its-a-start/"></span> Comments </a> </div> <div class="entry"> <div id="cnnSCFontButtons"> <div id="cnnSCFontLabel"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize.gif"/></div> <div id="cnnSCFontMinusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('default'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_d.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_l.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"></div> <div id="cnnSCFontPlusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('LargeFont'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_d.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_l.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"></div> </div> <div id="attachment_3070" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 660px"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/jones-silva.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-3070" title="jones-silva" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/jones-silva.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="400"/></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Jon Jones (left) and Anderson Silva are friends, but Silva will root against Jones at UFC 152. [Jason Merritt/Getty Images]</p></div> <p>So we’re finally going to see Anderson Silva going against Jon Jones.</p> <p>No, the UFC middleweight and light heavyweight champions, the No. 1 and No. 2 fighters in every mixed martial arts pound-for-pound ranking outside of Georges St-Pierre’s parents’ house, have not agreed to square off inside the octagon. They doused the rising fan groundswell for a superfight a couple of months ago by basically walking arm-in-arm singing “You’ve Got a Friend” in two-part harmony.</p> <p>But while “Bones” is too close of a friend for Silva to fight, Jon is apparently not so tight of an <em>amigo </em>that “The Spider” refuses to root against the guy. <em>Amigo</em> is “friend” in Portuguese, which is the language of Brazil, where Silva is from. And where Jones’ next opponent, Vitor Belfort, is from.</p> <p>“As a Brazilian, I’ll be rooting for the Brazilian, even though I have a very good friendship with Jon Jones,” Silva said when asked about the UFC 152 title fight during an appearance on <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://globotv.globo.com/sportv/bem-amigos/v/anderson-silva-treinou-ate-quatro-mil-chutes-por-dia-antes-de-encarar-vitor-belfort/2109874/" target="_blank">the Brazilian television show <em>Bem, Amigos!</em></a> (there’s that “friend” word again) earlier this week. “Whenever I’m with [Jones], I ask him to conduct his career in a different way, because he is very young and is always asking me something. But I’ll be rooting for Brazil, yes. May the best man win, but I’m rooting for Brazil.”</p> <p> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/08/30/silva-suddenly-rooting-against-jones-ok-its-not-much-but-its-a-start/#more-3050" class="more-link">Read More…</a></p> <div id="jp-post-flair" class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"></div> <br/> </div> </div> <div class="post-bottom"> <li>Published On <span>Aug 30, 2012</span></li> <li id="right"><span><div><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/08/30/silva-suddenly-rooting-against-jones-ok-its-not-much-but-its-a-start/#comments" title="Comment on Silva suddenly rooting against Jones? OK, it’s not much … but it’s a start"><span data-lf-article-id="3050" data-lf-site-id="308691" class="livefyre-commentcount">Read 1 Comment</span></a></div></span></li> </div> </div> <div class="post-wrap"> <div class="post-top"></div> <div class="post" id="post-2763"> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/06/25/will-silvas-bite-live-up-to-his-bark/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Will Silva’s bite live up to his bark?">Will Silva’s bite live up to his bark?</a></h1> <div class="category"> <a href="/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/category/mma/">MMA</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/06/25/will-silvas-bite-live-up-to-his-bark/#comment"><span class="js-kit-comments-count" exclude-sources="Twitter" include-sources="Comments" uniq="/2012/06/25/will-silvas-bite-live-up-to-his-bark/"></span> Comments </a> </div> <div class="entry"> <div id="cnnSCFontButtons"> <div id="cnnSCFontLabel"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize.gif"/></div> <div id="cnnSCFontMinusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('default'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_d.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_l.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"></div> <div id="cnnSCFontPlusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('LargeFont'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_d.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_l.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"></div> </div> <div id="attachment_2769" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 308px"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/silva.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2769 " title="silva" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/silva.jpg" alt="Anderson Silva" width="298" height="225"/></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Anderson Silva earned a fifth-round submission of Chael Sonnen during their first meeting back in August 2010. (Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)</p></div> <p>Chael Sonnen had to have been smiling on his end of the phone line.