Dana White on Kimbo Slice before and after signing with UFC (Video)
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I said it in the Doll thread yesterday.....or whatever you call them......
“I HATE DANA FOR BRINGING KIMBO TO THE UFC!!!” And I believe that Houston got paid from someone on losing that fight. Something just wasn’t right about it. And don’t give me that he was afraid of Kimbo’s power because he doesn’t have any! I can’t believe that we have treads about this no talent bum. I don’t blame Kimbo either, it’s Dana!
1+ to that
Kimbo is trash and Dana is a pathological liar.
by Lester The Pimp on Jan 27, 2010 9:36 AM EST up reply actions
Just watched the video
Dana never really contradicted himself… he said Kimbo sucks, then he said Kimbo comes to fight (never saying he is good)… he said Kimbo will have to be on TUF to get into UFC, and he was on TUF… he said Kimbo isnt good enough to win TUF, and he wasn’t… Bottom line is Dana talked shit about Kimbo because of the way he was being portrayed by Elite XC, as one of the best fighters in the world and worthy of main event status. In the UFC, Kimbo is being billed as what he really is: an average fighter that is exciting to watch. Kimbo earned respect for stepping up to Dana’s challenge and joining the cast of TUF as well he should. Its more than I can say for Fedor, at least Kimbo wants to fight the best! Now Kimbo is training at a legit camp and really wanting to improve. Kimbo does suck, but Dana never said he was good.
by PHISH NATION on Jan 27, 2010 12:10 PM EST up reply actions
Seriously PHISH NATION?
Your posts are usually suspect at best, but that’s one of your worst. You just implied that Kimbo deserves more respect in MMA than Fedor does. Damn that’s terrible.
"You can observe a lot just by watching."-Yogi Berra
Nope
I never said that at all… I said Kimbo deserves respect for stepping up the challenge and wantign to fight the best. Fedor is one of the best HW’s in the world, no doubt about it. BIG DIFFERENCE! Fedor obviously desreves a ton of respect for what he has done, but I also beleive he needs to fight the best to truly be considered the best. The best are in the UFC. Dana cant help it if Houston ran away for 3 rounds, and he cut him right after that. Also, the TUF Finale’s are always full of fighters that lost on the show, so its not like he got preferential treatment.
I bashed Fedor for not coming to the UFC and thus not having to fight thte top guys… I never said Kimbo is better or deserves more respect. I just wish Fedor had the mentality of a guy that just wanteed to challenge himself instead of protecting his legacy!
by PHISH NATION on Jan 27, 2010 12:20 PM EST up reply actions
Man, I've defended Kimbo on here many times
but the guy bitched out on the show. He wouldn’t fight because he had arthritis in his knee. Yet, he still got picked to fight on the finale over other guys that were willing to fight. He was gifted one of the few fighters on the UFC’s roster that he could actually beat. If that’s not getting preferential treatment I don’t know what is. I’ve not seen anything that shows that Kimbo is willing to fight stiffer competition than Fedor. Really it’s just another uninformed, ridiculous homer post.
"You can observe a lot just by watching."-Yogi Berra
Come on Dice...
You call Phish on a “homer post”, I’m calling you on a “hater post”. No one can deny Kimbo’s drawing power, and this is a business after all. The guy has been featured in many of the most watched MMA matches of all time. And lots of actual fighters have been complimentary about Kimbo’s striking (hands). We all know his weaknesses, but look at Daley and all the fans he’s garnered without showing any ground skills whatsoever, meanwhile most hardcores know that it’s just a matter of time before he gets exposed by one of the many wrestlers in that division. I understand some of us are “purists” but tell me you wouldn’t have wanted to see Kimbo vs. James Toney (had they been able to set it up) as an opener for one of the next PPVs. In the end Phish is right in saying that Dana “technically” didn’t contradict himself and Dana even admitted to talking crazy amounts of smack before signing the guy. So, with respect Dice, I have to strongly disagree with you in this case. Oh and how, exactly does Fedor fit into all of this??
by Canucklehead. on Jan 27, 2010 4:57 PM EST up reply actions
I don't hate Kimbo, so no, I wouldn't want to see him get decapitated by James Toney
I’m not talking about Kimbo’s drawing power. I’m not talking about the reasons why Dana signed him. I have yet to see other fighters heaping praise on Kimbo’s hands(why would they?). You’re seriously comparing Semtex to Kimbo? Semtex just took out two contenders(both of which had very solid ground games), and Kimbo just took out Houston Alexander. Daley’s striking is on a different planet from Kimbo’s. How can you compare those two? I didn’t say that Phish wasn’t right about Dana contradicting himself(although only a piss-poor amount of semantics could keep one from claiming that). None of the things you talked about were what I was talking about. I don’t know what the point of your post is, nor do I understand why it was addressed to me. Fedor fits into this because Phish brought him into it, which is what I was responding to. I’m not hating on Kimbo, like I said, I’ve defended him many times on here. I did point out that Kimbo kind of pussed out though. Wasn’t hating on the guy just pointing out a fact. I wasn’t bashing or “hating” on anyone, I was simply calling Phish out for his posts because they’re awful.
