I would defy anyone to name a leader of a sports organization (or any major organization) who bullies his employees (contracted workers) like Dana White.
Dana diminishes the image of MMA as a legitimate sport by continually attacking his own fighters. No one is immune. From UFC legends like Randy Couture, the Ken Shamrock, Tito Ortiz, Jose Aldo, Cris Cyborg, and more recently Jon Jones and George St. Pierre.
"If he wants to talk man to man, he can see us face to face," White said about George St. Pierre. We constantly hear Dana carrying on as if he were some sort of a bad-ass fighter himself. It’s pretty obvious he wishes he could be. The truth is Dana is a coward who wouldn’t measure up to more than a pimple on any of these fighter’s asses.
In recent interviews, St-Pierre suggested he could have been back sooner to the Octagon had brass not treated him poorly following his UFC 167 victory. Dana’s response? "I like George St. Pierre. I respect him." He then proceeds to disrespect him by telling the press that GSP lost the urge to fight and that’s the reality.
In typical Dana White fashion he denies any blame and instead, attacks the credibility of the fighter. Well, if GSP says that Dana White mistreated him and this was a factor in his decision, that’s good enough for me. We’ve heard this familiar story from too many honest people not to believe it. The sad thing is that Dana White doesn’t have a clue about how to show respect to others even while saying he respects them! He is truly a pig of man.
The fans (and MMA media) who support Dana’s behavior are no friend of the UFC. Consider that after running off so many great fighters we are on the verge of watching this pig do the very same thing to possibly the greatest MMA fighter of all; Jon Jones. Who could blame Jones if he simply and suddenly decided to quit? Anyone who is familiar with the circumstances of the Vitor Belfort drug test situation knows that the UFC has now been caught red-handed concealing the results of Vitor Belfort’s testosterone results from the fans as well as from Belfort’s opponent, Jon Jones.
Yet instead of owning up to the mistake, what does the UFC President do? He attacks his own fighter, Jon Jones, ridiculing him for even bringing it out to the press and further, denying knowledge for the UFC. His smart ass answer to the question of whether he knew about the test was to answer with a question of his own, "How would Jones know?"
Jon Jones should tear a page out of Cris Cyborg’s book and call the bully out. One doesn’t have to be a lawyer to know that Jones has a cause for legal action against the UFC for recklessly going against their own policies which clearly caused injury to Jones; perhaps permanent injury.
If Jon Jones files a lawsuit against the UFC, a jury could award a staggering amount of money in punitive damages against the UFC. My bet is that the UFC would settle the lawsuit pretty quick rather than allow Dana White and the parties involved to be forced to give a deposition of who knew the test results.
History has shown time and again that leaders who attack their own, are fools and the company suffers in the end. Yet, the bullying tactics of Dana White would not exist without naming a cast of some surprising supporters and enablers. Here, Lorenzo Fertitta must be exposed. He obviously knows what has been going on for a very long time and approves of it.
Let’s not stop there. Only a few weeks ago, UFC’s star broadcaster, Joe Rogan allowed his own podcast to air in which his friend, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe joked that the Cyborg is the only fighter who makes weight by "cutting her d*ck off." Neither Rogan nor Dana White made any attempt to discourage the comedian’s depraved remarks.
While Rogan has since apologized for participating, Dana White has remained silent. As the owner of the UFC, Lorenzo Fertitta assumes no responsibility for discouraging the remarks? He takes no action against it? Rogan apologizes and that’s it? Let it not be said this was an isolated incident. Dana has a history of bullying Chris Cyborg.
And what about our favorite writers and MMA media darlings, Ariel Helwani and Luke Thomas? Just once I would like to hear either of these fellows speak up and say a few words about this bully, Dana White. How about just once saying or writing, "This is wrong. This should stop."
Both of them claim to love the sport. Well, young men, your silence speaks to the contrary. There can only be two reasons why neither of these journalists has much to say about it. Either they are scared stiff of UFC retaliation, or they silently condone it.
The fact is that for every journalistic accolade they will ever receive in their lifetimes, none of that will ever amount to the respect they could have earned for having the courage to take a stand against what they know is wrong and saying what should have been said a long time ago: "This is wrong. This should stop."
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