</p> <p>Isn’t the whole point of trash talking to get your opponent off his game? Yet for the nearly two years since he came closer than anyone in the UFC to beating Anderson Silva, as he threw every insult from “absolute fraud” to “dirtbag” at the middleweight champion, he saw not the slightest crack in the armor. Even after a rematch was announced and Chael ramped up his antagonism, “The Spider” remained hazily soft-spoken, his affect teetering between blasé and bored. That had to be killing Sonnen.</p> <p>Until Monday afternoon, that is, when a whole different Silva showed up on a conference call with members of the media who’ll be covering UFC 148 a week from Saturday in Las Vegas.</p> <p>“First of all, Chael is a criminal,” Silva said in response to the first mention of his opponent, speaking in Portuguese that then was translated by his manager, Ed Soares. “He’s been convicted of crimes. He doesn’t deserve to be inside of the octagon. When the time comes and the time is right, I’m going to break his face and break every one of the teeth in his mouth.”</p> <p>Well, well.</p> <p>And there was more. Each time Sonnen’s name was mentioned, Silva became more graphic in his pitiless forecast. He promised “to beat his ass like he’s never been beaten before” … beat him “the way his parents should have beat him to teach him some manners” … “beat him out of the UFC.” It was as if Silva was aping Sonnen’s mean-spirited standup routine, the longest-running comedy act in MMA. So Anderson, how bad is the beating going to be? “He’s going to have to go see a plastic surgeon after the fight.” Ba-da-boom.</p> <p>As Silva went on, the words sounding so uncharacteristic, I found myself wondering whether he was really just talking about how the weather is lovely these days in Rio, and Soares was translating it as a Sonnen-is-a-dead-man threat in order to boost pay-per-view sales. But several Brazilian journalists took to Twitter to assure us monolinguals that the manager actually had softened what Silva was saying.</p> <p>Reaction to Silva’s pitbull act puzzled me. The pervasive theme on Twitter and even in some media accounts was this: <em>Boy, are you in for it now, Chael</em>. I don’t get it. Anderson Silva became the deadly fighter he is by being patient, elusive and impassive until it’s time to strike. That is, by being himself. Maybe he’s capable of morphing into a José Aldo-style aggressor and being even more of a killer. If so, Sonnen <em>is </em>in trouble. But it’s reasonable to think that Anderson fighting angry is not Anderson at his best.</p> <p> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/06/25/will-silvas-bite-live-up-to-his-bark/#more-2763" class="more-link">Read More…</a></p> <div id="jp-post-flair" class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"></div> <br/> </div> </div> <div class="post-bottom"> <li>Published On <span>Jun 25, 2012</span></li> <li id="right"><span><div><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/06/25/will-silvas-bite-live-up-to-his-bark/#respond" title="Comment on Will Silva’s bite live up to his bark?"><span data-lf-article-id="2763" data-lf-site-id="308691" class="livefyre-commentcount">Add A Comment</span></a></div></span></li> </div> </div> <div class="post-wrap"> <div class="post-top"></div> <div class="post" id="post-2711"> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/06/13/the-ultimate-fighter-to-change-its-format-but-not-its-time-slot/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ to change format, but not time slot">‘The Ultimate Fighter’ to change format, but not time slot</a></h1> <div class="category"> <a href="/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/category/mma/">MMA</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/06/13/the-ultimate-fighter-to-change-its-format-but-not-its-time-slot/#comment"><span class="js-kit-comments-count" exclude-sources="Twitter" include-sources="Comments" uniq="/2012/06/13/the-ultimate-fighter-to-change-its-format-but-not-its-time-slot/"></span> Comments </a> </div> <div class="entry"> <div id="cnnSCFontButtons"> <div id="cnnSCFontLabel"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize.gif"/></div> <div id="cnnSCFontMinusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('default'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_d.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_l.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"></div> <div id="cnnSCFontPlusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('LargeFont'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_d.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_l.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"></div> </div> <p>A few weeks ago, I was chatting with Dana White moments after the season finale of <em>The Ultimate Fighter: Live</em> had just wrapped up. As the production crew was packing up cameras and lights in the vast Las Vegas gym, the UFC president mused on what he loved about this season — the reality show’s first on FX — more than any of the previous 15.</p> <p>“Live,” he said. “There’s no putting it in the can. There’s no keeping it a secret. … Live is the real deal. I love it. This is the most engaged I’ve been in a season of <em>The Ultimate Fighter</em> in a long time.”</p> <p>Well, White is going to have to find something new to engage him. Next season the show will revert to the taped format that, prior to this season, had been used ever since <em>TUF </em>launched on Spike back in 2005, he told Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday night.