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UFC President Dana White answers questions during a news conference Tuesday, March 27, 2012.
By J. Patrick Coolican (contact) 
Friday, April 27, 2012 | 12:46 p.m.
J. Patrick Coolican
Imagine NFL commissioner Roger Goodell tweeting that the Saints are 10-1 to win the Super Bowl next year.
Yeah, probably not.
But here’s Dana White, president of Ultimate Fighting Championship, on Twitter earlier today: “TUF Live tonight on FX the MGM has Sicilia -350 vs Saunders +290.”
In English, this means, you can bet $350 on Sam Sicilia to win $100, or $100 on Chris Saunders to win $290.
They fight live tonight as part of a UFC reality show, “The Ultimate Fighter Live,” on FX. Because the show is live for the first time this season, sports books, such as at the MGM Grand, can take bets.
I suppose we can appreciate White’s honesty compared with other sports’ commissioners, whose leagues benefit greatly from the enthusiasm generated by Vegas betting but keep their distance from our gambling dens.
But White’s loose talk seems inappropriate, especially as UFC tries to earn legitimacy. White has whined repeatedly about New York refusing to license the sport. He blames the Culinary Union, which is in a vicious fight with UFC owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta over whether workers at Station Casinos will be unionized. (Station does not take UFC bets.)
The union, White charges, has used its political influence to prevent UFC’s entrance into New York. By haphazardly associating his sport with Vegas sports betting, White is giving New York authorities an excuse not to welcome UFC.
White has a history of ill-considered remarks. Once again, it seems he’s thrown extra hot sauce on his well-heeled foot.
Uh-oh, there goes my UFC credential.
Calling the UFC a legitimate sport is like saying that a Rapper with a refrigerator full of Cristal has class.....They're all thugs with a little bit of money...
I don't see how this hurts his or the sport's credibility one bit, if anything being open and honest keeps his remarks on Twitter genuine. As a casual fan I don't see how this affects the political battles he's fighting and that really seems like a stretch to connect this and them.
legit or not, those guys turned a $50 mil investment into over a billion dollars in less than 10 years.
White and his mentors the Fertittas are the ilk of Las Vegas and Nevada. Please remember in order for employeees to seek union representation they must first go to the NLRB and ask for a vote, but previous to this their employer, in this case the Fertittas abused and mistreated their employees,hense the electiion. What comes around goes around.
haters.Ive been watching and attending events since 2001,,thank god for dana and the UFC....truth is football in more brutal....when you say legitimize you mean Lie,, bull xxxx....act as if..i'm sure we dont always get the truth from Dana but at least he says what many think...and for guys in T shirts ...be glad the UFC came along becuase our men in the country were turning into weak cowards through our saftey first school systems...where you cant even be a boy you just go sit infront of a box in your house and get fat.....Last i checked the world is brutal...those fighters for the most part act like gentalmen....Class Like Boxing??? Like Floyd??? please ... Viva Dana white
J Patrick:
Would you rather have the constant public relations dribble that comes out of most celebrities mouths...where celebrities, owners and commissioners repeat what their publicists spend hours brainstorming as they think thats what we want to hear. Dana tells it like it is (i.e. Overeem) and I for one think its refreshing.
The unions could care less about UFC, they are doing this to try to force the Fertitta's and their workers into the union...plain and simple. Am I wrong, but if the vast majoirty of workers wanted a union, couldn't they force the Fertitta's to unionize. I for one have been in a union and would vote NO.
Dana would gain more respect if he would learn to speak without injecting 10 expletives. He's a hard worker and lives for his company...swearing in conversation is just the bane of small minded people.
At some point for the UFC to advance further they will need to get rid of White and his potty mouth and put a grown up in charge.
The Fertittas seem to prefer tough talking street thugs to run their operation. They have that in Kevin Kelly as well(COO of Stations Casinos.) Kevin will distort the facts, attack the competition and intimidate employees, all in attempt to mononpolize the market, much the same as the UFC did with MMA..http://teamtakeover.forum-express.com/t1605-the-ufc-the-fertittas-and-the-corrupt-athletic-comissions