Are Dana White's Expectations Too High?

By: Rich Bergeron
Recent weeks have revealed that multiple UFC events left the president of the league deeply disappointed in the performance of his fighters. Dana White is not only the president of Zuffa, LLC, though. He's also a minority owner of the world's most popular MMA fighting franchise.
What Dana White isn't... is a fighter himself. His limited experience as a boxer did not include any documented bouts to speak of, and it culminated in him teaching "boxercise" classes in Las Vegas. He would later become an MMA agent and go into business with the Fertitta family when he convinced them to buy the UFC for a cool $2 million.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Considering White's lack of any serious combat sports background, his often critical analysis of the fights he promotes rings hollow. Despite his personal interest in the outcomes of the bouts he promotes, his recent ripping of how his employees do their jobs in the cage is downright disrespectful. Apparently White does not believe in the mantra "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."
Though some might think White's tell-it-like-it-is bravado is admirable, others would argue it's rude and uncalled for. Many experts even caution that the president's unprofessional attitude is sure to stunt the growth of MMA, if it hasn't already done so. Whatever camp you may be in as far as your own feelings about White, it's hard not to see him as a polarizing figure. All too often, his commentary makes the story all about his own lofty expectations rather than about the realities of the sport.
White's negative rants at the post-fight press conference for UFC 149 are a perfect example of him expecting epic battles to unfold each time the company promotes a major event. "I said this the other day and it's true: we make money. This company makes money, and I like breaking records," said White. "We broke the gate record tonight, and I'm embarrassed by it. I was excited when I heard, and now I'm embarrassed. The undercard delivered--they were awesome--and the main card did not."
The fact is mixed martial arts is a constantly evolving sport. Excitement is not a guarantee no matter who fights who. Styles clash, techniques adapt, and defensive tactics often make fights seem flat. White may complain that a fight does not "deliver" just because nobody gets knocked out or the fans offer a chorus of boos upon watching the lack of major action between the combatants. That doesn't change the fact that these fights that leave White with a sour taste in his mouth are still extremely taxing on the bodies of the fighters competing. This is a brutal sport, and fighters risk their health every time they step into the cage. The object for each participant is not always to go in with reckless abandon and stand toe to toe with a dangerous opponent. To have a long career in this sport, a mixed martial artist must employ smart strategy and avoid getting seriously hurt while simply trying to please the crowd.
Still, even crowd pleasing efforts are not always enough to make White give credit where it's due. Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz put on an incredible show at UFC 148. Griffin won the fight with superior boxing in a bout that was full of toe to toe slugging. Ortiz carried himself well in his last official bout in the Octagon. The crowd was not raining boos down because of any lack of action, but Dana White said both fighters "looked old."
Forrest Griffin is 33 years old and began his MMA career with an amateur bout in March of 2001. Tito Ortiz is 37 and fought his entire 28-fight career in the UFC, beginning a few years before White and the Fertittas bought the league and refined the rules. When Tito started his pro career, Dana White still had hair. These two legends of the UFC have a combined 26 years of experience in MMA and a combined 54 total pro fights, which is 26 more years and 54 more fights than Dana can claim for himself. So they didn't go into the Octagon looking like spring chickens. Is that really such a huge surprise to "The Baldfather?" These are two guys who helped put the UFC on the map so White could line his pockets off the dividends from their blood, sweat, and tears. For him to make a crack about how "old" they looked is just plain stupid. Ortiz was fighting his last fight and admitted to himself and the world that he was ready to retire. Obviously he already felt old enough without White having to rub salt in the wound.
MMA is what it is, and to expect every fight to be a non-stop slugfest is totally unrealistic and ignorant on White's part. Even with the company's hefty bonus structure for knockout of the night, fight of the night, and submission of the night, boxers still enjoy much heftier paydays for major fights. If he wants his main event fighters to step up and put themselves at greater risk in order to put on a more entertaining show, he and his business partners will need to step up the base purse amounts considerably.
It would also make sense to institute more lucrative submission and knockout bonuses that might inspire competitors to keep the fight away from the judges. As it stands, the major bonuses typically only reward four fighters per card. There are win bonuses, of course, but no huge extra incentives for knocking an opponent out or submitting him. If a fighter does win by stoppage, he simply has to hope that it was dramatic enough to earn the distinction of being the best knockout or submission of the whole card. Even then, it's a very subjective decision made by White and his inner circle.
The fact is White is not doing the sport any favors by continuing to ridicule competing fighters just because they don't bring down the house in a particular bout. He should be more humble and shoulder some of the blame himself for not putting his money where his mouth is. Most MMA fighters aren't really in it for the money, because often they lose money on the way up through the ranks. They sacrifice tons of hours in training, pay most of their own expenses, and typically rely on big ticket sponsors to make ends meet. At the UFC level they shouldn't have to accept meager paychecks while working for a guy who doesn't seem to have any appreciation for how hard they've worked to get so far in their careers.
Until White steps in the cage himself and puts on a real show for the fans in a fight against an evenly matched opponent, he should have more respect for his employees and explain to the press and the fans that MMA is a complicated sport. It's not always predictable, not always exciting, and not always entertaining. The same can be said for any sport, though. Certain match ups just fall flat, and nobody's to blame for that. It's not like these guys go into the cage saying to themselves, "I'm gonna go in there and put on the worst fight I can." White should spend more time telling fans and media pundits that they can't always get what they want when it comes to MMA.

Just once it would be nice to hear "Uncle Dana" respond to criticism about a particular card by saying, "You think you can do better? Sign up for The Ultimate Fighter and prove it. Until you do, why don't you shut up and enjoy what these guys are working so hard to give you." It's advice that also applies to White himself, but it's not likely he'll ever take it.