</p> <p>The other <em>TUF</em> news White passed along has to do with something he wished were changing but will not be: The show will remain in its Friday 10 p.m. ET time slot. During our recent conversation, Dana said he understood why the Fox network initially had put the fighting show on Fridays — the UFC deal was completed after programmers had settled on much of their season schedule — but was hoping to move it to a better slot for next season. “Friday nights are a bad night for us. We know that,” said White. “We would never go out and air a show that we really cared about on Friday night.”</p> <p>Why is that? Friday is not a popular night for television viewing. Indeed, although Fox officials have lauded the viewership numbers and White told Yahoo the show “was a smash hit home run for them,” other observers have dwelled on a ratings dip. However, it’s tricky to compare this season of <em>TUF</em> to past ones: FX is available in more households than Spike, but Fridays are a graveyard compared to the old Wednesday time slot. Suffice to say ratings numbers can be manipulated to tell whatever story you want to tell.</p> <p>And so can reality television … at least when it’s, as Dana says, “in the can.” Whereas past seasons have been edited to feature reality TV fodder — pranks and spats in the house where 16 fighters were cooped up for several weeks of no TV, no phone, no outside world — this season was mostly centered upon the live fights. There was the real-life drama of fighter Michael Chiesa losing his father to leukemia in the show’s first week, an ongoing story line that built to the finale, when Chiesa became the show’s winner. But we didn’t see a lot of the old <em>Jersey Shore</em>-style hijinx.</p> <p>Maybe FX wants more of that. Or maybe it simply wants the show to end on time (several weeks this season the live fights pushed <em>TUF</em> past its allotted hour). Whatever the case may be, White is at least publicly upbeat, expressing a willingness to accommodate his fight promotion’s broadcast partner for Season 16, which debuts in September, featuring welterweights. But the UFC president surely will be watching closely — even if the show is not live, as he prefers — and if “this next season isn’t up to the standards I expect,” he told Yahoo, “they promised me we can move it to Tuesday or Wednesday.”</p> <p style="text-align:right;"><strong>—Jeff Wagenheim </strong></p> <div id="jp-post-flair" class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"></div> <br/> </div> </div> <div class="post-bottom"> <li>Published On <span>Jun 13, 2012</span></li> <li id="right"><span><div><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/06/13/the-ultimate-fighter-to-change-its-format-but-not-its-time-slot/#respond" title="Comment on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ to change format, but not time slot"><span data-lf-article-id="2711" data-lf-site-id="308691" class="livefyre-commentcount">Add A Comment</span></a></div></span></li> </div> </div> <div class="post-wrap"> <div class="post-top"></div> <div class="post" id="post-2474"> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/05/26/peek-inside-the-ultimate-fighter-offers-dose-of-reality/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Peek inside ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ offers dose of reality">Peek inside ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ offers dose of reality</a></h1> <div class="category"> <a href="/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/category/mma/">MMA</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/05/26/peek-inside-the-ultimate-fighter-offers-dose-of-reality/#comment"><span class="js-kit-comments-count" exclude-sources="Twitter" include-sources="Comments" uniq="/2012/05/26/peek-inside-the-ultimate-fighter-offers-dose-of-reality/"></span> Comments </a> </div> <div class="entry"> <div id="cnnSCFontButtons"> <div id="cnnSCFontLabel"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize.gif"/></div> <div id="cnnSCFontMinusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('default'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_d.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_l.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"></div> <div id="cnnSCFontPlusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('LargeFont'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_d.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_l.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"></div> </div> <p>LAS VEGAS — Out of nowhere, as if a mirage here in the Nevada desert, it suddenly appears in front of my eyes: the huge garage door bearing a UFC logo, an iconic scene-setting symbol for so many seasons of <em>The Ultimate Fighter.</em> And when I say “out of nowhere,” I mean it. My cabbie probably thought he was being set up for a mugging when I directed him to turn into this desolate industrial complex a half-mile west of the neon glow of The Strip.</p> <p>Back when I flagged down the cab and climbed in, I’d told the driver I was headed to the UFC gym. “Which one?” he asked. “There’s the Wanderlei Silva gym. There’s the Randy Couture gym.” He clearly was reasonably versed in MMA, which I suppose is par for the course if you’re taxiing people around the fight capital of the world. But the TUF gym was a new one for him. He’s found his way, though, and when we pull up in front of the familiar garage door and he notices a security crew milling around next to a satellite-equipped TV truck, he turns to me for his fare and says, “Don’t get beat up.”