Photo: Josh Hedges
Dana White seems to have gotten the monkey off his back since UFC 126 this Saturday in Vegas. The greatest fear the president of the organization had – that of the fight between Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort, rather than being a fight for the ages, being the “worst of all times” – didn’t end up happening.
Mission accomplished, the promotional kingpin spoke to a group of reporters after the show, as he usually does.
During the conversation, as reported by US Today’s Sergio Non, Dana White confirmed that besides Rio de Janeiro, the UFC will return to Japan this year; heaped praise on Anderson, Jon Jones and Shogun; and he revealed what he most hates in life.
Check out highlights from what Dana White had to say:
UFC in Japan and Sweden:
“Besides Sweden, the UFC will go to Japan. Everything’s going well on that front. That’s on our calendar for next year.”
Anderson the best in the world
“I don’t think anyone can argue Anderson isn’t the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He may have bad days. You can be the best golfer in the world and have bad days. You can be the best baseball player in the world and have bad days. But the guy (Silva) hasn’t lost since he came to the UFC. You know how impossible that is to do? It’s impossible!”
GSP vs. Anderson Silva
Welterweight champion Saint-Pierre had asked for nine months to make it to Anderson’s middleweight division. Dana gave his answer: “No, the fight will happen (before that).”
Small-scale MMA events
“Some smaller events do a good job, others don’t. Just because you have a cage or ring doesn’t mean you should promote fights.”
Shogun vs. Jon Jones for light heavyweight belt
“I was impressed with how calm Jones was. He was calm, relaxed, smooth. And he had crazy pressure on him for this fight with Ryan Bader. But he had the posture of a champion. I feel the kid has all the tools to one day be the best fighter of all times. It will be interesting to see him against Shogun, who usually bulldozes everyone standing. And Shogun has good takedown defense.
What Dana White really hates
“I thought Miguel Torres fought well. (…) The crowd always wants both fighters to go after each other, but we understand how the fighters go in there with a set strategy. What I hate is when the guy goes in there, takes the guy down and just stays there on top of the other for five minutes to win. That drives me crazy. No one wants to see that!”