Dana White Interview o.a. over The Ultimate Fighter
Dana White Interview
Question: How are things shaping up for "The Ultimate Fighter" finale
on April 9th?
Dana White: "Everything is coming together real well. We are actually
about to have a staff meeting here in 2 minutes to make sure everything
is on track."
Question: After the show had finished filming, you had referred to the
experience as a "nightmare." Is there anything you learned from the
experience or from the feedback of the viewers that will help improve
the show upon its second season?
Dana White: "It was definitely harder than I anticipated. We were
there filming non stop every day but it was much harder on the fighters
themselves. That's all those guys did 24/7. They were not allowed to
watch TV, listen to music, read, or basically have contact with the
outside world.
I think there are some things in the show that we think we can change
and make better for Season two. I think Season two will end up being a
great show for the simple fact that there are going to be heavyweights
competing."
Question: Were their any particular fighter/fighters from the show,
regardless of if they won or lost, that you feel are at the UFC level?
Dana White: "I was very happy with the cast. As far as the question
goes; obviously the finalist. I also really liked Nate Quarry and Mike
Swick. There were alot of guys I liked."
Question: During the show, there seemed to be some friction between
Bobby Southworth and yourself. Was that an accurate portrayal of the
relationship?
Dana White: "Bobby and I butted heads a couple of times. You have to
understand and put it in context though. We were together everyday.
Guys would start to go crazy because of the living situation and being
locked up in the house. You got to understand; there was alot of
footage that you did not see. There's about 4,000 hours of footage and
you guys get to see 44 minutes of it on Monday. Me and Bobby had some
good times as well (laughing)."
Question: Are there any plans to air the fights that might not be shown
on April 9th?
Dana White: "Those fights will not be shown during the April 9th show.
We don't know what we will be doing with that footage but we going to do
something with it. Those fights could end up airing on Spike TV at a
later date but at this time we are not sure."
Question: Ken Shamrock is the biggest pay per view draw in the company.
Why put his fight on free TV instead of using his remaining fights to
increase PPV buys?
Dana White: "I think Ken Shamrock is one of the most famous fighters in
the UFC. We want the finale to go out with a bang. Putting Ken in the
Main Event made sense to us."
Question: As the sport of Mixed Martial Arts evolves, the fighters will
want to see increases in their contracts as well. Tito Ortiz is a
recent example of this. Have you ever considered offering the fighters
a certain percentage of PPV revenue if it reaches a certain level of
buys? This would help motivate the fighters to promote the event and if
the number of expected buys are not met, Zuffa loses nothing on the
deal.
Dana White: "Maybe they already have that (laughing). We have done
alot of great things in the last few years but this sport still isn't at
the level of boxing as far as money is concerned. I think the fighters
are getting exactly what they should be paid. We run this thing like a
business and these guys make a percentage of what comes in.
The way it works for boxing is different. HBO will pay 3 million
dollars to make the Floyd Mayweather vs Arturo Gotti fight. Bob Arhum
will then go out and negotiate with Mayweather and his camp and so on.
He takes no risk. There is no risk for those guys. Promoting boxing is
simple. A little kid could do it! Here at Zuffa, in promoting Mixed
Martial Arts, we are the ones taking the risk. We put up the money for
all of the stuff. We market it, promote it, pay for the venue, and
everything else. It's a whole different ball game. Comparing MMA to
boxing is like comparing apples to oranges."
Question: How are the negotiations going with Tito Ortiz?
Dana White: "I have not negotiated with Tito Ortiz at all. We haven't
even talked to Tito."
Question: Do you feel that future money making matches involving Tito
Ortiz versus Chuck Liddell, Ken Shamrock, and even Lee Murray can
justify the kind of money he wants per fight on a new deal?
Dana White: "No."
Question: Will you be going over to the Pride Grand Prix Tournament
with Vitor Belfort and will Belfort still be involved in future UFC
matches, regardless of how he does in the tournament?
Dana White: "Vitor Belfort is a UFC fighter that you will see in the
future, regardless of how he does over there. I will be going over
there to support him as our UFC representative."
Question: How do you respond to critics who feel that the UFC comes off
looking weak by sending fighters over to Pride when the favor is not
returned?
Dana White: "I'm counting on them returning the favor. As far as us
looking weak over there, that doesn't bother me at all. I say it every
day. I will put my fighters up against any of their guys. Any day they
want to send Vanderlai Silva over here to fight Randy Couture or Chuck
Liddell, we can do it! I mean that's what it is all about. I'm in this
thing to see the best fights."
Question: In the past, you have stated that the UFC's demographic
audience is made up of more boxing fans than that of fans of Pro
Wrestling. With "The Ultimate Fighter" retaining a large percentage of
its Pro Wrestling lead in; has your feelings changed on that subject?
Dana White: "No not at all because TUF is a whole different thing.
There is a lot of storylines involved with that show. It's like a soap
opera where you tune in every week to see what is going to happen with
the guys. The difference being that they fight for real. TUF is right
up the alley of the WWE's fan base because of the storyline aspect of
the show.
Our Pay Per Views are geared more towards a traditional boxing audience.
It's for guys who like real fights. We have done studies on it, in
regards to our pay per views, and they are definitely viewed more by
those with a taste for boxing."