</p> <p>Good plan. So as I walk past the security guys I refrain from any wisecracks, although I really want to ask someone why a building full of high-level mixed martial artists needs a security detail. Can’t these guys in black T-shirts go protect Penn and Gillette from the Blue Man Group or something?</p> <p>I’ve come here to witness Friday night’s two semifinals of the <em>The Ultimate Fighter: Live</em>. I’m in town for Saturday’s UFC 146 anyway, so I thought it would be an interesting way to spend the evening before the big heavyweight card. It turns out I’m not alone in thinking that way. Between a few other members of the MMA media and a bunch of TV folks, fighters’ friends and assorted hangers-on, about 30 of us are led into the gym and seated octagon-side. As the production crew prepares for lights, camera, action, we sit sipping our complementary bottles of UFC label bottled water — talk about drinking the Kool-Aid — and gazing around at the vast walls adorned with larger-than-life portraits of UFC royalty from Royce Gracie to Randy Couture to Anderson Silva.</p> <p>So what’s it like behind the scenes? I’ve signed a release form, so I can’t reveal any of the darkly scandalous stuff. But I do see Jon Anik, the FX show’s consummate professional of a host, being asked to record a retake of a voice-over at his Spalding Gray desk at cageside after a producer decides the script uses the word “also” one too many times. Also, also, also, I see Herb Dean walk in the gym, wearing his familiar all-black referee garb, and do something I’ve never seen him do in the octagon: reach into his pocket for his cellphone and answer a call. (I’m sure he’ll turn off the cell before the fights begin, and that reminds me to do the same with mine.)</p> <p>Just before the show goes live, UFC president Dana White comes over to our little section of visitor seating, shakes a few hands and welcomes us all by saying, “Don’t be shy. You can clap, you can cheer, you can scream.” Toto, we’re not in the press box anymore.</p> <p>I don’t do any cheering once the fighting begins, and most of those seated near me, even the non-media types, are pretty quiet as well. That puts this experience in stark contrast to the usual setting for a UFC fight. Rather than a 20,000-seat arena with a blood-thirsty crowd drowning out the ear-splitting hardcore house music, we’re in a quiet gym. Quiet, that is, all but for the cacophony of encouragement/instruction/cautions/cheers that are incessantly flying at the fighters from their coaches and teammates. Michael Chiesa’s corner is right in front of us, and here’s what we hear from his coach, Urijah Faber, from his other cornermen and from the blue-shirted bleachers of Team Faber. <em>Moveyourhead!throwakick!twomoreminutes!</em> It’s impossible to make sense of any of it.</p> <p>But after a slow start against James Vick, Chiesa gets a thunderous takedown in the second round, ends up in full mount and explodes on Vick with a swarm of fists until Herb Dean (no cellphone in sight) jumps in and ends it. Or should we say he continues it. By winning the fight, Chiesa extends the most emotionally gripping feel-good/feel-sad story of the reality show’s season. The 24-year-old out of Spokane, Wa., lost his father during the first week of the show, but encouraged by his family back home, he continued on. And now he’s in the final.</p> <p>Against a teammate.</p> <p>Al Iaquinta makes it a sweep over Dominick Cruz’s team by taking a clear decision from Vinc Pichel, sending the Faber gang into wild celebration complete with an “ole! ole ole ole!” cheer.</p> <p>The celebration is mostly for the fight they’ve just witnessed, no doubt, but some measure of these young men’s joint excitement has to be for the fact that they’re all finally moving out of the TUF house. With no phones, no TV, no nothing for weeks, this has been their sensory depravation chamber. Now they’re free to catch up on all the episodes of <em>The Bachelorette</em> that they missed. Or perhaps find some mischief — knowing full well, of course, that not only Chiessa and Iaquinta but every guy from the show who’s not medically suspended will be fighting Friday night in The Ultimate Fighter 15 Finale (10 p.m. ET, FX).</p> <p>With that in mind, Dana White plays dad, sending the fighters out of the nest with a few words of advice. “Have fun tonight,” he says. “Do what you have to do. But be smart.”</p> <p style="text-align:right;"><em><strong>–Jeff Wagenheim</strong></em></p> <div id="jp-post-flair" class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"></div> <br/> </div> </div> <div class="post-bottom"> <li>Published On <span>May 26, 2012</span></li> <li id="right"><span><div><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/05/26/peek-inside-the-ultimate-fighter-offers-dose-of-reality/#respond" title="Comment on Peek inside ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ offers dose of reality"><span data-lf-article-id="2474" data-lf-site-id="308691" class="livefyre-commentcount">Add A Comment</span></a></div></span></li> </div> </div> <div class="post-wrap"> <div class="post-top"></div> <div class="post" id="post-2300"> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/05/08/mma-legalization-in-new-york-is-unnecessary-but-worth-waiting-for/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to MMA legalization in New York is unnecessary, but worth waiting for">MMA legalization in New York is unnecessary, but worth waiting for</a></h1> <div class="category"> <a href="/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/category/mma/">MMA</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/05/08/mma-legalization-in-new-york-is-unnecessary-but-worth-waiting-for/#comment"><span class="js-kit-comments-count" exclude-sources="Twitter" include-sources="Comments" uniq="/2012/05/08/mma-legalization-in-new-york-is-unnecessary-but-worth-waiting-for/"></span> Comments </a> </div> <div class="entry"> <div id="cnnSCFontButtons"> <div id="cnnSCFontLabel"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize.gif"/></div> <div id="cnnSCFontMinusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('default'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_d.