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Quotes of the Day
By Zach Arnold | November 18, 2007
Kevin Iole says that it is time to bring MMA to New York. This paragraph about UFC 78 is not flattering to his article:
The problem was, the card should have been in New York at Madison Square Garden. It deserved to be held on sport’s biggest stage.
On the same week that Larry Hazzard (the man who helped build momentum for the Unified rules in the States for MMA) got fired, Dana White is back to parroting The Zuffa Myth:
“The thing that cracks me up,” White said on Saturday during the post-fight news conference, “and that is so ironic about this whole thing is that this was originally pulled off of pay-per-view and off of cable because Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) wanted it to be sanctioned and the former owner didn’t want it to be sanctioned. … Now, there are other commissions saying they won’t sanction it when we’re trying to be sanctioned.”
Yes, because as we all know, Bob Meyrowitz never wanted UFC fights sanctioned under his ownership. Just ask Dana White.
Honorable mention: Joe Rogan on ESPN.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
This is the academic exercise where we ask if fight results were “good for the UFC” or bad.
– Bisping and Evans flopped. So much for TUFers breaking into the LHW top 5.
– The Houston Alexander momentum is busted.
– Silva looked lethal but he is, as they say, ‘unmarketable’.
While Bob Meyrowitz did want to push regulation in MMA (and was stifled in Nevada by Lorenzo Fertitta), his antics where he basically went “Haha, fuck you!” to George Pataki and the NYS legislature when they inadvertently OKd MMA while talking smack about it was a very, very dumb move on his part and had the effect of having MMA banned from the state. Essentially, he wanted it to be sanctioned but also was a complete dick to the very people he wanted to OK it, driving it back rather than letting it move forward. White is wrong that he didn’t want it sanctioned (especially given the irony that one of the Zuffa owners was a primary reason why it didn’t get momentum in Nevada, most likely so he could get it for next to nothing by driving out SEG from the industry), but he didn’t really help much by coming off as a jerk and being flaky in interviews (such as the infamous ‘debate’ with John McCain on the Larry King Live show).
Oh, and McCain didn’t want the UFC to be sanctioned; he has been a big Boxing fan since he was a kid and he also had an interest in Budweiser as his second wife (Cindy) was a heiress to the fortune and Budweiser has been a big Boxing sponsor for many years.
I agree with everything Klown said in the OP. However, I also want to add that this UFC is turning out to be a horrible PR nightmare for the UFC…especially in regards to Rogan’s comments. On that note, I also want to remind everyone that Mike Tyson said something alot worse about “Eating children”, and that clip got tons of air time.
I didnt realize we were using Mike Tyson as a moral compass these days…
Joe Rogan’s a funny guy, and as a color man, he’s really not that bad. He’s not Larry Merchant or anything, but he’s acceptable and would probably work better in a third man role like Merchant. The bigger issue for the UFC is that Goldberg sucks as an announcer. I mean, considering that he’s done all of one event ever, Al Bernstein is probably the best english speaking play by play man in the sport. I don’t know what that says really, but its true.