"You can observe a lot just by watching."-Yogi Berra
Fair enough...
I’m obviously not comparing Semtex’ striking to Ferg’s, I’m talking about his one dimensional attack relative to Kimbo’s. I watched Daley UD loss to Nick Thompson 1 year ago and his striking certainly wasn’t out of this world in that fight (also, Kampman – a kickboxer – didn’t even go for a takedown and Hazlett, although certainly a wiz on the ground, is no wrestler). My point is that Daley has been protected from his kryptonite – a top notch wrestler – in his first few UFC fights, just like Kimbo was given Alexander in his first UFC fight. A fight we all thought would at least be interesting (too bad it totally wasnt). I also didn’t like Kimbo’s reaction to being offered back into mix on the show, but that said, it probably wouldn’t have been smart of him to go for it if he wasn’t 100%. He still pussed, it was just likely the right move financially for him.
I guess I responded to you because you seemed to disagree with Phish’s entire post, and I thought that your summation that he had “implied that Kimbo deserves more respect in MMA than Fedor does” was way off. I figured he was talking about Dana’s respect, which would make more sense.
Oh and I think it was Rashad that spoke of Kimbo’s hands by the way, not that what Rashad says rules, it’s just that he didn’t have much of a reason to say it when he did.
by Canucklehead. on Jan 27, 2010 7:03 PM EST up reply actions
Did you seriously compare Semtex's striking to Kimbo's?
Semtex is a muai thai world champion with over 75% of his wins coming by KO, Kimbo is an overrated streetfighter with no athletic background who beat up talentless morons on youtube videos and has done nothing in MMA since. Toney is also a former multi-weight world champion in boxing, he would murder Kimbo in a fight.
This is why I hate Kimbo, I’m sick of clueless morons buying into the hype and comparing this guy to world class strikers, when the guy has done nothing other than break the law and beat the occasional can when some crook promotes him as a legitimate fighter. Fuck Dana and the Shaws, they’re all as bad as each other.
"If I could change my name what would it be? Jesus"
Tito Ortiz (seriously...)
I don't think Kimbo is a world class striker. Are there really people out there that do?
I just like to see K-Ferg fight for some reason. I also thought he came across as a fairly likable guy on the show. I mean, if Big Baby liked him, he’s got to be a pretty good person, amirite?
Also David, if the guy was, as you say, breaking the law. And on film, no less. Why hasn’t anyone (local cops etc.) done anything about it?
And “Dana and the Shaws are as bad as each other”? Come on now David. Dana may have an interesting way of doing and saying things, but he’s no Gary Shaw, or (shudder) $kalla.
It is also too bad we didn’t get to see Toney fight Kimbo because now we’ll never know. I agree Toney would kill Kimbo in a boxing match, but, as we all know, this is MMA and sometimes “side check kicks” just aren’t enough.
See my reply to Diceman above for my thoughts on Semtex.
by Canucklehead. on Jan 27, 2010 7:15 PM EST up reply actions
Streetfighting is illegal, at least it's supposed to be
Look at what happened to Din Thomas when he got caught doing illegal fights, he managed to get away with it in the end by claiming that it was a “training session” but he almost ended up in prison.
The Shaws are scumbags and Skala is a typical talentless spoilt brat living off his dad’s success but Dana is just as bad as them in the sense that he cares more about making money than making the sport credible. Top promotions should not be hyping up Kimbo until he actually does something.
Semtex was not at his best against Thompson, that was his fault for being unprepared for the fight but it still doesn’t take away his achievements in muai thai or his striking skills in MMA. Semtex was originally supposed to fight Brian Foster at 103 before Swick pulled out and then fight Condit at 108 until he pulled out and was replaced with McLovin. He wasn’t given easy fights and ended up getting more difficult replacements. In the end he KO’d Kampmann and Dustin before they could get the fight to the ground, showing his superior striking. He’s also a purple belt in BJJ and has a great sprawl, which is why Kampmann couldn’t get the fight to the ground even on the rare occassions that he tried. Kimbo doesn’t have any BJJ at all and has poor TDD as well, it’s a lazy and terrible comparison.