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_l.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"></div> <div id="cnnSCFontPlusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('LargeFont'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_d.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_l.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"></div> </div> <p>Eli Manning was in the midst of his opening monologue as host of <em>Saturday Night Live</em> over the weekend when, live from New York, the Giants quarterback offered to show off his local knowledge by taking questions from tourists in the audience. Immediately, an <em>SNL</em> cast member planted in the crowd asked where her family could find some of the city’s legendary Italian food. And Eli drew a laugh by pointing her in the direction of an Olive Garden across the Hudson River. “Hey,” said Manning, “I play for the New York Giants, and all my games are played in New Jersey.”</p> <p>Dana White could have told the same joke.</p> <p>Then again, the UFC president might not find the humor in his fight organization’s protracted and still-fruitless bid to have mixed martial arts sanctioned in New York, as it is in nearly every other state in the nation. Especially after Monday’s news that the State Assembly once again will not bring an MMA bill to a vote this year.</p> <p>According to a report in the <em>New York Daily News</em>, a conference of Democrats discussed the bill behind closed doors and Speaker Sheldon Silver, even while acknowledging that members were “pretty evenly divided,” decided to not bring the measure to the full Assembly. The Manhattan legislator did acknowledge, however, that the tide is turning. “I think it’s evolving,” he told the <em>Daily News</em>. “I don’t think two years ago it was a 50-50 proposition.” Other legislators told the newspaper that the informal tally actually tilted in favor of the MMA bill.</p> <p>Naturally, this turn of events left UFC officials disappointed, even perturbed. “I feel 150 percent if we had a vote on the floor of the Assembly, we would win,” Marc Ratner, the company’s vice president of regulatory affairs, told the paper. “Not to get a vote is un-American.”</p> <p>And yet unsurprising.</p> <p> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/05/08/mma-legalization-in-new-york-is-unnecessary-but-worth-waiting-for/#more-2300" class="more-link">Read More…</a></p> <div id="jp-post-flair" class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"></div> <br/> </div> </div> <div class="post-bottom"> <li>Published On <span>May 08, 2012</span></li> <li id="right"><span><div><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/05/08/mma-legalization-in-new-york-is-unnecessary-but-worth-waiting-for/#comments" title="Comment on MMA legalization in New York is unnecessary, but worth waiting for"><span data-lf-article-id="2300" data-lf-site-id="308691" class="livefyre-commentcount">Read 1 Comment</span></a></div></span></li> </div> </div> <div class="post-wrap"> <div class="post-top"></div> <div class="post" id="post-2085"> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/04/24/anderson-silva-chael-sonnen-rescheduled-for-ufc-148-in-las-vegas/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen rescheduled for UFC 148 in Las Vegas">Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen rescheduled for UFC 148 in Las Vegas</a></h1> <div class="category"> <a href="/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/category/mma/">MMA</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/04/24/anderson-silva-chael-sonnen-rescheduled-for-ufc-148-in-las-vegas/#comment"><span class="js-kit-comments-count" exclude-sources="Twitter" include-sources="Comments" uniq="/2012/04/24/anderson-silva-chael-sonnen-rescheduled-for-ufc-148-in-las-vegas/"></span> Comments </a> </div> <div class="entry"> <div id="cnnSCFontButtons"> <div id="cnnSCFontLabel"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize.gif"/></div> <div id="cnnSCFontMinusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('default'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_d.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_l.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"></div> <div id="cnnSCFontPlusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('LargeFont'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_d.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_l.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"></div> </div> <div id="attachment_2087" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 310px"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/silva-sonnen.