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twitterUFC 103 Notebook:
UFC’s Dana White not impressed with Floyd Mayweather’s comeback fight
President trying to patch things up with Rampage; impressed with Daley’s debut and Brazilian heavyweight’s big win
Vernon Bryant / Dallas Morning News
Junior Dos Santos (blue) celebrates after defeating Mirko Cro Cop (red) at UFC 103 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. Dos Santos defeated Cro Cop.
Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009 | 3:30 a.m.
UFC 103
- Vitor Belfort is back, TKOs Rich Franklin in first round
- UFC 103 Slideshow
- Vitor Belfort puts on phenomenal performance in UFC return
- White not impressed with Mayweather’s comeback victory
- Breaking down UFC 103: Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort
- Vitor Belfort, Efrain Escudero miss mark at UFC 103 weigh-ins
- UFC 103: Breakdown and Picks
- Naturally UFC 103 event is larger in Lonestar State
- Fireside chat with Dana White
- Video: The Return of "The Phenom"
- Bonus machine Tyson Griffin not worried about cash award in bout with Hermes Franca
- Frank Trigg eyeing one last title run
- Rich Franklin not thinking about title shots
- Mirko Filipovic back for good
- Video: UFC 103: Prepare for the Unexpected
- Complete UFC 103 coverage
Dallas — While technical knockouts were happening all around him in Big D, UFC boss Dana White, a longtime boxing fan, was keeping tabs on a bout back in Las Vegas.
But much like he predicted, Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s return to the ring was not must-see TV.
“It sucked just like I thought it would, just like I knew it would,” White said of Mayweather’s unanimous decision victory over Juan Manuel Marquez in his first fight in nearly two years.
“It was a horrendous. It went to a 12-round boring decision.”
Whether or not all fight fans echo White’s sentiments or not should be made clear early this week when pay-per-view ratings are released for both UFC 103 and the prize fight at the MGM Grand.
Patching things up with Rampage
White and Quinton Jackson are talking once again, but don’t expect to see them hugging it out anytime soon.
"We kind of made up," said White, who earlier this week said he refused talk to the former light heavyweight champ who chose to film a theatrical version of “The A-Team” instead of fulfill his commitment of fighting Rashad Evans at UFC 107 in Jackson’s hometown of Memphis.
"We're going to figure it out. (Jackson) wants the Rashad fight. He's in Vancouver doing this movie. It is what it is. Now we just have to figure out when. We'll see what happens."
White went on to say that hiccups on the filming of the movie might push the fight back until early spring.
"(Filming) was supposed to be done right around December. Now (Rampage) is saying that they have makeup dates and stuff like that, so he couldn't even fight in February."
White didn’t cuss Jackson out like he has in a previous press session, but he seemed pretty upset by Rampage’s career choice.
"Rampage is an active fighter that took that spot on The Ultimate Fighter, and he can say he did it for me or whatever, but there was a commitment there to fight at the end of the show," White said. "He could have fought in that fight and went and did seven movies for all I care. He could have taken four years off and did whatever he wanted to do. He was obligated to take that fight.
"We put him on the show. Rashad went on the show, and Rashad is sitting on the sidelines. It affected a lot of different things."
White impressed by TUF ratings
While the main fight of the show may be in jeopardy, the popular reality show on Spike TV seems to be doing just fine, as Wednesday night's record numbers attest.
“No doubt about it, it was very successful. We had our expectations on what we thought it might do, and that wasn’t it,” White said of the highest-rated debut show in Spike TV history.
“It did 5.1 million viewers. It did 4.1 at 10 O’clock, and the replay did another million viewers at midnight. Those numbers are crazy. The Ultimate Fight Night that night did 2.6 million viewers. It was a big night for us, but tonight was, too.”
Still dancing on the Liddell question
Unlike his position on Jackson’s Hollywood dreams, White said he’s actually looking forward to good friend Chuck Liddell try to make it in Tinseltown.
The difference obviously is that the legendary Liddell is not actively fighting and doing his project on his own time.
While White remains firm on his stance that he doesn’t want Liddell to fight again he said he’s going to touch base with “The Iceman” this week.
