Reproduced with permission from Action81
UFC supremo Dana White was in Dublin last night to receive the Honorary Patronage of the Phil in Trinity College but he gave one fan something just as precious. Emmet Ryan looks back on a unique visitor to the society’s debating chamber.
OVER THE COURSE of an hour of questions Dana White was asked about title shots, Irish prospects, and the Olympics but the highlight came towards the end of proceedings.
Dave Fogarty, from Curragha Co Meath, asked White for the chance to wrap the belt around the winner of the UFC Interim Featherweight title fight between Renan Barao and Rory MacDonald this weekend. “Done,” was the simple one-word answer from the UFC boss.
This is the type of fan interaction and appreciation White has espoused throughout his 13-year tenure with the mixed martial arts (MMA) goliath. How did the card of UFC 160 break? He told a few guys in the pub on Monday night that Cain Velasquez would defend the heavyweight belt against Antonio ‘Bigfoot Silva’, with Alistair Overeem vs. Junior dos Santos as the co-main event. They started tweeting but rather than being annoyed, White confirmed the fights in Trinity on Tuesday. “I asked them to keep a secret and then they started tweeting it,” he said.
With Dublin’s Conor McGregor recently signing with UFC after impressing in Cage Warriors, White had plenty to say about UFC’s presence in Ireland.
“The fact that Joe Silva thinks he’s good enough means he’s good enough for me. At the press conference at UFC 93 [in Dublin] I said once we do a live event here, we’re going to see an explosion of interest. People will start training and more and more fans will migrate to UFC. Sure enough here we are at UFC 157 and Conor’s fighting in UFC,” said White.
Regarding events coming to Ireland, the UFC supremo said the company still had work to do in the market. “We’re seven or eight years behind over here and it’s because we haven’t got the television deal we need. Once we get that, we’ll have events in London, Dublin, and Northern Ireland. We’ll have the same event every year, and I’m talking big events,” said White.
Garry Cook of UFC UK gave a thinly-veiled hint that BT Vision, who take over ESPN UK’s English Premier League rights next season, are in the running to take on the MMA promotion. “We’ve got a change our television partnership. Sky pretty much call the shots in the market, what we really need is a good competitor. I can’t divulge too much but there’s a pretty good competitor coming along,” said Cook. BT’s new station is the only incoming arrival with the financial clout to attract UFC and the MMA promotion’s fan-base would provide the subscribers needed to get BT Vision through the teething stages.
White’s appearance in Dublin came within hours of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) removing wrestling from the 2020 games. Much of the UFC’s current roster have amateur wrestling backgrounds but White sees an opportunity in the IOC’s decision. “It’s not good, it’s a bad thing but because now wrestling isn’t an Olympic sport maybe they should start looking at mixed martial arts,” he said.
“Whether it’s the Olympics, or college wrestling, whatever it is the key is to sell tickets. You want spectators,” said White.“There’s no doubt that wherever you go in the world there are people that want to see mixed martial arts. Maybe it’s part of the evolution of the Olympics accepting mixed martial arts.”
Dana white on stage last night. Pic: Emmet Ryan.
The latest Olympian to join the UFC’s ranks is Ronda Rousey. White sees her as a trailblazer for Women’s MMA. “I keep using Ronda Rousey as a big example. This girl has been training since she was 6 years old, she’s got an Olympic bronze medal,” he said. “There was a lot of backlash about her being in the main event but she’s the champion, she deserves to be the main event..”
The Trinity event came about via contact over social media, unsurprising given White’s embracing Twitter and Facebook.
“I’ve had lots of trouble with the media in the past. Rather than go through a middle man, I can go through the fans. It’s an awesome way to have a one-on-one relationship with fans.”
It’s his openness with fans that makes the UFC such a popular draw. One, seated beside me, asked for a job. White told him to get in touch with Cook. This is the type of crowd White draws. Roger Goodell and SeppBlatter should be so lucky.
2 La Ligas in a decade that sound like the best team of the decade?
To be fair 4 champions leagues in the last 5 years. As horrible a club like Real Madrid are in how their fans repeatedly boo their own players, treat their managers and truly believe they are above normal footballing rules as is standard across the board just because they are Real Madrid they are the best team of the last decade but Pepe is entitled to his opinion…maybe his view is biased with his Barca links as Mick McCarthy maybe be biased in how he views Gary Breen as one of the best Irish players that has ever walked the planet :-)
@Patrick McHugh: we all dream of a team of Gary breens a team of Gary Breens a team of Gary Breens
@Patrick McHugh: Guardiola is trolling of course. Barca have a superior league record recently but Real is also the first team to reach 4500 points in La Liga … the fans do boo players and it’s a shock for some to witness it but it only happens when they reckon the player isn’t giving a 100% effort , or is putting himself above the club . There are no sacred cows . And the results speak for themselves as does the fact that most players dream of playing for them … don’t write them off just yet in CL either . Ajax is the next rival up , a lot of injuries are clearing up and the fitness levels are back to where they should be after Lopeteguis departure .. it’s unlikely they’ll do a comeback in La Liga but the CL is still a strong option and let’s see what happens in Copa del Rey tonight
@Limón Madrugada: Visca Girona!!
@Karlos McGrath: let’s see what happens , won’t be an easy game but Real seem to have found their scoring boots at last . Hala Madrid !
@Limón Madrugada: To be fair to pep, he clearly thinks that winning the league consistently over the last ten years is a bigger feat than the CL.
And in that regard, Barca have dominated.
@Margarita Huanca: he clearly doesn’t because he signed for Bayern to win the CL for them , ultimately they didn’t need him to win their domestic league … similarly he signed for Man City who won leagues without him but are still way off a CL ..
@Limón Madrugada: True lad, but he did specify the domestic league when making this statement.
And to be honest, I think he has a point.
@Limón Madrugada: found this, didn’t think the all time record was that even https://www.goal.com/en/news/real-madrid-barcelona-clasico-record-head-to-head/hxdm74dgfby81w9bsiejduy05
@Dave O Keeffe: who did you expect to be further ahead ??
@Margarita Huanca: no he did not , he said ‘every year they win , the leagues , the cups’ so why do 4 of the last 5 CL not count ?
It’s a league ( of sorts) and a CUP … not to mention Real did the treble two years ago … and have been World club champions meanwhile too .. Guardiola is deliberately omitting Real Madrid , which in the end is a backhanded compliment … he’s a bitter and resentful man sometimes beneath his superficial saintly image
@Limón Madrugada: thought Real would be ahead by a good bit