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2087 " title="silva-sonnen" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/silva-sonnen.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="279"/></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Anderson Silva (left) and Chael Sonnen (right) will finally wage their anticipated rematch at UFC 148 in Las Vegas on July 7. (Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC)</p></div> <p>Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen are still scheduled to meet this summer, and that’s good news for fight fans.</p> <p>But some bad news surrounding the rematch came Tuesday morning when the Brazilian UFC middleweight champion, his self-proclaimed beltholder of an opponent and Dana White, the fight organization’s president, showed up in Rio de Janeiro to announce that the bout no longer would be held in a stadium there on June 23, as scheduled, but was being moved to July 7 in Las Vegas.</p> <p>The fight hasn’t exactly lost its luster — Vegas has more of that than anywhere else on the planet — but it’s lost a good bit of the grit and righteousness that have made this rematch’s backstory so intriguing.</p> <p>You see, the fight is not simply between Silva and Sonnen. Chael, with his WWE-style bluster, has turned it into him vs. Brazil with his trash-talk ridicule of the country’s top fighters and even the nation itself. The mockery of the Nogueira brothers, Vitor Belfort, Wanderlei Silva and the like is fair game; they’re all big boys who can take care of themselves. But Sonnen’s rhetoric about Brazil has veered into ugly-American xenophobia.</p> <p>“When I was a little kid, I remember going outside and sitting with my friends,” Sonnen said during the press conference. “We’d talk about the latest technology and medicine and gaming and American ingenuity.” Then he brought his story to the present day to draw a contrast, saying, “And I’d look outside and Anderson and the Brazilian kids are sitting outside playing the mud.”</p> <p>That’s Chael at his mildest. In past diatribes, he’s characterized Brazil as backward in far more insulting ways. And he’s done so with little or no backlash, as the MMA media — and I must lump myself in the horde, unfortunately — mostly just yuks it up with the guy.</p> <p>So Brazil deserved its shot at Sonnen. Sure, he appeared Tuesday in a Rio conference room, and I half-expected to see a shoe thrown at his head, a la George W. Bush before the Baghdad media. But a press conference isn’t enough. After talking the talk, he should have been made to walk the walk — that is, stroll out to the octagon in a soccer stadium filled with Brazilians excited to see him get beat up by the champ.</p> <p>It’s just not going to work out in Brazil, however. My first thought upon hearing of the fight’s relocation was that the UFC feared for Sonnen’s safety. That might actually be the reason, but the public explanation is that the Rio stadium event fell apart because of the United Nations’ Rio+20 Conference taking place the same week, eating up hotel rooms and making a UFC event a logistical impossibilty. So there go the plans of sustainability for conference attendees who were hoping to catch the fights, too.</p> <p>There still will be a UFC 147 fight card in Brazil — there’s no date set, but it’ll be in an arena, not in a stadium, and still feature a showdown of <em>The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil</em> coaches Belfort and Wanderlei Silva, plus the reality show’s middleweight and featherweight finals and a Fabricio Werdum-Mike Russow heavyweight bout. White said Tuesday he might also put featherweight champion José Aldo on the card. So it’s not all bad news for Brazilian fans.</p> <p>And by moving Silva-Sonnen II to Las Vegas, White has transformed UFC 148 into a Fourth of July fireworks spectacle. In addition to the fight for the middleweight championship, there also will be a bantamweight tile bout between <em>The Ultimate Fighter: Live</em> coaches Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber plus a Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin rubber match (perhaps Tito’s final fight), Rich Franklin vs. Cung Le and Michael Bisping vs. Tim Boetsch.</p> <p>All’s well that ends well, then? That’s what White would have you believe. “This is going to be a global event. If we were going to do it here in Brazil, it needed to be done in a huge soccer stadium,” he said. “As we got into the logistics of trying to make this thing happen here, we just couldn’t pull it off. If we couldn’t do it here, then Las Vegas was the only other option.”</p> <p>Silva took some convincing to make the move, according to While, although the champion was nothing but agreeable at the press conference. “I’m a UFC athlete, and I have fans all over the world,” he said. “Regardless of where this fight takes place, I will represent Brazil, and I will do my job and defend my belt.”</p> <p>That was the professional thing for him to say. But the fans in his home country deserved better.