Dana White Shakes Up The Twitterverse With ESPN Feud

Posted on | August 21, 2011 | No Comments

Is Zuffa President Dana White just a clown without the face paint and the funny outfit?

By: Rich Bergeron

The fallout from the UFC’s recent blockbuster deal with FOX gave Zuffa President Dana White a chance to blast some of his haters on his Twitter page. Flexing his new network TV deal muscles, White chose to put another network in his sights: ESPN. Responding to a fan’s tweet about ESPN including a boxing knockout in their nightly top 10 plays list, White Tweeted:

“ESPN always hated us and now they hate us more now that we are on FOX. They canceled my int next week for UFC Rio Fuk ESPN”

Seeing as ESPN is owned by Disney, it makes sense that White’s brash attitude and rough language might offend the ownership. Still, it’s hard to believe that translates into the whole ESPN organization hating the UFC as a whole. This is just another example of White’s penchant for verbally attacking the media. Whether or not his interview cancellation had anything to do with the FOX deal, flying off the handle over it is pretty pathetic on his part.

The fact is ESPN was one of the earliest major sports networks to embrace MMA. For a company that regularly markets boxing on their long running Friday Nigh Fights series, their decision to cover MMA on a regular basis helped elevate the sport and Zuffa to a higher level of respectability. White is simply biting the hand that feeds him and acting like he is God’s greatest gift to mixed martial arts.

Maybe “The Baldfather” expects ESPN to kiss his ring now that he has the FOX deal to brag about. ESPN was probably never in the mix to land the kind of deal FOX wound up with anyway, though they do broadcast UFC events overseas. The bottom line is White’s little Twitter tirade amounts to biting the hand that feeds him. It’s another “We don’t need Coke, Coke needs us” moment.

The UFC definitely revolutionized the sport of MMA, but Dana White ought to remember that he would still be a boxercise instructor if it weren’t for the Fertitta brothers and their piles of money. Unfortunately the public seems to love his schtick and considers him to be the face of the organization. His ego obviously thrives on being the foul mouthpiece of the organization, but a little humility would do him and Zuffa good. The reality behind the Dana White myth is that he’s a sideshow and a circus clown who fell into a gold mine and started trying to make people think he invented gold. He’s quick to fly off the handle on anyone who doesn’t worship him to his satisfaction. The more powerful and successful the UFC becomes, the more credit he seems to get even though it’s his staff and the majority ownership’s investments that truly built the company into the powerhouse it is today. Zuffa’s success is not at all something White should be allowed to claim as his own. If anything, the organization is doing well in spite of White rather than because of him.

The most telling aspect of Dana’s Twirade is that he seemed genuinely upset that ESPN wouldn’t give him more face time. ESPN’s MMA Live show frequently discusses Zuffa happenings for the majority of the air time the show gets on the network. Guest analysts and interviewees are typically associated with the UFC or Strikeforce in some capacity. If the network really hates the UFC they have a funny way of showing it. The more likely scenario is they hate Dana White, and that’s not so hard to believe considering how the guy’s own mother feels about her famous son.