Kimbo hasn’t shown much MMA skills in his fights and against a former world champion boxer he’d get smashed. He doesn’t throw many leg kicks and has arthritic joints himself, plus his cardio sucks and his grappling is poor as well. Kimbo would get KO’d by Toney as quick as Sylvia did by Mercer, look at what happened when Kimbo faced Seth nevermind how he’d deal against a hard puncher fighting with lighter gloves.
"If I could change my name what would it be? Jesus"
Tito Ortiz (seriously...)
Man you can be prickly...
Regarding Streetfighting, I agree it’s not the best way to spend your time but I think the most illegal part of a streetfight is the wagering that takes place, and of course if someone is making money off of the fighters through paid attendance (without approval of regulators). But to call Kimbo a criminal because he took part in those fights is going too far. I mean, if you’ll remember the only guy to beat Kimbo in those fights was former police officer Sean Gannon, so they couldn’t have been breaking too many laws.
RE Daley, yeah he’s had some stiff competition but you have to admit, in the list you gave me, there’s nary a world class wrestler in the bunch. So, just like your thoughts on Toney vs Kimbo, are we supposed to be surprised that Daley crushes guys that come to fight him right “in his wheelhouse”? You said it yourself he’s a muai tai world champion, so shouldn’t he kill guys that try to stand with him? UFC and MMA history shows that pure strikers like Daley (with all due respect to his purple belt) have a very difficult time with great wrestlers. The UFC has given him some time to pick up his ground game, just like they will do for Kimbo. And seriously dude, stop being so dense, the comparison is not “terrible” or “lazy” because I’m comparing the UFC’s treatment of the fighters, I’m not comparing the two fighters themselves, other than stating that they both appear to have some major holes in their games. I realize you’re from the UK and Daley is your boy but that doesn’t change the fact that he is weak on the ground compared to most of the top 10 welterweights in the world.
Now as for your thoughts on Dana, we’ll have to disagree. I say Dana has probably done more to " make the sport credible" than any other person on the planet (minus the Fertittas). You will remember that upon purchasing the UFC, and in the face of government officials compating it to “dog fighting”, Dana and Zuffa moved towards legitimization and regulation for MMA. As soon as they bought the UFC they set up a division in the company to work on Regulation across North America and beyond. So, in my mind, to compare Dana to the Shaws the way you did above, just shows how long you’ve been watching MMA (or at least how much you know about its history). And to say that Dana’s actions surrounding Kimbo, remember he’s never said he’s the best thing since slice’d bread (and neither have I by the way), somehow brings him to the level of the Shaws, is ludicrous and ridiculously short sighted.
Again, I absolutely understand that Kimbo is not a fully evolved fighter and perhaps he’s already reached his potential. I’m just saying that I came to like him on the show and I would now count myself as a fan. Which should be allowed, by-the-way. I mean I’m sure you like some fighters that aren’t the absolute top of their divisions, correct?
by Canucklehead. on Jan 28, 2010 12:20 PM EST up reply actions
OK so, upon reading my reply, I think I might have came across as a little "douchey"...
I mean no disrespect David, just another hardcore MMA fan looking for a discussion, not necessarily a comment war. I respect most of what you post, and recognize you’re a regular, I just sometime feel like Kimbo and Dana take some unnecessarily dramatic heat in the comments on this site (and others of course). Hopefully, I haven’t burned a bridge here David. Friends? ;)
by Canucklehead. on Jan 28, 2010 12:27 PM EST up reply actions
"Kimbo can't fight", "Kimbo can fight, he is a fighter"
Contradiction right there.
He said that he’d have to win TUF and that he wasn’t just going to promote him for the sake of ratings yet the whole series was built around Kimbo despite him getting eliminated straight away and never fighting again, then he gave him a tailor made opponent again for the sake of ratings.
How is fighting Houston and Meathead fighting the best? That’s laughable comparing Fedor to Kimbo, what’s next Andy and Canseco? The man has proven himself time and time again in Pride, Affliction, Bodog, Rings and now in Strikeforce. Unlike Kimbo, Fedor isn’t prepared to work for someone that repeatedly insulted him to the media and made their contract negotiations public. Fedor doesn’t need Dana’s money and has too much pride to work for someone who has treat him the way that Dana has.
"If I could change my name what would it be? Jesus"
Tito Ortiz (seriously...)
SUPER FUNNY VIDEO
I loved the punching sounds added from Roy and the marry-go-round, too funny.
Kimbo should not be fighting in MMA yet at least at this level, it’s ridiculous.
Funniest Fan Shot so far
Awesome find Mania, had to rec it.
"If I could change my name what would it be? Jesus"
Tito Ortiz (seriously...)