</p> <p style="text-align:right;"><em><strong>– Jeff Wagenheim</strong></em></p> <div id="jp-post-flair" class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"></div> <br/> </div> </div> <div class="post-bottom"> <li>Published On <span>Apr 24, 2012</span></li> <li id="right"><span><div><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/04/24/anderson-silva-chael-sonnen-rescheduled-for-ufc-148-in-las-vegas/#comments" title="Comment on Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen rescheduled for UFC 148 in Las Vegas"><span data-lf-article-id="2085" data-lf-site-id="308691" class="livefyre-commentcount">Read 1 Comment</span></a></div></span></li> </div> </div> <div class="post-wrap"> <div class="post-top"></div> <div class="post" id="post-2064"> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/04/22/dana-white-fights-off-food-poisoning-interacts-with-fans-at-ufc-145/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Dana White fights off food poisoning, interacts with fans at UFC 145">Dana White fights off food poisoning, interacts with fans at UFC 145</a></h1> <div class="category"> <a href="/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/category/mma/">MMA</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/04/22/dana-white-fights-off-food-poisoning-interacts-with-fans-at-ufc-145/#comment"><span class="js-kit-comments-count" exclude-sources="Twitter" include-sources="Comments" uniq="/2012/04/22/dana-white-fights-off-food-poisoning-interacts-with-fans-at-ufc-145/"></span> Comments </a> </div> <div class="entry"> <div id="cnnSCFontButtons"> <div id="cnnSCFontLabel"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize.gif"/></div> <div id="cnnSCFontMinusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('default'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_d.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_l.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"></div> <div id="cnnSCFontPlusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('LargeFont'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_d.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_l.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"></div> </div> <div id="attachment_2073" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 310px"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/dana-white-twitter.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2073 " title="dana-white-twitter" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/dana-white-twitter.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="189"/></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Dana White interacts with his more than two million followers on Twitter during Saturday night's UFC 145 card in Atlanta. (Bryan Armen Graham/SI.com)</p></div> <p>ATLANTA — Dana White is a sick man.</p> <p>It’s 8:51 p.m. on fight night and the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship has just been shot up with two bags of IV fluids in an anonymously marked lounge in the bowels of Philips Arena. Food poisoning, he explains, from a bad turkey burger during last night’s red-eye from Las Vegas.</p> <p>“I can’t f—ing believe I’m standing here,” White says, nursing a three-quarters-full SmartWater bottle filled with a urine-colored fluid (“Pedialyte,” he says). “I thought I was going to die this morning. I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t walk. I was sweating like someone sprayed me with a hose. I was sprawled out on the marble floor of my bathroom.”</p> <p>Yet White is on his feet, peering at a MacBook screen over the shoulder of Kristin Adams, the UFC’s 28-year-old social media whiz, who is busy engaging with celebrities and fans buzzing about tonight’s UFC 145 card. His attention diverts to the flatscreen TV showing the undercard bout currently happening outside between Mac Danzig and Efrain Escudaro.</p> <p>As Adams reads aloud tweets from celebrities posting about the fight — Criss Angel, Jerry Rice, Jim Norton, Kelly Slater — White dictates rapid-fire responses as he unboxes a new cell phone. He directs Adams to <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://twitter.com/#!/danawhite/status/193861212700819456" target="_blank">tweet out the number</a>, offering his more than two million followers an opportunity to trade opinions with one of the most powerful and unorthodox executives in sports.</p> <div id="attachment_2072" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 310px"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/dana-white-phone.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2072 " title="dana-white-phone" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/dana-white-phone.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="202"/></a><p class="wp-caption-text">White spoke on the phone Saturday night with several UFC fans, who called a phone number he posted on Twitter. (Bryan Armen Graham/SI.com)</p></div> <p>“There’s no service down here, they’re all going to voice mail,” he says. “Five voice mails, six voice mails, seven voice mails.”</p> <p>Finally the phone rings; a fan calling from Sweden made it through. “Who’s this?” White asks, before reassuring the voice on the other end, “I swear to God it’s really me.”</p> <p>Another caller rings from New Zealand. Another from North Carolina. Another calls from inside the arena and asks if he can attend the post-fight press conference. White gets an assistant to take down his seat location and cell phone number and makes it happen. “Thanks so much for the support, bro,” he says before clicking over to the next call.</p> <p>It’s White’s hands-on approach that’s helped make MMA the world’s fastest growing sport, but it’s his willingness to reach out and connect with the fans that create a brand loyalty that ensures they’ll be long-term customers.</p> <p>It’s hard to imagine Roger Goodell or David Stern shooting the bull with fans before an important game. “I don’t understand why though,” White says. “It’s so easy to do. It takes two seconds.”