Question: Is there any concern of media backlash is regards to signing
Sean Gannon?
Dana White: "There is no real backlash we can get. We are a legitimate
sport. We are sanctioned in every state in this country that would host
a big boxing event. As long as Gannon comes in and fights by the rules
of the Nevada State Athletic Commission or wherever we might be, what
difference does it make?"
Question: Are there any plans to crown a UFC lightweight champ?
Dana White: "No, not anytime soon. Yves Edwards is the guy who I
consider as our lightweight champ. I am probably going to send him over
to one of those tournaments in Japan. I like to keep our guys active
and making money. The guys who fight for me our loyal and they know we
treat them well. I don't hold anyone back from anything.
In the American market now, we just don't have a slot for a lightweight
champion. I would still put my name and the UFC name behind Yves
Edwards. I would love to send him over to Japan as a representative of
our company for the upcoming Bushido tournament. He could go over there
and make some money and probably win the thing. That's what makes this
whole thing fun anyways, right?"
Question: Are there any plans for a female division?
Dana White: "Well, that is going to take awhile. We are just getting
people use to the guys fighting. The show on April 9th will be the
first time that a MMA match will be televised on free TV and the sport
has been around for 11 years. That in itself is huge."
Question: Will we ever see a UFC tournament, similar to that of the
Pride Grand Prix?
Dana White: "No, not where you see a guy fight twice in the same night.
I don't think you will ever see that in the U.S. with the commission."
Question: Let me throw three names at you; Jens Pulver, BJ Penn, and
Jeremy Horn. I hear from alot of fans who want to see these guys back
in the UFC. Are you interested in signing any of these three fighters?
Dana White: "You know, it's funny. People always say that they want to
see them in the UFC so bad but when they were here, people weren't that
crazy about them. Everybody was bitching about Jens Pulver, saying that
every time he fought that he would stall and was boring.
People could have cared less about BJ Penn. He never sold any tickets
or Pay Per Views. Who was the other one, Jeremy Horn? You should know
what I mean. I find that statement funny.
I like Jeremy Horn, and Jens. BJ and I are friends. I just don't think
that there are that many people that are excited to see them back in the
UFC. BJ just fought in Japan and both times they did not even put him
on television. He's not selling any tickets over there either. I went
to go see him fight Gomi in Hawaii and the place there wasn't even sold
out."
Question: Any opinions on Pride possibly promoting in the United States?
Dana White: "I think it would be great. We need as many shows out
there as possible. Even in regards to the smaller shows; they are all
great for the sport. More active fighters out there mean we have a
bigger pool to choose from. It will eventually mean more money as well.
We need all these shows for the sport to grow."
Question: I have been hearing reports that the Tito Ortiz vs. Vitor
Belfort PPV did over 100,000 buys. Is that correct?
Dana White: "That would be great (laughing), Over a 100,000 would be
awesome. We don't give out our PPV numbers."
Question: Is there a projection that you are hoping for in regards to
the number of buys for the Randy Couture vs. Chuck Liddell PPV?
Dana White: "That's a tough one. You know I would like to do numbers
like the last Eric Morales boxing fight. I hear they did 400,000. I
would love to do how much the WWE probably did last night. How many did
they do, you know?"
Interviewer: I think Wrestlemania this year might have done around
750,000 buys.
Dana White: "Trust me. Call me after doing 750,000 buys. I will be
doing cartwheels around the office!!! That is awesome. That is where I
some day hope to be."
Question: Is there a realistic TV rating that you are hoping to get for
the TUF finale?
Dana White: "Well, we are hoping to crush our highest weekly rating so
far which is a 2.03. We are hoping to crush that for the finale."
Question: Do you have any advice for upcoming fighters who want to make
it to the UFC one day?
Dana White: "They need to start out in these smallers shows like the
WEC, the AFC down in Florida; there are small shows all around the
country where guys fight. We pretty much keep our eyes on all of them.
We like to see who is up and coming, who they just beat, and those type
of things. We realy keep a good eye on it. They just need to get their
game down and start fighting in one of these smaller shows."
Question: Mr. White, I thank you for your time. You can close the
interview out with anything you want to put out there.
Dana White: "Right now we are negotisting with Spike TV and we are
hoping that they will be the home of the UFC. "The Ultimate Fighter"
is the 3rd highest rated show on Spike TV, trailing only RAW and CSI.
It is the #1 origonal program on the netowrk. It nearly doubles what
the NBA does on ESPN for regular season games and nearly does 6 times
the numbers that the NHL did on ESPN 2. We hope to do alot of things
with Spike TV in the future."
Re: Dana White Interview o.a. over The Ultimate Fighter
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wheelie
Dana White: "Right now we are negotisting with Spike TV and we are
hoping that they will be the home of the UFC. "The Ultimate Fighter"
is the 3rd highest rated show on Spike TV, trailing only RAW and CSI.
It is the #1 origonal program on the netowrk. It nearly doubles what
the NBA does on ESPN for regular season games and nearly does 6 times
the numbers that the NHL did on ESPN 2. We hope to do alot of things
with Spike TV in the future."
En dat voor het 1e seizoen. Let maar op wat er gebeurd met meer bekendheid en meer ervaring. dit wordt de sport van de toekomst :thumbs:
