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Quote of the Year
By Zach Arnold | April 2, 2007
Dana White quoted by The Fight Network (in regards to PRIDE):
Though it was announced at last week’s press conference in Japan that the newly-formed PRIDE Worldwide Holdings LLC. would be run separately from the UFC, White conceded he’ll have some say in its direction. “I run everything,†White quipped, explaining the company will keep its Japanese employees and remain Japanese-run, though he would “amp up the American side.â€
I hope Dana takes as much responsibility if things go badly with PRIDE in Japan. Such as if the Japanese fans don’t like the ‘new’ PRIDE. Or if Kanagawa police would be interested in talking to them about the transaction in which Zuffa purchased the PRIDE assets from DSE.
Topics: All Topics, Media, MMA, PRIDE, UFC, Zach Arnold | 22 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
In the past 5 or so years, I think we’ve seen quite clearly how the rest of the world feels about loudmouthed, ruthless american rulers. I’m not necessarily comparing Dana to US foreign policy, but traits and ideas that can bring about great success in the United States is often likely to have a diametrically opposite effect in other countries. This lesson is difficult to learn for a lot of americans, which is understandable seeing as there is very seldom any incentive to do so. But a man in Danas position can’t afford not to understand this. Seeing as he gets himself in deep water even on his home turf sometimes, I’m not overly confident that he’s got an adequate grip of this situation. The remarks on this site that Zuffa should have appointed a Japanese front man ASAP are spot on. New Pride’s downfall, if there will be one, is in my eyes more likely to come from this rather than from the yakuza debacle.
Or if Kanagawa police would be interested in talking to them about the transaction in which Zuffa purchased the PRIDE assets from DSE.
Why would the police be interested in talking to him? For all the talk of Yakuza ties, I don’t believe anyone from DSE has been arrested. Moreover, those who’ve been arrested (in regards to Shukan Gendai story) were immediately released. Even Tadashi Tanaka, who broke the story, believes DSE is clean on paper.
What Sakakibara does after the transaction (good or bad) is on him, I think the Ferititta company would need to be a little more invovled to be criminally implicated in anything IMO.
In regards to the Dana’s quote, it seems that his role is a lot bigger than just UFC president.
The remarks on this site that Zuffa should have appointed a Japanese front man ASAP are spot on.
Yea, even the US they may want to choose a more corporate spokesman. He’s a great interview and he’s good in post-fight press conferences. But at times he can be too honest and or say too much.
“I don’t believe anyone from DSE has been arrested.”
If you read the article better, you would notice that there is an outstanding arrest warrant for Mr Ishizaka (KIM DOK SOO), who is DSEs owner. He is a fugitive from the Japanese police
I am sure the Fertittas will parrot Kiyohara’s and Sakakibara’s line when questioned – “oh, I didnt know Mr Ishizaka was a yakuza. He seemed like such a nice man.”
maybe the police will believe them, and maybe not
If you read the article better, you would notice that there is an outstanding arrest warrant for Mr Ishizaka (KIM DOK SOO), who is DSEs owner. He is a fugitive from the Japanese police
Is there anywhere on paper that states Mr. I is DSE’s owner?
Thanks for bringing up Kiyohara, the third man in the trio…he also hasn’t been arrested.
Ukiro: I’m not going to get into politics (about America’s role in the world), but the reality is that in order for the ‘new’ PRIDE to have any chance of making it, it needs to have its own identity. Dana White talking about what rules he wants to implement and how “I run everything” is going to win absolutely zero people over in Japan. It’s frustrating.
Body Shots: Kiyohara was supposedly questioned by both the Kanagawa police and also an internal Fuji TV investigation. One fact that cannot be denied is that he got demoted within Fuji TV after the network cut ties with PRIDE. Gendai’s new strategy (to link him up with DSE’s supposed “virtual owner”) is a clear tactic to put pressure on the network to not air PRIDE again. If I’m UFC, I have to pay close attention to this situation.
Gendai’s new strategy (to link him up with DSE’s supposed “virtual ownerâ€) is a clear tactic to put pressure on the network to not air PRIDE again. If I’m UFC, I have to pay close attention to this situation.
I noticed that as well, seems they have some sort of grudge against the organization (no matter who owns it). Even without the bad press, they’re going to need a lot Japanese support, they’re up shits creek if they think they can do it by theirselves. What happened to the TÅkai producer who supposed to be on board with the new company?
Dana White would do good to distance himself from the workings of PRIDE under Zuffa. His personality is very brash and gets by in the US as a larger than life figurehead but his antics won’t fly in Japan.
F*** what people think and what the press thinks in Japan because at the end of the day the Japanese fans will just want to go and watch some top quality Martial Arts action.There seems to be too much crap and insight on websites and newspapers about the Mafia crap and not enough on the Fights,Shows and Fighters themseleves.