</p> <p style="text-align:right;"><em><strong>– Bryan Armen Graham</strong></em></p> <div id="jp-post-flair" class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"></div> <br/> </div> </div> <div class="post-bottom"> <li>Published On <span>Apr 22, 2012</span></li> <li id="right"><span><div><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/04/22/dana-white-fights-off-food-poisoning-interacts-with-fans-at-ufc-145/#respond" title="Comment on Dana White fights off food poisoning, interacts with fans at UFC 145"><span data-lf-article-id="2064" data-lf-site-id="308691" class="livefyre-commentcount">Add A Comment</span></a></div></span></li> </div> </div> <div class="post-wrap"> <div class="post-top"></div> <div class="post" id="post-1566"> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/01/16/santos-appealing-one-year-ban-strikeforce-future-uncertain/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Santos appealing steroid suspension, Strikeforce future uncertain">Santos appealing steroid suspension, Strikeforce future uncertain</a></h1> <div class="category"> <a href="/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/category/mma/">MMA</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/01/16/santos-appealing-one-year-ban-strikeforce-future-uncertain/#comment"><span class="js-kit-comments-count" exclude-sources="Twitter" include-sources="Comments" uniq="/2012/01/16/santos-appealing-one-year-ban-strikeforce-future-uncertain/"></span> Comments </a> </div> <div class="entry"> <div id="cnnSCFontButtons"> <div id="cnnSCFontLabel"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize.gif"/></div> <div id="cnnSCFontMinusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('default'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_d.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_l.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"></div> <div id="cnnSCFontPlusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('LargeFont'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_d.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_l.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"></div> </div> <div id="attachment_1567" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 260px"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/cyborg.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1567 " title="cyborg" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616im_/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/cyborg.jpg" alt="Cyborg Santos" width="250" height="300"/></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Cristiane 'Cyborg' Santos' is eligible to apply for license reinstatement on Dec. 16.</p></div> <p>Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos has begun the process to appeal a one-year suspension handed down by the California State Athletic Commission on Jan. 6 for alleged steroid use, her personal manager confirmed to SI.com.</p> <p>Santos’ manager, who asked not to be identified by name, said a response letter was mailed to the CSAC on Monday requesting a hearing in front of the seven-member commission.</p> <p>The CSAC suspended the Strikeforce 145-pound women’s champion after a pre-fight urinalysis came back positive for Stanzolol metabolites following Santos’ dominant 16-second victory over Hiroko Yamanaka on Dec. 17. As it stands, Santos will be eligible to appear before the CSAC for license reinstatement on Dec. 16. Santos was also ordered to pay a $2,500 fine and the fight’s result was changed to a “No Decision” by the CSAC.</p> <p>CSAC Executive Officer George Dodd said Santos’ appeal would likely be heard at an April 9 meeting with the venue to be determined.</p> <p>Santos, 26, issued an apology and explanation for the positive drug test on Jan. 9, stating she’d taken a dietary supplement to assist her during a difficult weight cut and was assured the supplement was “safe and not prohibited from use in sports competition.”</p> <p>Santos’ manager said its believed that the supplement in question was given to the fighter by a “trusted individual” in her camp to take orally, but that all the supplements she took are currently being reviewed.</p> <p>In California, a handful of the 20-plus MMA fighters previously flagged have explained positive steroid tests through supplements they’ve taken, though none have received reduced suspensions. Overall, only two fighters, Sean Sherk and Phil Baroni in 2007, have had their suspensions reduced based on chain-of-custody issues the CSAC had with their urine samples. The CSAC has since refined its drug-testing protocol.</p> <p>Santos (12-1, 1 NC) re-signed with Strikeforce for multiple fights over the summer after Zuffa, the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s parent company, acquired the rival promotion last March.</p> <p>She has come under great public scrutiny since the performance-enhancing drug allegations were announced, as her Strikeforce reign has been the most dominant of any champion in the organization since she earned the inaugural title in 2009.</p> <p> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185616/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/01/16/santos-appealing-one-year-ban-strikeforce-future-uncertain/#more-1566" class="more-link">Read More…</a></p> <div id="jp-post-flair" class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"></div> <br/> </div> </div> <div class="post-bottom"> <li>Published On <span>Jan 16, 2012</span></li> <li id="right"><span><div><a 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