Dana White vs. Randy Couture: Complete Analysis of the Press Conferences
Dana White and Randy Couture both held press conferences on Thursday afternoon. White’s conference was at 4 PM EST and streamed live on Yahoo! Sports. It addressed the newest TV deal that the UFC has signed for the next four years, Brock Lesnar’s signing, and the most anticipated matchup that MMA fans have been waiting for, Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva. At nearly the same time, Randy Couture held a press conference at the Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas. He talked about his situation regarding his contract and the reasons he has felt the way he has been stating continuously over the last few weeks. Let’s get right into the nitty gritty on the conference notes.
Randy Couture vs. Dana White
The first topic I want to touch on is Randy Couture’s claims. During his press conference, Couture claimed that the biggest reason he decided to resign his position with the UFC was the amount of respect he received or should I say, the respect he didn’t receive. His main supporting statements involved monetary compensation from fights and the disrespectful actions from White. According to Couture, he did not receive a bonus for defeating Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 74. When he asked Dana White as to why he did not receive a bonus, he received a cold shoulder and was never told why he did not receive it. Couture stated he waited two and a half weeks before deciding to turn in his resignation due to the cold shoulder. He also stated that the final slap in the face was the fact that Fedor Emelianenko was offered a signing bonus that far surpassed any amount Couture had EVER received in a fight.
White made a few comments during their press conference regarding the Couture situation. Over the course of the long conference, White stated that he knew Couture was pissed at him and that they needed to sit down and talk about it. When asked about the contract issues, White claimed that Randy wasn’t trying to fight with anyone else and hadn’t stated he was trying to leave to fight Fedor. White also confirmed the fact that the title position is not vacant and is still retained by Couture until Couture tells White that he has retired. Subsequently, Couture stated that it wasn’t inconceivable to think that he would not be fighting in the UFC again.
All of this apparently could have been avoided had the UFC given Randy Couture a bonus for defeating the challenger in Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 74. Not only was Randy Couture the underdog during the fight, but the hype around the community of Gabriel Gonzaga made more of a case that Gonzaga would push past Couture with flying colors. Obviously, this wasn’t the case. Couture completely mauled Gonzaga and won the fight easily. Instead of rewarding the champion with a nice bonus for his efforts, they gave Couture the cold shoulder and failed to return an answer to him as to why. I’m not too sure I completely understand the UFC’s thinking in this matter. How does Couture not receive a bonus for that fight? He’s one of the oldest fighters in the sport, he was the underdog, he’s the ambassador to the sport, and he’s one of the most recognizable figures in MMA and most likely sells you some pay-per-view buys. He also stated that during those events, most of the cards around that time were receiving anywhere from 400,000-600,000 buys. Is the UFC saying that he wasn’t solely responsible for those figures? Well, he wasn’t solely responsible, but he had an effect on those figures. Plain and simple, a bonus that he should have got did get deposited in his account that should have been. We could have ultimately avoided this situation.
Next, the cold shoulder issue is definitely odd. Couture is revered as a fighter, and you would think the UFC wouldn’t be inclined to piss him off. This is the big issue as far as his statement about not receiving respect from the UFC. Even with this statement, fans still consider the issue regarding who has the more relevant words in this battle of stories. Let’s break it down just simply from the press conference. Who do you think is more respectful? White once again gave the Internet sites complete disrespect for reporting sources even though the Internet is considered one of the sources of the growth of MMA in the last few years. Namely, he said that Pro Elite should be considered “Internet whores”. Talk about classy. He once again claimed that Fedor wasn’t in the top 5 heavyweights in the world, Vadim Finkelstein is a “fucking liar”, and Fedor Emelianenko will never fight in the UFC. Last time I remember, Fedor has never came out gunz ablaze stating that Dana White is a “horrible President for a MMA promotion”. It’s odd how Dana has been handling the loss of not signing Fedor. It’s a complete lack of respect for him based on the fact that Dana never even met him. Add all of this up along with the various displays of crudeness and contradicting statements in the past and I would say Dana White is disrespectful. With that said, Couture’s story definitely seems to have merit.