“I’m not his dad. We’re gonna talk about it. I’m gonna fly out to L.A. and watch him dance on Monday, we’ll see how he does and then we’ll talk after that,” White said.
“Chuck doing Dancing with the Stars is great. He weighs like 212, he doesn’t weight 212 the week of a fight. So he’s taking this more seriously than he was taking the fighting. I’m happy he found something to focus on. I think everyone knows how I feel about Chuck Liddell — he has nothing left to prove, other than he can dance.”
Brazilian big boy makes big statement
Junior Dos Santos proved his stunning uppercut knockout of Fabricio Werdum at UFC 90 was no fluke as he dominated Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic for three rounds Saturday before finally finishing the well-known Croatian striker in the third stanza.
“Dos Santos came bursting on the scene and he’s done some big things,” White said. “He trains with Nogueira, he could have gone in there and shot and tried to take that to the ground. He didn’t. He stood toe-to-toe with Mirko Cro Cop and tried to knock him out, and eventually he did.
“He’s an exciting fighter. I’m really excited about our heavyweight division right now. It just keeps getting better and better.”
Daley reminder
Englishmen Paul Daley reminded fight fans that on any given day in MMA, anything is possible.
The 26-year-old ruined Martin Kampmann’s bid to become the top welterweight contender when he scored a standing TKO.
While Kampmann was angry about the stoppage, it was clear to White that the Xtreme Couture fighter didn’t know where he was at the time.
But Daley sure did in his debut, and he promised similar results in whatever match-up he’s presented next.
“I’m a figther’s fighter. I’ll fight whoever, I proved that by stepping up and fighting Kampmann,” he said. “I’ll do it again. I don’t care who is standing in front of me. I’m just gonna be the same fighter and go out there and finish people.”
Koscheck wants the best
Moments after his TKO of Frank Trigg, Josh Koscheck told announcer Joe Rogan that he wanted to fight Matt Hughes.
A little later in the postfight press conference, the former All-American wrestler upped the ante for his next challenge.
“I think he should fight me next,” Koscheck joked when a question of who should be welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre next challenger came up. “That’s up to these (gesturing to White.
“I’ve always said that I will fight anybody, anytime, any place. There’s a lot of young fighters out there, I’ll fight any of those guys. I want marquee fights. I think Matt Hughes would be a great fight, I think Georges St. Pierre would be an even better fight.”
Andy Samuelson can be reached at andy.samuelson@lasvegassun.com or 702-948-7837.
Discussion: 16 comments so far…
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Floyd Mayweather jr.'s fight with Marquez lacks the thrills and excitement of a Pacman fight.. It is a boxing exhibition and not a prizefight! He cheated the fans by not honoring the catch-weight provision thus gaining more weight advantage over Marquez.. how could he regain the p4p title when he fought a much smaller guy who went up 2 divisions against him? while in the exact opposite, Pacquiao solidified his p4p king status by going up in weight to fight bigger & stronger men thrice (Diaz/Lightweight, ODLH/Welterweight and Hatton/Light-welter)! And Pacman won 17 rounds in all 3 fights winning them empathically by KO/TKO's! While Floyd jr. needed 12 boring rounds to put away a small opponent..
He could have finished Marquez after the knockdown in rd. 2 but in typical Floyd jr. fashion, he just couldn't take the risk and played it safe for the rest of the one-sided boring fight!
Ok 1st off, Who really cares what Dana White thinks? I am not impressed with any of your UFC fights either PERIOD DANA WHITE! because your Fighters play it safe too! F@@K a Tap out!!! Impress me Dana D@CKHEAD! MAKE THEM FIGHT TO THE DEATH! YOU PEACE OF SH@T! THERE IS A NO SUBMIT RULE IN OTHER COUNTRIES! BUT YOU ALREADY KNOW THAT DON'T YOU DANA!
Who cares what that street punk Dana White has to say. He is a man of little intelligence and that's why he is the spokesman for the UFC, other wise known as human cockfighting.