AWESOME!!
Great post!!! Dana ‘The Hypocrite’ White.
"Champions are not made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision." -Muhammad Ali
This gu has MANY great videos.......
Check ALLL them out on youtube. You ever see “Bisping’s Isle”???? Same guy that did that dd this one.
I love all vid created by Lookoutawhale. Dude is funny as hell!!!
Man Dana...
Really is sad when put together like that.
But still….. If you think of it overall… Hippocrite or not….Kimbo is helping the UFC.
He pulls the biggest ratings and that gets more people watching the UFC. So as sad as it is to say he did help the sport of MMA….. Even though he has next to no skills….
"He got to the championship a couple times but choked…no literally, he got choked..... twice." - Matt Serra talking about Frank Trigg
Dana White before he shaved his head.....
"Champions are not made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision." -Muhammad Ali
+50
"He got to the championship a couple times but choked…no literally, he got choked..... twice." - Matt Serra talking about Frank Trigg
That is good stuff.
Just shows how good Dana is at his job though. Does he lie a little bit? Yea he does. But mostly it’s all hyperbole to sell his product. That happens to be his job as a promoter though. In my opinion it gets overlooked at how good of a job Dana does promoting the UFC. I mean look at Reed Harris and Scott Coker those two have never convinced me of something I didn’t already know or got me to watch something I wasn’t going to watch anyway. No other promoter in MMA adds ratings and brings value to their product like Dana White does for the UFC.
Just BE.
Dam straight
I watch MMA for the fights, so why is everyone hating so much the UFC deliver. Last time i checked UFC were the biggest and best organisation for MMA, so this proves in fact that Dana White is actually brilliant at his job, because the UFC put on great card after great card. Hence the rapid growth
So if he feels recruiting Kimbo would help concrete UFC standings we should respect that. I doubt he thinks Kimbo is the best or even good enough to send a message but i bet he loves the money and attention he/UFC is getting and don’t be angry with him for that. Without demand there would be no supply. The fact is people tune in to watch Kimbo so if UFC didn’t sign him Strikeforce would. At least UFC is big enough to deal with another Kimbo downfall.
Also why is it such a bad thing that people change their opinion/stance, surely that shows growth and learning even the terrible DANA WHITE can change. Ok this seems a little two faced but i find that in all areas of business. You may not agree with everything he says but if it wasn’t for him being so cut throat i doubt we would have a sport of this size and nature to talk about.
PROPS GO OUT TO DW
by MMA changed the world on Jan 27, 2010 11:07 AM EST up reply actions
SF could have signed Kimbo, but they weren't interested
The thing with Dana is that he always changes his mind on people, he acts like he cares about the fighters and he does when they are in the UFC but if they ever choose to leave or ask for a better offer he throws a hissy fit and insults them, whilst if he can’t sign someone then they suck or are overrated. Look at his stupid comments about Fedor, the only reason that he bashes him is because he’s not in the UFC, if he was then Fedor would be promoted as the greatest fighter of all time. It’s also funny how SF were regarded as a legitimate promotion by Dana and Coker was a top businessman, yet now they’re a threat to the UFC monopoly they’re suddenly Strikefarce ran by Scott who?
Dana is just as two faced and hypocritical as any boxing promoter, according to his logic if you don’t agree with him or aren’t in the UFC then you suck or are a moron holding back the sport. As good a promoter as he is I can’t respect his character and I certainly can’t take anything that he says seriously or trust what he says.
"If I could change my name what would it be? Jesus"
Tito Ortiz (seriously...)
Coker held talks
As my memory permits he had talks to sign him. What happened?
Ok when has the UFC let you down? Dana deserve the credit for delivering time and time again? I think people need to remember Promotors of any kind this even includes politician talk sh!t and tell you things you want to hear. What people need to do is take it with a pinch of salt. The quote they give are as worthy as the paper they are printed on, i dont mind Dana. I know he talks alot of sh!t but as long as UFC are putting together cards each month and not bringing negativity to the sport we can only but love them for that.
But to form a strong opinion about anyone based on their quotes and interviews is a little silly. I bet if anyone of you lot sat down with him over a beer talking MMA you all would walk away from that experience thinking this man knows his stuff, sorry to say we only the fans we know very little (in fact we only know what he wants us to know) he is the one who really knows the in’s and out’s of the business.
If you can’t respect his character respect his knowledge and operating skills in the industry.
by MMA changed the world on Jan 27, 2010 11:41 AM EST up reply actions
Kimbo was overpriced, Coker wasn't stupid enough to pay him $500k like Elite
Honestly I don’t care what Dana does as long as he puts on the best possible shows but recently there have been some duds, not all are his fault by any means but hyping up losers like Kimbo purely for ratings is not the sort of thing that I want to see from the top MMA promotion in the world. The Couture-Coleman main event is a joke and it’s worrying that the winner is supposed to be getting the next title fight, whilst Chuck-Tito III is a complete waste of time. The UFC have put on a lot of excellent cards but they’re not all perfect by any means and I’m not going to blindly follow the UFC or Dana especially when they do things that they bash other companies for like hire Kimbo and promote him as a star.
As for Dana as a person I can’t judge him as I’ve never met him, but the way that he has behaved over the years as well as what others have said about him doesn’t paint a pretty picture of him. He makes foul mouthed rants about Sherdog reporters if they write something that he doesn’t like, he’s disrespected Fedor so many times that he wants nothing to do with the UFC, he pubically humiliated Rampage and he acted as if Hendo was worthless when he left. Sure, he’s done a lot of things right and is great at promoting fights and the sport to the masses but I’m not going to respect him hiring a loser who he said sucked until he got the chance to sign him.
Like I said, Dana is clearly no different to all of the scumbag boxing promoters he loves to call out. He’s no different to Vince McMahon either. All these people are interested in is making money and once you’re no longer making him money then he wants nothing to do with you. He seems to be friendly to the fans but if you don’t do what he wants then he can be a nasty piece of work. And it doesn’t take a genius to realise that turning on your former employees, publically slandering fighters, managers, journalists or whoever pissed Dana off that day, publically discussing contract negotiations or bashing top stars from other promotions is not a good way to do business. He’s helped the sport to grow but in other ways he’s also held MMA and the UFC back.
"If I could change my name what would it be? Jesus"
Tito Ortiz (seriously...)
Granted
There have been a few things in his past that have made him look sh!t. You can’t say he just dumps people though, Chuck has been his top boy since the early 00’s. Win or lose Dana will stand by him.
Page needs cutting back a little
Sorry to disagree but Kimbo is worth his money because he sells the PPL (thats the only reason mind you). Hendo was a big name that found it hard to sell PPL. Elite XC just had no business strategy, well they did sell completely out.
I think we both agree DW comes across badly but the guy deserves respect from all MMA fans because we are where we are because of him
Take it easy i have to go.
by MMA changed the world on Jan 27, 2010 12:35 PM EST up reply actions
"Champions are not made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision." -Muhammad Ali
I'm listening to this vid
instead of watching it because I thought it was just 1 or 2 interviews. When I heard the canned punching sounds at the end, I assumed that they had a picture of someone beating a dead horse.
Listen, Dana did a good job of bringing Kimbo on and he did a good job of manning up to his remarks about Kimbo. Leave it alone already.
Have fun watching more shitty Kimbo fights then, just because his internet fanbase like him
It’s just as bad as the Japanese freakshows in my opinion, though at least Dream and Pride never boasted about refusing to put on freakshow fights for the sake of ratings like Dana did.
"If I could change my name what would it be? Jesus"
Tito Ortiz (seriously...)
You guys realize that Kimbo vs Houston Alexander was rigged
You realize that Dana rigged Kimbo vs Houston Alexander? Any of you guys lose money on that? The Federal Govt needs to step in and through these fucking criminals in jail for fraud.
If any fight in the UFC was rigged since Zuffa took over then it was Kimbo-Houston
Call me naive but I trust that the UFC aren’t shady, but I can see why anyone would call that fight rigged. Then again Houston is stupid enough to think that skipping around in a circle for an entire round is a good strategy and that you should allow a gassed opponent with arthritic knees to slowly get back to his feet when you’ve dropped him with a leg kick.
"If I could change my name what would it be? Jesus"
Tito Ortiz (seriously...)
Nothing ever said on this site
is as dumb as saying the UFC fixed the Kimbo fight or any fight for that matter. That is so beyond ridiculous, it makes my head hurt. Thats like saying the NFL fixed the AFC Championship too, haha.
by PHISH NATION on Jan 28, 2010 11:20 AM EST up reply actions
so you want to...
kill mma? without the ufc, mma would still be an underground bloodsport and we’d miss out on a ton of good fights. ufc has the money to pool most of the world’s best mma fighters, strikeforce is building up quick but its not as big as the ufc. strikeforce isnt as widely spread as the ufc is. i really doubt the ufc wanted houston to fight like that. kimbo couldve went brawling with houston, get ktfo and be brought back later on. kimbo’s next fight is with another striker in matt mitrione. they want a good brawl. kimbo is at the level of lashley. lots of fans behind them but both still very green. saying they rigged it.. just sounds like someone lost a big bet.
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