Couture also stated that the numbers that were reported were completely untrue. White didn’t comment on this since he was holding a press conference at the same time, but it seems that the entire monetary issue can be pushed through if both parties meet and Couture can be compensated for the next two fights on his contract. Personally, I remain a bit optimistic at this development. Couture didn’t seem to comment on any of the issues revolving around his contract other than the fact that he has two fights remaining or nine months left. His lawyer and himself interpreted the contract to state that he had to fight those fights within the time constraint on the contract. If this is true, Couture’s contract would be up after nine months. I think we will be seeing Couture fulfill his final bouts in the UFC and then pursuing the biggest fight of his career against Fedor Emelianenko. It will take a significant boost in pay for Couture’s remaining fights, and many fans may think that because he signed a contract, he obligated to fulfill what it states. I do agree that if you sign a contract, you should fulfill it. In this case, the longer Couture is on the shelf, the less it benefits the UFC. The UFC has more than enough money to go around. Suck it up, pay him some more money with guaranteed bonuses, and make some big fights.
In other developments, Couture mentioned that when he was contemplating returning to fighting, he was offered a $3 million dollar deal with Bodog to fight Fedor Emelianenko. Couture decided to pass on the deal in order to sign with the UFC and fight for the heavyweight title right away. In retrospect, this seems like stupid logic and smart logic at the same time. If Couture goes out and fights Fedor… in the ring, he could have potentially been beaten. This would drop his worth possibly although that seems rather silly considering Fedor is considering one of the best fighters of all time. If he had won, he would have propelled his worth and could have signed a huge deal with any organization out there including the UFC. Either way, he would have been paid handsomely to fight in the UFC after the fight. Instead of grabbing up a $3 million dollar purse and then hitting the UFC’s cage to fight, he went to the UFC. We can only speculate whether he thought the UFC would eventually pick up Fedor, therefore he signed with the UFC. In the end, the deal proves that Couture can pick up huge numbers and it could serve as a gauge for what he could potentially bring in.
Maybe we should add to the fuel a bit. Here’s an interesting tidbit. During the conferences, both White and Couture were asked if they had spoken to each other. Couture stated that he had spoken with Dana and Lorenzo the night before or recently at least, and Dana stated he had yet to speak with Randy. Who is the liar here? History would lean toward White. Maybe it’s a small irrelevant fact, but interesting nonetheless. White also stated that he thought we would all see a happy ending in 3-6 months, and that anybody who hasn’t signed with the UFC when offered the opportunity is a “moron”. Classic crudeness by the President of the UFC. White also continued to comment on the fact that Couture’s Hollywood agent has caused all of this. In reality, it seems Couture cleared that up today.
Liddell vs. Silva
Let me first start off by saying that the UFC completely screwed the announcement for this fight. I don’t want to hear how DirecTV broke the annoucement early and it hurt the news. Who cares. It should have been announced at UFC 77. Instead, it was announced on a crappy TV awards show called Scream 2007 that literally nobody watched or cared about. Horrible move by the UFC.
With that off my chest, let’s drill down into some details from the conference. When asked why this fight has taken awhile to be made, White claimed that he was waiting for Liddell to be ready to fight Wanderlei and to sure up any injuries that he may have had at the time. Didn’t White claim before that Wanderlei Silva called off the deal when both sides were trying to ink a deal before to make this fight happen? Maybe I’m reading too much into this, maybe he meant after Wanderlei signed. Speculation once again.
Another revelation during this conference was the fact that Chuck Liddell or Wanderlei Silva may be in line for an immediate title shot after their fight in December. I’m not sure how this works. Chuck Liddell has lost to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, the current champion, and to Keith Jardine, not even in the top 10 before their fight, and suddenly if he wins, he’s in line for a championship bout? I fail to see how he suddenly propels past someone like Dan Henderson who has yet to fight his second fight in the UFC. Dana mentioned Forrest Griffin being in the mix, I believe he deserves at least a chance at that title shot and if he wins, he should get that shot. If Wanderlei Silva wins, I have no problem seeing a Rampage vs. Silva III. It’s probably one of the more exciting rivalries in mixed martial arts. In retrospect, I would rather see Liddell vs. Silva get a title shot over the reported comments stating Bisping vs. Evans will get an immediate title shot. Dana needs to make up his mind.
Spike TV Deal
To touch on this briefly, SpikeTV and the UFC have signed a new deal that guarantees exclusive rights for three years. In the deal, the UFC will produce 12 live events for the network over 3 years, 4 events per year. This doesn’t include any other events they may decide to produce in that time length. The consensus was that they would continue to broadcast some big events for free on Spike TV. The deal will also produce 39 new “Unleashed” episodes over the 3 years, 13 episodes per year. They will produce 26 episodes of TUF over 2 years, and a new fight series in 2010 and 2011. In those years, there will be one season of TUF and one season of the new series. Later in the conference, White commented that a new live fight show would be unveiled as well that would contain fight cards that are much better than the current TUF cards.
This is a great deal for the UFC. They lock up another 4 year deal until 2011 with full control over production and the idea that they can suggest events, ideas, and shows and won’t have to deal with a network that will shoot them all down. On the other hand, they have exclusively signed the dotted line. This opens up the possibility of a new promotion grabbing up the ESPN network. Rumors have been circulating that M-1 may be snooping around the ESPN network. I highly doubt this is an option since M-1 has just organized, but M-1 does come off as an organization that won’t have a person in charge that will spout off at the mouth, a professional production, and it does have the boxing ring that casual fans may be used to seeing. It’s so far-fetched of an idea, but I found it worth mentioning just for the mere fact the UFC is locked into an exclusive deal with Spike.
The HBO deal isn’t dead according to White. It may eventually be done and White says it will be someday. It was stated that the difference in who would produce the events was the problem, mainly branding. Both Kevin from Spike and White talked about video on demand as being the future as well.
Other tidbits:
- Lesnar’s advertising will be everywhere, including the possibility of it being advertised along side WWE events
- Lesnar also went into detail about his training, who he trains with (Greg Nelson), and some of the things he expects in the cage
- BJ Penn will most likely fight on the December 29th card
- White tried hyping the UFC 79 card by stating the 15-0 records of each fighter, I’m not convinced
- When asked about a “certain organization”, the question was hinting at M-1, White said there are many organizations coming into the MMA community every day and that most fail
- The UK should get 4-5 shows in the new year and White also stated the Newcastle hasn’t been confirmed yet
- Claims he has 250 fighters under contract, and none of them are “cans”. Sure.
- The UFC will never go public, used the IFL as an example.
There are some interesting tidbits in there, mainly the fact that BJ Penn will finally see some action. In my travels across the Internet, Joe Stevenson seems to be the most likely opponent. White tried to hype the main event at UFC 79 as a great battle. To be honest, I don’t mind seeing the matchup between the two unbeatens. However, I don’t believe either fighter will make waves once they hit prime competition, which to me doesn’t merit the matchup to be a main event. I found the comment regarding the UFC not having a single can in the bunch to be awfully optimistic in the fighter base of the UFC. I’m not going to suggest names, but there are many fighters under contract that should be in the lower ranks of the WEC or the IFL.
Final thoughts
Overall, the one issue that stuck out was White’s continuous comments regarding Fedor’s status and how he is suddenly not a top 5 fighter. I find it odd that he would be whining like this. Be respectful, professional, and don’t try to downplay a deal that you couldn’t produce. Fact is, both parties could not agree. That’s all that needs to be said, not a name calling fest of calling a Russian agent a “fucking liar” and then carving up the Internet blogosphere once again stating that we as journalists stated the wrong numbers. Those were the numbers given to us, we talked about it, discussed, came to conclusions. So what? We still help hype your events, the current MMA news, and help promote MMA because we love it.
Fact is, the whole ordeal involving Couture could have been avoided by simply giving Couture the respect he deserved. One bonus and a bit more money that got near the amount that Fedor was being offered, that’s it. That may sound like a lot of money, but the fact is, the UFC is making huge amounts of dough on their pay-per-views. 400,000 to 600,000 buys during each of the last few events is more than enough money to throw around. Those figures are according to Randy though. I will say that I think Couture should have stuck with the contract and fulfilled it, but I feel that he does have some merit in saying the UFC was disrespectful to him. The disrespect he received sounds like something Dana White would do also. His image doesn’t help his case either. Being regarded as a grade school child with a dirty mouth isn’t something that garners respect. Overall, some great information from both conferences.
Tags: Dana White, Randy Couture
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after reading this and seeing randys conference i hold out hope that he may be back in the ufc for remainder of contract.would be great if we did see him back for a while. also i think dana white needs to take a step back and think when he criticises other organisations and other people the ufc doesnt need enemies!!!!
One thing I noticed about White is that he changes his viewpoints all the time. Dana was all for signing Fedor; now that he failed miserably, he is badmouthing Fedor.
Dana White needs to humble himself and then other organizations and fighters will not talk negative about him as much. Dana seems really shady, but I don’t think he is a terrible guy; he’s just misunderstood.
Some people still believe Dana White. I dont know how or why and I dont care, the bottom line is White tells lies. I would believe Couture over White any day. I hate seeing people lied to and taken advantage of. I believe that is excatly what Dana White does and he does very well. I believe he is a bad image for the sport and it’s time for him to go.
I an entertainment business like the UFC you have to tell lies. The problem is is you have to tell lies and not get caught. He is still acting like an agent. He absolutly still plays favoritisim twords Lidell (and if anyone should get the cold shoulder, the Iceman is my canidate) Randy should be the #1 paid athelete in MMA, not just the UFC. I still hold hope in my heart that Randy will return to the octagon. I think the UFC could force him to return by schedualing a fight for him. If he doesn’t show, he will be in breech of contract.
Great article. Good reading.
terrible article.
taking things out of context.
this article belongs on sherdog.
Stymie, go blow.
Good read LR.
I have been saying it for a while, Dana White has served his purpose, he needs to take a backseat.
The UFC will not make it to the “mainstream” which is the ultimate goal, with Dana White at the helm.
Accomando you could never be more wrong… Dana White is the soulution… and as far is it not being mainstream i think it is on the brink of that mma is one of the most watched individual sports in the world and it is getting there in america i think because of Dana it has surpassed boxing as the numer 1 combat sport. Dana White is probably one of the smartest buisness men in america. the guy bought this coming for 2 million dollars and it is now worth of 125 million $. The man has made smart move after another buy giving us the ultimate fighter and UFC ppv on free cable the moves brought an army of UFC fans. The Acquisition of companies like PRIDE made the UFC and dana white big players in the american sports market and will continue to grow. yes dana has to share the whelth with his fighters but once he does that this company will continue to grow like it has been the last 5 years, no dout in my mind is that Dana White should remain President of the UFC
Here is an interesting rumor. I don’t know if it is signed yet, but M-1 is looking at Feb. to hold their first event. The main event is rumored to be Fedor Emilienenko vs. Jeff “the snowman” Monson! I think this will be a decentmatch up for Fedor. I thought Monson might be coming back to the UFC to maybe take on Randy Couture, but Randy is in limbo. I saw a match with Monson in PRIDE after his mauling by Sylvia, and he performed very well. I really don’t think he can beat either Fedor or Randy, but it will still be entertaining.
