Dana White's mission: turning UFC into WWE

[OneManGang]

If Dana White's favorite football team plays defensive, securing the lead for the last half of the game.... Dana is very happy! His team has secured the win and not been trying crazy onside kicks the last 3 minutes of a game when leading with 6 points.  When Dana's football team is taking their star players off the field when carrying a huge lead, Dana complements them for being smart in letting their players avoid injury so that they can play another day.

But in the "sport" called UFC, it is more important to entertain (aka as $$$) then to win. It is more important to entertain than to consider the health of the fighter.

If Dana wants entertainment then he should script the fights himself, just like his cousin Vince from WWE. It is more honorable to call a spectacle a spectacle rather than disguising it as a "sport"

[WeightPSHR]

If Dana White's favorite football team plays defensive, securing the lead for the last half of the game.... Dana is very happy! His team has secured the win and not been trying crazy onside kicks the last 3 minutes of a game when leading with 6 points.  When Dana's football team is taking their star players off the field when carrying a huge lead, Dana complements them for being smart in letting their players avoid injury so that they can play another day.

But in the "sport" called UFC, it is more important to entertain (aka as $$$) then to win. It is more important to entertain than to consider the health of the fighter.

If Dana wants entertainment then he should script the fights himself, just like his cousin Vince from WWE. It is more honorable to call a spectacle a spectacle rather than disguising it as a "sport"

Not sure I get your point here? You do know that there are rules against not imposing contact against your opponent in MMA right? Dana didn't write those rules either.

MMA/UFC is partly entertainment as well. Nobody wants to watch a fighter 'play it safe' all the time. I am sure fighters are aware of this.

[K-1]

If Dana White's favorite football team plays defensive, securing the lead for the last half of the game.... Dana is very happy! His team has secured the win and not been trying crazy onside kicks the last 3 minutes of a game when leading with 6 points.  When Dana's football team is taking their star players off the field when carrying a huge lead, Dana complements them for being smart in letting their players avoid injury so that they can play another day.

But in the "sport" called UFC, it is more important to entertain (aka as $$$) then to win. It is more important to entertain than to consider the health of the fighter.

If Dana wants entertainment then he should script the fights himself, just like his cousin Vince from WWE. It is more honorable to call a spectacle a spectacle rather than disguising it as a "sport"

One of the things what will always frustrate dana is out of his control imo. He can try to open up new sites (which is great for exposure..etc) but he has to HOPE his fights turn out "ok" to "great" which basically means he is relying on his fighters solely...that's it imo..not the presentation of his "show" .....100% on the fighters shoulders....he won't even win that battle imo...fighters fight to win by any mean necessary imo ..entertainment is a distant second place.

He can thank his win,win or we can drop you contracts for that way of thinking along with the if you want $$$ you need to win purses.

Dana would need to inject a penalty type of system where purse is deducted for zero activity, change his presentation of his show so it takes some of the weight off the fighters carrying the load or bribe fighters to do A and B.

Other than that....I can see fight like the silva match up happening again. Even H.Alexander vs kimbo was a shocker....that fight had WAR written all over it but what happened......fighter got in there and wanted to win more than entertain...it will happen again and he will be embarrassed again.

Only thing Dana can do is HOPE his guys give for the fans even if they have to lose trying.

How do you guys feel Silva should be handed for his defense of his title?

If i'm Silva and Dana tells me I need to fight harder for the fans as the champ while I have a guy whose fighting for my title and his only game plan is to "catch me slipping" I laugh at him.

[WeightPSHR]

One of the things what will always frustrate dana is out of his control imo. He can try to open up new sites (which is great for exposure..etc) but he has to HOPE his fights turn out "ok" to "great" which basically means he is relying on his fighters solely...that's it imo..not the presentation of his "show" .....100% on the fighters shoulders....he won't even win that battle imo...fighters fight to win by any mean necessary imo ..entertainment is a distant second place.

He can thank his win,win or we can drop you contracts for that way of thinking along with the if you want $$$ you need to win purses.

Dana would need to inject a penalty type of system where purse is deducted for zero activity, change his presentation of his show so it takes some of the weight off the fighters carrying the load or bribe fighters to do A and B.

Other than that....I can see fight like the silva match up happening again. Even H.Alexander vs kimbo was a shocker....that fight had WAR written all over it but what happened......fighter got in there and wanted to win more than entertain...it will happen again and he will be embarrassed again.

Only thing Dana can do is HOPE his guys give for the fans even if they have to lose trying.

How do you guys feel Silva should be handed for his defense of his title?

If i'm Silva and Dana tells me I need to fight harder for the fans as the champ while I have a guy whose fighting for my title and his only game plan is to "catch me slipping" I laugh at him.

