White speaks out on … everything
UFC president talks Rousey, Mcgregor, place in pop culture
DWhite hosted a group of reporters at UFC headquarters in Las Vegas several weeks ago and answered questions for more than an hour. White’s informal roundtable conversations with the media had been a staple for many years but had not been held in some time.
The 48-year-old UFC president spoke on everything from Ronda Rousey to the Vegas Golden Knights in a session that ranged from poignant to sarcastic.
Some of the highlights:
Onwhyheoncesaidwomen would never fight in the UFC and whether he is pleased with the change of heart, particularly ahead of Saturday’s UFC 219 headlining bout between Holly Holm and Cris “Cyborg” Justino at T-mobile Arena.
White: “I saw some fights with very lopsided results. At the time I said that, we were still trying to get people to accept the men fighting. Number one, I didn’t think the women were technically that good yet. I was wrong. Number two, I believed people wouldn’t want to see a girl getting cut wide open and bleeding all over the place on national
WHITE
television. I was wrong again. Ronda Rousey changed my mind. She sat me down and walked me through why this made sense and how she’d be this dominant champion. We talked for about 45 minutes and 20 minutes in, I started thinking I’m going to do this. When it was over, I called Lorenzo Fertitta and said, ‘You’re not going to believe this. I think we’re going (to add a women’s division).’
“It was the right decision when you look at not only how big she became, but what our women’s divisions have become. We have women headlining the end-of-the-year event on (Saturday). We’re adding more divisions. Every time you look at a card, there’s a women’s fight you’re excited about.”
On how Ronda Rousey is doing and whether she will fight again, a response that came just days before reports surfaced Rousey was close to a deal to join the WWE, something that still hasn’t materialized.
White: “I still talk to Ronda. She’s happy doing her thing. When you look at where she is in her life, she accomplished everything she ever wanted to accomplish, and now she wants to have a personal life and enjoy all the hard work she’s put in. She’s been working since she was a kid to become an Olympic medalist and then a UFC champion. She made (expletive) money, and now she wants to have a life. We wouldn’t even be talking about (women in the sport) if it wasn’t for her. She made it happen. She just has this thing about her. I wouldn’t want to see (her fight again). I care about her, and she’s got enough money. She’s super happy. She’s traveling, she’s hanging out, she’s doing her thing. Imagine never having a personal life and all of a sudden you do. But she hasn’t retired. She refuses to retire. USADA is still popping up at her house and testing her. She’s not ready to say, ‘I’m done,’ for whatever reason. I think we all know she ticks a little bit different than anyone else.”
On when Conor Mcgregor will return to action and what he thinks of some of Mcgregor’s bizarre behavior recently, like jumping in the cage at a Bellator MMA show and various tabloid reports.
White: “Listen, Conor may never fight again. The guy’s got (expletive) $100 million. I know guys that made way less than that as lawyers who went to school their whole life and
quit working and just sit around watching cartoons all day. (Some) guys make money, and that’s it. Fighting’s the worst. Try to get up and get punched in the face every day when you’ve got $100 million in the bank. Money changes everything for a lot of people. So, we’ll see.”
On whether he would regret allowing Mcgregor to take the lucrative boxing match against Floyd Mayweather Jr. if Mcgregor doesn’t fight again.
White: “Absolutely not. The kid made a lot of money. That’s what we’re all here for. We had an opportunity for him to go in and make more money than he’s ever made in his whole life. I wouldn’t change a thing. I knew going into that fight that because of that fight he may never fight again. I don’t want anybody to fight that doesn’t want to fight. If Conor wants to fight again, absolutely we want him to fight again. But if he doesn’t, that’s part of the game.”
On whether there was a time a fighter actually listened to advice he has given them.
White: “Ronda was going to get a sleeve (tattoo). I said, ‘No you’re (expletive) not.’ I said, ‘Listen, tattoo yourself up as much as you want when you retire. Do not get a sleeve.’ And she listened to me. I told Conor to stop doing it and he says, ‘You’re (expletive) old. That’s why you don’t like it.’ I said, ‘Do you really think a (expletive) screaming gorilla on your chest looks good?’ He just said, ‘You’re too old, you don’t get it.’ Maybe he’s right. Think about what you’re into right now that you love so much you want to get tattooed on you, other than your kids, and you’d still be into it in 20 years. Imagine if I got a tattoo in the 80s? What would I have on me? (Expletive) that I’m not into right now, I guarantee you that. I’d have the Culture Club logo or something on my back.”
