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Dana White at UFC 134: The American media is dumb & needs to smarten up like the Brazilians

By Zach Arnold | August 27, 2011

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Click on my mug to watch me gloat about the huge success that is UFC 134 in Brazil with Ariel Helwani at MMAFighting.com

ARIEL HELWANI: “Now, you said a couple of months ago that you were a little surprised at how the mainstream media in Brazil didn’t know that much about MMA. But being here the last couple of days, in terms of the number of media here, very impressive — a lot more than the United States and it seems as though they’re kind of well-versed. So, what about their knowledge of the sport surprised you?”

DANA WHITE: “It’s turned around real quick, you know, let me tell you. Listen, the American media needs to take notes here how fast these guys have turned around and how much media there is and how they’ve educated themselves on the sport. You know, obviously what they’ve looked at here in Brazil is this thing is getting big and, you know, obviously a lot of people that are into it, it’s very popular, maybe we should learn about this sport, all right? Maybe we should dive in and learn about it and figure out who the fighters are and what’s going to happen, you know. I wish the American media would do the same!”

(Later on…)

ARIEL HELWANI: “You’ve been banging the ‘Anderson Silva is the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world’ drum for a long time. It feels at least to me that the MMA community has finally accepted this, the mainstream media has accepted this. Why do you think that is only now?”

DANA WHITE: “Because they’re dummies, man, it always takes them a little while to catch on. You know, I don’t know how many guys he has to beat in incredible ways for people to realize it. You know, I think to be honest with you, too, I think that the Abu Dhabi fight didn’t help. That Abu Dhabi fight was weird because everybody was on the Anderson bandwagon and when that thing happened I think he lost a lot of fans and people are coming back around. I mean, after his last fight, the Chael Sonnen fight and then the Vitor Belfort fight…

“And if you look at this guy’s career and what he’s done and all the records he’s broken, you know, you just got to be a hater or out of your mind not to believe that this guy is not the pound-for-pound or the best ever.”

ARIEL HELWANI: “Has he talked to you about retirement recently?”

DANA WHITE: “He hasn’t, no, he hasn’t talked about retiring But, you know, you asked that question at the conference and what a lot of people don’t realize about Anderson because of how talented he is and I mean this guy’s 36 years old, going on 37 and to still do the things that he does is amazing. I mean, imagine if Anderson was 26 and, I don’t know, it’s amazing.”

(Later on…)

ARIEL HELWANI: “What was the thinking in terms of putting Forrest (Griffin) and (Mauricio) Shogun together again? You know, Forrest had that moment, it’s almost like why ruin the moment? It was such a great moment for him, what does he have to gain from fighting Shogun again? So, what were you thinking when you put that fight together?”

DANA WHITE: “Well, what he has to gain is they’re two of the best Light Heavyweights in the world and they both want to get back into that title picture and he’s got to beat Shogun to do it. I mean, Shogun was just the champion. Forrest, yeah, Forrest beat him but Shogun just lost his title and it’s a big fight for Forrest.”

(Later on…)

ARIEL HELWANI: “Are you really considering a fight in a 100,000 seat stadium?”

DANA WHITE: “We should have done this one, we should have done this one in a bigger stadium.”

ARIEL HELWANI: “You think you could have filled it up for the first event?”

DANA WHITE: “I do.”

ARIEL HELWANI: “So, is that sort of on the calendar for next year?”

DANA WHITE: “Yeah, we’ll be back down here and we’ll do a soccer stadium.”

ARIEL HELWANI: “Chael Sonnen isn’t coming after all, after all he’s said about Brazil. Does that surprise you?”

DANA WHITE: “I think that’s a great idea, it’s actually the most sensible thing I’ve heard him say in the last two months! I mean, I don’t event know how the guy gets into Brazil. I don’t even know how he can walk around and, you know, he was part of Yushin’s camp down here… he’s nuts, man, he’s crazy.”

ARIEL HELWANI: “Do you enjoy the talk or do you think he’s crossed the line a bit?”

DANA WHITE: “He is who he is, you know? Listen, I don’t tell guys who to be and how to talk and what to do. If you do cross the line and you get crazy, yes, then I will but, you know, Chael Sonnen… some of the stuff he says is nutty as hell but… he is who he is, it is what it is.”

Topics: Brazil, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 22 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

22 Responses to “Dana White at UFC 134: The American media is dumb & needs to smarten up like the Brazilians”

  1. RST says:

    Chael punked out IMO.

    If he would have actually showed up in Brazil that would have been a ballsy statement worth respect.

    But he dropped the ball again at the last second, just like the silva fight.

    • bt says:

      that’s because that’s who he is. he has a terrible record and if the ufc didn’t have pussy rules for wrestlers to exploit he would have nothing but losses.

  2. david m says:

    Hurricane Irene could hurt the buyrate if a lot of big cities on the east coast lose power. I’m in DC and so far the storm seems way overhyped, like Lay Guida.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      Or it could help out if people don’t lose power and they are at home bored looking for something to watch.