I don't know if Dana really has a lot of options with Silva. He can let him fight in other weight classes, but the belt is still Silva's in the LHW division. That has to be dealt with.

Silva is under contract so Dana can buy him out and cut him, but that is bad for business.

At this point I think Dana and Anderson owe the fans a FREE title fight. If Silva changes his antics, then back to business as usual. It is one thing to play it safe like GSP, but what Silva did by showboating and mocking Maia and not being aggressive on top of that is what Dana is pissed about. If Silva had finished the fight I am sure Dana and fans would not be as upset

[MindSpin]

I don't think Dana needs to be apologizing for anything.  He did his job.  He promoted a fight.  If it doesn't turn out to be a barnburner, it's not his fault.  I think he's making it worse.  What they need to do, is figure out WTF is wrong with Silva and make sure that he gets it fixed.

[OneManGang]

I don't think Dana needs to be apologizing for anything.  He did his job.  He promoted a fight.  If it doesn't turn out to be a barnburner, it's not his fault.  I think he's making it worse.  What they need to do, is figure out WTF is wrong with Silva and make sure that he gets it fixed.

Other than his show boating, there is nothing wrong with Silva. He wins fights! Why should he risk winning and his health? UFC needs to consider reducing the size of the octagon. It is huge and provides ample escape defensive fighters....but a small octagon would of course benefit lay-n-pray wrestlers.

On the side...I wish they where fightin with gi on so that Maia could grab hold of Silva and submit him...

[OneManGang]

Not sure I get your point here? You do know that there are rules against not imposing contact against your opponent in MMA right? Dana didn't write those rules either.

MMA/UFC is partly entertainment as well. Nobody wants to watch a fighter 'play it safe' all the time. I am sure fighters are aware of this.

MMA/UFC is partly entertainment? You mean its only partly a sport?

If a fighter hurts his own popularity its his own problem.

[WeightPSHR]

MMA/UFC is partly entertainment? You mean its only partly a sport?

If a fighter hurts his own popularity its his own problem.

All sports are a from of entertainment. That is why people watch. If a fighter is boring, he does hurt his popularity as well as the organization and sponsors that he is contracted under. Dana encourages action by giving sub, KO, FOTN bonuses.

I don't think Dana has a problem with Silva's lack of action. GSP/Hardy is a great example. Dana even said that the GSP/Hardy fight was not he 'most exciting' fight ever', but GSP did what he had to do.

In the Silva/Maia fight, the big problem Dana has is that Silva had the nerve to show boat and toy with his opponent, but still couldn't engage or finish the fight.

[OneManGang]

All sports are a from of entertainment. That is why people watch. If a fighter is boring, he does hurt his popularity as well as the organization and sponsors that he is contracted under. Dana encourages action by giving sub, KO, FOTN bonuses.

I don't think Dana has a problem with Silva's lack of action. GSP/Hardy is a great example. Dana even said that the GSP/Hardy fight was not he 'most exciting' fight ever', but GSP did what he had to do.

In the Silva/Maia fight, the big problem Dana has is that Silva had the nerve to show boat and toy with his opponent, but still couldn't engage or finish the fight.

Well...I look at it from the athletes perspective. Its all about winning, especially in a title fight. I remember during my years of competitive judo, I stalled very often to secure a win. Your sponsors is more hurt if you start losing. They don't want to see an entertaining defeat.

[WeightPSHR]

Well...I look at it from the athletes perspective. Its all about winning, especially in a title fight. I remember during my years of competitive judo, I stalled very often to secure a win. Your sponsors is more hurt if you start losing. They don't want to see an entertaining defeat.

It is more about winning, but when you are a professional fighter, and your income supports your family etc, you have to be entertaining and exciting if you want bigger paydays as well as win. More entertaining/exciting fighters get bigger draws, bigger PPV%, etc.

I think the big issue here with Silva, was not him being timid, but how he was showboating, then later he was playing it safe. Makes the showboating look even more wasteful/ridiculous then it already is. If Silva is so good that he can toy with his opponents, he should also be able to end the fight whenever he chooses. Made Silva look like he has his priorities a little mixed up. It would have even been better if he tried to end the fight early on, then started showboating later in the fight.

[George Whorewell]

Remember how they used to issue cards in Pride during fights to reduce a fighters purse if he was being percieved as avoiding contact or just laying on the other guy?

Cut a guys purse in half, or start deducting points and watch how few incidents we have of primdonna guys like Anderson playing it safe.

[AC Slater]

Remember how they used to issue cards in Pride during fights to reduce a fighters purse if he was being percieved as avoiding contact or just laying on the other guy?

Cut a guys purse in half, or start deducting points and watch how few incidents we have of primdonna #### like Anderson playing it safe.

not a bad idea.