On whether he’s thinking about slowing down at all.
White: “I never think like that. (WME-IMG CO-CEO Ari Emanuel) was just talking to me about a 10year plan. We’re going to do even more. I’ll share this with you: At the beginning of (2018), anybody who’s anybody in the boxing business is coming out to meet with me, except for de la Cuckoo (Oscar de la Hoya) and Bob Arum. I’m going to sit down with everyone, talk and see what everybody’s got going on and then (expletive) around over there for awhile. I’m not going anywhere. I love this (expletive). I’m only 48.
What the hell am I going to do?
I have a plan A and a Plan B for (entering the boxing world). I’m not sure which one I’m going to go with. I’m going to take like a month and focus on talking to everyone and figuring out what we’re going to do. (The boxing community) is excited. They want to come out and talk and be a part of this. At least that’s what they’re telling me. I think right now is the right time to give it a shot. Will it work? I don’t know. But I think I have a pretty good idea of how to make it work and we’ll see.”
On the ongoing negotiations for a new TV deal, especially considering recent less-than-positive reports from Sports Business Journal and ESPN’S Darren Rovell about the offer from Fox.
White: “We’re dead. We’re done (sarcastically). I’ve been hearing that for 15 years. Pay-per-view is dead. The TV deal isn’t good. We’re this and we’re that. We’ll see. Keep doubting us. I heard our business was tanking, and we sold for $4.025 billion (in 2016).”
On whether there are any updates on the pending performance-enhancing drug cases of Anderson Silva and Jon Jones, two of the greatest champions in UFC history.
White: “I was pretty bummed out about (Silva). His camp has been pretty radio silent, and I haven’t talked to Jon Jones at all.
On whether Nate Diaz or his older brother Nick will fight again.
White: “Nate Diaz has turned down a fight with everyone on the roster. We’ve been offering him fights for a year and a half. We have to offer him fights because as his promoter we’re supposed to give him three fights a year. So we continually offer him fights, and he continually turns them down. I just don’t think Nick wants to fight. Only they know what they want to do. Nick Diaz used to be a (expletive) beast. When he was in his prime, he’d fight anybody. Nate too. They have such a huge following because they’re fun to watch. The two fights with Conor Mcgregor, Nate Diaz made very, very good money. That kid doesn’t have to fight again unless he’s blowing (expletive) loads of crazy money or didn’t pay his taxes and gets sideways with the IRS or some craziness. He never has to fight another day in his life.”
On his impressions of the Vegas Golden Knights, a response that came after a question about different professional sports organizations
using the state-of-the-art UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas.
White: “Our hockey team! How about that (expletive)? That’s insane. They come in the first season, and they’re just killing it. It’s just incredible.”
On how far the UFC has come since he first became involved more than 15 years ago.
White: “If you look at pop culture, when there are moments on TV shows or movies where at one time they would reference boxing, it’s MMA now. It’s pretty cool when you look at how much we’ve changed pop culture in the last 15 years. Remember after Conor came in the cage with that walk and all the NBA and NFL players started doing it? How cool was that?”
On the recent sentencing of former UFC fighter Tae Hyun Bang to a 10-month prison term in South Korea on charges he accepted money to intentionally lose a fight (Bang ended up winning) and whether White is concerned about similar incidents in the future.
White: “We caught wind of that thing. There was talk about it because of the line movement. (Two UFC officials) talked to him and he denied it and then he didn’t follow through (with fixing the fight). He still went to jail. As you can see with our drug testing program with USADA and everything else, guys just don’t learn lessons from suspensions. But hopefully you learn that one. … He took the money but didn’t fix the fight, and he got 10 months in jail. Listen, you go to jail for doing this (expleitive). Hopefully that’s a lesson learned. This is a major sport now. Those guys (regulated sports books) know when that line starts moving around. They know what’s going on, and they will find out.”
On whether the UFC plans to book Mcgregor vs. St. Pierre.
White: “There has never been one discussion ever about GSP vs. Conor. Ever. That’s all internet (expletive) that I’m assuming got started from St. Pierre’s team. Every fight with Conor is a big money fight, and Tony Ferguson is next in line. How much bigger is GSP vs. Conor than Conor vs. anybody? I don’t know. I think it does around the range of numbers that Conor does. Nate Diaz vs. Conor is the biggest event we’ve ever done other than Mayweather.”
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@ reviewjournal.com or 702-277-8028. Follow @Adamhilllvrj on Twitter.