Can’t name any of the fighters from this weekend’s upcoming UFC Fight Night: Medić vs. Rodriguez card in Serbia? You are not alone. Dana White apparently can’t name any either.
The UFC CEO and president has stepped back from a lot of the day to day work related to the mixed martial arts promotion. He no longer negotiates contracts or involves himself in matchmaking and is mainly concerned with overseeing the UFC’s television product or big events like UFC White House. He’s also putting a lot of hours into Zuffa Boxing, which seems to be getting preferential treatment these days.
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All this has led some fans to accuse White of being ‘checked out’ of MMA. He doesn’t seem to know what’s happening a lot of the time, nor does he particularly seem to care. This level of disinterest was apparent when the Baldfather was asked an innocuous question at the UFC Belgrade press conference.
“One more question for Dana,” a reporter in the crowd asked. “Which fights on this card are you looking forward to most?”
White was silent for a moment before chuckling and saying, “That was a s–tty question, my friend.”
You can see him glancing down at his notes on the podium, which apparently did not have any bullet point sizzle on the fighters competing in Belgrade this weekend.
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“Listen, obviously everyone’s always excited about the main event,” White said. “Uh, I’m just hoping for … I want a few ‘Holy s–t’ moments on Saturday night so hopefully we get a few of those.”
It was pretty obvious what just happened: White was basically asked to name one fight on the card and couldn’t do it. “What fights should we be excited for?” is about the simplest softball question you can ask a promoter, and he whiffed on it.
Fan response online was swift and brutal.
“He couldn’t name more than three fighters on the card if you lined them up in front of him.”
“Bro doesn’t have a clue who’s fighting on that card”
“Dana has been phoning it in more & more since he got the big $. Can’t blame him.”
“I wish a reporter would flat out ask him why he doesn’t care about the UFC anymore”
“How can you be so s—tty at your job and be successful?”
As for what he could have said, rising Serbian star Uros Medic is an action fighter who’s on a three fight knockout streak taking on the always game D-Rod, fresh out of Mexican prison. It’s a fight that guarantees fireworks, so don’t blink! Former champ and legendary Polish Power purveyor Jan Blachowicz will attempt to prove he still belongs at the top when he faces 10-0 New Zealand prospect Navajo Stirling, who steps in on a week’s notice in the biggest fight of his career.
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Debuting UFC fighter Milos Janicic has scored a finish in every single one of his 19 wins. Hometown Serbian fighter Vlasto Cepo is expected to crush his opponent. And Mateusz Rebecki has earned Fight of the Night honors in three of his four past fights.
This level of indifference from White underscores a real problem with the company right now: it’s run like a conveyor belt, churning out events and matches week after week with no particular effort or attention made towards actually promoting 95% of the fights going down or any ‘Holy s—t’ moments that emerge.
If the guy running the UFC doesn’t bother to care what’s happening on his own cards week to week, why should fans?