Why is Dana White's opinion even relevant? He's a thug promoting a thug sport which is heavily loved by thugs. The UFC is just a fad that will fade, it will take a while, but idiots like Dana will end of driving the sport into the ground.
Dana White is a bum. Hopefully one of these days one of his brainless cyborgs turn on him and knock him out. Dana White deserves a good beat down for all his nonsense.
Floyd Mayweather is a brilliant ring tactician who trains and prepares hard for each contract he signs. He came out of retirement to prepare for and beat a top fighter who gave it all he had. Dana White may not be impressed, but some of us are not very impressed with Dana White either. Tough guy, not, and trying to make hay at Mayweather's expense is poor sportsmanship, and poor business.
Boxing is dead. Get used to it.
lol cling to that dying old man sport....the last ufc which by ufc standards was a weak card blew any boxing match out of the water you paid 60 bucks to watch a 12 round snooze fest....lol i watched a ton of good fights...by hungry kids who bought it not some over paid.. dancer... there are thousands of gyms popping up all over the world daily MMA is not going anywhere becuase it has the youth i'm 41 the last good boxing matches were in the 80's you know it ... a boxer defends one thing hands.... MMA is 360 degrees of aggression......trust me in 10 years no one will care about boxing its a skill that will be absorbed into MMA..... but cling to that sinking ship....
If all of you boxing fans (whiners) don't like Dana White..why the F did you read an article about him..if he is such an idiot, why does he make millions more than you. I'd rather be a rich idiot than..well, you. Jealous much. The Mayweather fight blew. End of story.
kvg2009 - you pretty much said all I have to say.
For all you haters that may not know, the first UFC event was in November 1993. That's almost 16 years and it's only getting bigger. You may not like Dana White, but as kvg2009 alluded to, he's smarter than you and he's got more money than you.
You can't help but have massive respect for MMA athletes. Those guys are unbelievable, with regard to their toughness and diverse skill sets. I've met a few of them, and their families and they've all been great guys with great families. They are people you hope do well. That being said, I don't like the sport at all. I much prefer boxing. Still, I hope both sports succeed. No matter which you prefer (maybe you like both), neither MMA nor boxing has to thrive at the other's expense.
I understand Dana does his thing (and does it quite well) to get the ink and the buzz, but that doesn't mean those of us that enjoy sports have to parrot that nonsense (in support of anything). Like what you like, and respect others for liking what they like.
Well said MWCRob
Dana White's comment was a result of Money May dissing the UFC earlier this year. But you know what? Money could've knocked Marquez out, but he didn't. He cruised like a bum. That's on you Floyd; you help carry the sport right now.
I'll tell you this - it will be a VERY LONG time before the UFC can match the gate or PPV draw that will be generated by a Pacquiao/Mayweather bout. And, boxing has a very rich history. White and the Fertitas know they're new money, so they throw rocks at the throne which is boxing.
Isn't "Dana" a girl's name? This is clearly a CEO defending his product and nothing more. Can't even believe that I'm taking the time to comment.
It's a rich guy with too much time on his hands and I actually feel sorry for him. He's compensating for something,,,, but that's on him and he has to live with it. No problem pal just scoot a little closer to the urinal and it'll all be fine.
the ufc is hardly a fad and those guys are genius when it comes to promoting fights. that said, who can blame jackson for wanting to be an actor: much more money and much less brain damage.
Dana White: arrogant, unorthodox, childishly outspoken? Sure. A bum? You are an idiot. Dana White has shown nothing but tenacious ambition in business and what he has done for MMA as a whole. I don't like Dana White, but only a fool would discredit his entrepreneurial genius and his willingness to put together fights that people want. This is something boxing does not have. I love boxing, but for any of its more inane supporters to be so desperate and Naive as to discredit and minimize MMA is absolutely pitiful. Much of its contemporary elements can be traced back to Ancient Greek Pankration. This is not something new, idiots. The concept of all powers combat has been around far longer than you likely realise. Now there are schools opening up all around the world dedicated to the principal of two combatants utilizing all pragmatic and reasonable approaches to unarmed combat. Boxing has a place in my heart, but it is just that... boxing. Deal with it and get with the times.