Just too much bringing up old shit and not enough postives about getting the best Fightes in the Cage.
Yes “fuck what they think!” apparently it doesnt really matter…other than of course, “what they think” forced PRIDE off Fuji TV, lost them millions of dollars of sponsorship and ended with the company so badly in the red they were forced to sell to their major competitor.
“Fuck what they think INDEED”!!
There’s a phrase that comes to mind — ‘occupational hazard.’ I think Gendai’s media campaign can be deemed an ‘occupation hazard’ of doing business under the PRIDE name in Japan. 🙂
“F*** what people think and what the press thinks in Japan because at the end of the day the Japanese fans will just want to go and watch some top quality Martial Arts action.”
And people wonder why no gaijin is successful in Japan.
I think there is an American parallel for Gendai’s continued interest in the fate of Pride and DSE. There is a long history of the Congress, US newspapers, and progressive citizens’ groups opposing the taint of organized crime connections to legitimate businesses. Not just when known crime figures own businesses, but when people who are considered “questionable” (even without merit) The examples I can think of are in sports and gambling. (If I wanted to research the subject, I could certainly find more).
Just last year, Pennsylvania began to award a limited number of slot-gambling licenses to urban downtowns, rural resorts, and horsetracks. (The Isle of Capri-Pittsburgh Penguins arena bid being the most notable). After awarding most of the bids, the PA gaming board declined to award a license that is set aside for a horse track in western PA. The leading bid (Bedford Downs) was led by an Italian-American family whose grandfather (or great-grandfather) was believed connected to the mafia. Even though the alleged crime figure had been dead for decades, because the land was purchased with possibly tainted money, the state wanted nothing to do with Bedford. (A good op-ed on the issue was published here in the Youngstown Vindicator http://www.vindy.com/content/opinion/bertram/315630069385730.php )
Another failed PA casino proposal involved Seven Springs ski resort. The proposed casino operator there was Delaware North. (Among its businesses, Delaware North is the foodservice operator at ~50 US stadiums and owns the Boston Bruins and the Garden.) But the Seven Springs deal (as well as a proposed purchase of the Rosecroft harness track in suburban MD/DC) unraveled, in part, due to the public spotlight placed on Delaware North’s unsavory past. In the 1970’s, Delaware North, then known as Emprise and under different ownership and management, was associated (though not proven) with the carbombing murder of an AZ reporter. (The reporter was working on a story related to Emprise’s concealment of an ownership stake in Las Vagas’ Frontier casino.) The Emprise-Frontier scandal resulted in the racketeering conviction of the company (which is _extremely_ rare in the US judicial system) as well as several executives. (A good jumping off point on this subject is this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article http://www.postgazette.com/pg/06149/694048-336.stm )
Another, more civil example is the aborted purchase of the Chicago White Sox by retail developer Edward J DeBartolo, Sr. in 1980. MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn blocked the purchase, citing DeBartolo’s ownership of several thoroughbred racing tracks. Others have alleged (anonymously) that Kuhn was fearful of admitting a native Italian owner whose business empire was based in the mob-hotbed of Youngstown, OH. Of course, the DeBartolo family later purchased the NFL San Francisco 49ers, USFL Pittsburgh Maulers, and NHL Pittsburgh Penguins. (Note: In the late-1990s, after Debartolo Sr. had died, his son Eddie Jr. was implicated in and testified against LA Gov. Edwin Edwards bribery trial.)
All of these cases involved allegations, some proven, but most unproven. Almost all of the allegations were several decades old and did not directly involve the individuals applying for ownership approval. But the greater point is that, at some point, the taint of past impropriety undermined a legitimate, well-intentioned business purchase.
The difference between all of your examples and PRIDE/UFC is that Station Casinos is already a major company in the Las Vegas area with a long history in gaming, and not a dog racing track in a state that just legalized slot machines. Not only that, most casinos already do business with yakuza owned travel companies….you know, the kind that buy up front row seats for PRIDE and K-1 events? Its not like its some great secret. There’s been tons of press articles about how mobsters and drug kingpins from all over the world get treated like gods in the Harrahs/MGM/etc. chains. Its like saying that the casinos and gaming commissions are unaware that high end “escorts” are around, or that they have never employed their services for a high roller.
In short, blathering on about how Red Rock may lose their gaming license is a ton of hogwash, especially in a town that, like PRIDE, was purchased by legitimate businessmen from organized crime. All the articles in the world written by Japanese dirt sheets about how they’re contracting cleaning work to companies owned by the yakuza won’t make a bit of difference.
And people wonder why no gaijin is successful in Japan.
You mean like Mirko Cro Cop, Bob Sapp, Wanderlei Silva, Mark Kerr, and the Gracies? Yeah dude, those guys all bombed. Not to mention that there can’t possibly be cultural reasons for that, you know, like how there’s no international athletes as big as naturalized superstars in the US, or for that matter, in Europe.