      • david m says:

        Yep! Hopefully the latter. I just got off the phone with a friend explaining the differences between Antonio Rodrigo Minotauro Nog and Antonio Rogerio Minotoro Nog…He was under the impression that the smaller, less-shot Nog was fighting tonite.

  3. Zheroen says:

    Pretty sure Lord Dana himself added fuel to the “Anderson Silva Isn’t the #1 PFP Fighter” debate when he vocally-criticized him following the Thales Leites fight, and seemed to be putting forth more support for GSP. Several awesome finishes by Silva later, and he’s all “I TOLD YOU ALL ALONG HE WAS THE BEST!”.

  4. Zheroen says:

    First fight in, and this is already one of the most disrespectful crowds ever…booing anytime there are more than four seconds of feeling out.

    • Rudy Arriaza says:

      At least there won’t be any USA chants.

      • Zheroen says:

        They just booed a mount-into-triangle choke from the top position attempt. From a Brazilian.

        And Dana and Lorenzo are impressed with these fans, saying that Americans are dummies in comparison? Jesus Christ.

  5. 45 Huddle says:

    The ref’s all need to be taken into a classroom for a quick 30 second lesson. And here it is…

    “The crowds reaction should have ZERO impact on the timing of your stand-ups. In fact, stand-ups should be done when they are warranted and for no other reason.”

    Some bad reffing so far….

  6. 45 Huddle says:

    Palhares is a mental midget. Between the Marquardt and now Miller fights…. The guy has a screw loose….

    • david m says:

      In 5-10 years, neither Miller brother would have a chance to fight in the UFC given how mediocre they are as athletes. The UFC is becoming more of a sport, which means more good athletes rather than tough, skilled guys with no athletic ability. Dan Miller had a 35 inch reach advantage and got dominated in the striking. That is embarrassing.

      • 45 Huddle says:

        I think he is 4-6 in the UFC now…. He needs to be cut.

        So does Luiz Cane….

        • david m says:

          Forrest looked like he was moving in slow motion against Shogun. I would really like to see Shogun v Rashad at some point; I think Shogun would win quite convincingly.

  7. Bryan says:

    Dan Miller is 5-5 in the UFC.

  8. 45 Huddle says:

    And Brazil is officially a big money country for the UFC after a debut like that.

    Every major PPV should be from the USA, Canada, or Brazil from now on. Keep the UK or Australia to fight nights due to the time differences.

  9. EJ says:

    Wow where to start with tonight there’s so much in my mind it’s hard to put it all down…

    1. Great night for Brazil the fighter and fans everything was done right for them tonight.

    2. On the other hand The American fighters basicaly embarrased themselves with tonights showings. It’s ok to lose but show up with a gameplan and not to lay an egg.

    3. Speaking of American mma fighters, love the Miller brothers but Dan embarrased himself big time. He looked like he bought the Palharres hype and was just there to survive which is something I thought i’d never see. The guy is 1 fight away from being cut and it’s time for him to figure out if he wants to be a good fighter or just another guy that was unMiller like in everyway possible.

    4. Forrest seriously what the hell was that?, I can’t even begin to start with you. Again figure out if you want to be a great fighter or a guy who makes big money and has average success pathetic.

    5. Schaub well that should teach you a lesson, seriously this guy talks himself up to be the second coming but got KTFO By Big Nog who couldn’t even stop 95 year old Couture smh.

    6. Okami, well one thing is clear you can train with Sonnen all you want but you’re still who we thought you were. Timid and frustrating to watch, Sonnen reaction to his performance is something I would pay to watch he must be in disbelief.

    That’s all I got for now, seriously I can’t remember a night where more guys put no lackluster to embarrasing showings in big fights. This show should be renamed UFC Fail, hopefully UFC 135 has guys who show up and won’t look like they went on vacation intead of fighting.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      The glass is half full….

      Rua looked in shape and fantastic.

      Nogueira’s surgeries obviously helped him as he had some jump in his step.

      Anderson Silva pushed the action, probably because he was in his home country.

      It was a great night of fights.

      • David m says:

        Shogun looked good in terms of his performance, but to say he looked in shape is a stretch. I don’t know what keeps him at 205, someone like Jones will always be too big for him

  10. Kevin R says:

    A quote from Dana White, ‘I mean this guy’s (Anderson Silva) 36 years old, going on 37’
    Note to Dana: Everyone that’s 36 is going on 37. Even a dumb American media writer would know that.

  11. Dave says:

    lol, so Dana thinks the American media should “smarten up” in response to Helwani noting how many media outlets were there, yet UFC denies credentials to a good number of media outlets here, including ones that employ people Dana has a personal vendetta against.

    Shogun keeps looking smaller and smaller and his movement was really, really not good. The main thing was Forrest didn’t show up to fight.

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