I don’t think that the Fertittas (and Station) will emperil their gaming licenses though a PRIDE purchase. Or their NSAC promoters licenses. The whole DSE/yakuza affair isn’t that serious of a threat to the Fertittas and UFC. But there still are legitimate business risks to this deal. And they shouldn’t be ignored.
(1) The PRIDE purchase only makes sense if the potential reward outweighs the costs. Continued Japanese media/law enforcement focus on PRIDE/DSE/Fuji TV linkages _could_ undermine the profit potential of the business. The PRIDE houseshow business doesn’t work without a TV contract (and the Japanese corporate sponsorships drawn by the tv). If the Fertittas come to believe that PRIDE can’t get back on major network TV, it’s not worth buying the company.
(2) UFC has begun appearing on the radarscreen of mainstream US media, entertainment, and corporations. To this point, Zuffa has been very proficient at commercializing their brand and sponsorship opportunities. (Though mainly in the apparel, supplement, film advertising, and other fringe industries available to UFC.) As UFC PPVs are being watched by 1-2 million viewers (and broadcast specials by even more), Zuffa now has a much more lucrative position with Wall Street corporations looking to promote their products. If the Gendai coverage perks the interest of the real US newsmedia (60 Minutes, RealSports, SI, Outside the Lines, NYTimes etc.), the attractiveness of UFC and Zuffa to bigmoney corporate sponsors is diminished.
I don’t think that the Fertittas (and Station) will emperil their gaming licenses though a PRIDE purchase. Or their NSAC promoters licenses.
Good then. Hopefully others will learn from this and stop repeating that.
If the Fertittas come to believe that PRIDE can’t get back on major network TV, it’s not worth buying the company.
Obviously, they believe they can. We’re what, less than 10 days into Zuffa ownership? If we get out a year or so and there’s still no deal, then we can discuss whether or not its impossible for them to get back on. The idea that its going to kill the deal before it gets running is ridiculous. This is the same company that lost millions on the UFC running it for, what, 3-4 years before getting a proper TV deal?
If the Gendai coverage perks the interest of the real US newsmedia (60 Minutes, RealSports, SI, Outside the Lines, NYTimes etc.), the attractiveness of UFC and Zuffa to bigmoney corporate sponsors is diminished.
Again: No one in the US is going to raise a big fuss as to whether or not the lighting rigs are constructed by yakuza owned companies. I’m sure they were/are when Don King went over to Japan, and when the NFL and MLB stage exhibition games overseas. If its that ingrained in the culture as you believe it to be, then there’s really nothing to discuss in terms of it being “detrimental” to any sports company. I’m sure the very fact that people are in the ring getting hit in the face and being put in potentially crippling submission holds is more than enough for many companies to not bother with sponsorship.
D.Capitated:
Maybe you havent been following the vein of the particular discussion that’s been going on for quite a while, but Royal B. was referring to gaijin running fighting/wrestling businesses in Japan. And he’s absolutely correct.
Maybe I’m off on this…but in general isn’t that a problem with American businesses internationally – they’re loud, aggressive, refuse to believe they might not know something and think they can force their business model on every marketplace. Ignorance will get you nowhere.
D.Capitated, you clearly missed the point. He didn’t mean fighters with gaijins (since they are just employees), but foreigners running businesses in Japan.
Zach,
It was a joke of sorts.
quip(kwp)
n.
1. A clever, witty remark often prompted by the occasion.
2. A clever, often sarcastic remark; a gibe. See Synonyms at joke.
I have no doubt he will have a say in the running of Pride, you read waaay too much into a bit of humor.
D.Capitated, you clearly missed the point. He didn’t mean fighters with gaijins (since they are just employees), but foreigners running businesses in Japan.
That point was demolished like a month ago when someone talked about Carlos Ghosn running Nissan. Jesus.
Zach, you know what frustrates me more is how people for YEARS now have been saying Dana White’s no-nonsense “unprofessional” approach is going to burn bridges, insult people and be the downfall of UFC. Yet somehow the UFC became the biggest MMA promotion in the world.
If that weren’t enough, perhaps you didn’t notice that Dana White got a surprisingly big ovation when he was introducted at the press conference in Japan. They cheered when he said “he was going to kick their ass.” Even the Japanese get that Dana is a bit of a character, but its all in good fun and entertainement.
Most casual fans I talk think he’s breath of fresh air as well compared to the majority of coporate tools that run America.
Dana’s honestly makes him a target for keyboard jocks who like to take his words out of context. Most of time, when I actually hear what he says, you get a sense that he’s just joking around and says some of those things in fun. The “I run everything” is a classic example of that. Anyone who takes what he says at purely face value is a fool.