The scandal between Couture and White is probably another good example why Tito and Dana don’t get along.
Dana white should just show randy the money, i don’t want to see him(randy) retire from the ufc and he could fight at any one of the many mma ppv’s and sign with one them for big money, is it that big of a deal to cough up the dough dana ? Stop trying to save a buck on this one and get it done don’t let this guy get away because you’re cheap…save randy
“…Accomando you could never be more wrong… Dana White is the soulution… …”
Gonzaga, you just like Dana because he gave you a title shot.
Seriously though, YOU couldn’t be more wrong.
Yes, at the time, Dana made some solid business moves early on by convincing the Fertitta brothers (who have the connections with the LV Athletic Commision, and are the real keys to the success)to purchase the UFC.
Keep in mind until the TUF show, the UFC was considered the Ultimate Failure Championships, losing millions upon millions of the Fertitta’s dollars. Did Dana come up with the idea for the T.V. show, he may have, I don’t know?
On top of that, I liken Dana White to Doug Collins, the former ISU Redbird standout, Olympian, and also, the former coach of the Chicago Bulls in the late 80’s, right before their runs to the titles throughout the 90’s.
Collins was a good, point A to point B guy, much like Dana White is. However, Doug, like Dana, will not be able to get them to point C, that championship level.
Here are some examples of the succesfull “faces” of the other pro-sports leagues in the U.S.
Bud Selig (MLB)
Never heard him cuss or disparage an athlete in public, spouting off emotional responses before you even think about what you have to say. Isn’t a loud-mouth moron. Doesn’t keep athletes pay in the dark.
Same goes for Stern (NBA) & Goodell (MLB) Those are how succesfull people act and get accepted by the general public and make thier SPORT look PROFFESIONAL.
Look, I want the UFC to be the equivalant of the NFL, MLB, NBA, that the UFC is synonymous with MMA. The best of the best compete in the UFC to see who the best fighters in the wolrd are, regardless of what country they come from.
IMO, that will NEVER happen with Dana White controlling everything the UFC does. He needs to get whacked by the Fertitta’s, like yesterday.
“”Goodell (MLB)”"
NFL not MLB
Randy Couture needs to surplant Dana White as the FACE of the UFC. And I am dead serious.
In onder to “save” Dana’s ego, they could just promote him to CEO, and let Randy be the president and take this sport to the next level. Dana can still pull the strings, but Randy would represent the UFC in public, he would speak for the UFC and be WAAAYYYY better than Dana White. Couture is very likable and the consumate professional.
Couture has served his country, acts like a respectull person, does great fight commentary, gets along well in any situation and is someone that could actually pull it off.
If Dana had the foresight to see himself as obsolete, and see the sky-is-the-limit potential of Couture, and promote him to his position and say “how’s that for respect, randy?”, then I would call Dana White a genius.
Randy should be the new president of the UFC, imagine how many fans that would gain Dana White, it would be a public relations coup.
man, that is a great idea Accomando. Really, I think that would work out wonderfully. I think in order for that to happen, Randy would need to complete his contract. The one problem though, he has already sat out. If he was in negotiations with a fighter, he may loose a little pull because of his sit out. Maybe, maybe not. I REALLY like that idea. Randy is the face of the sport, and is respected worldwide by fans and fighters alike.
I agree scotchydow; I think Accomando has a fantastic idea with our guy Randy Couture being the President of the UFC. This would provide the UFC with the credibility that it seems to be lacking, especially with Dana White at the helm.
Wow some of you are retarded.
Dana White MADE the UFC a sucess. He’s the one who thought up the TUF concept. You say UFC isn’t mainstream? It kills boxing and pro wrestling on ppv, and has a smash hit tv show. It recieves more and more press coverage eat day. If that’s not mainstream, I don’t know what is. It’s mostly down to Dana and his marketing and strategy. I respect Randy, and he should have gotten a bonus, but being so unprofessional as to try to weasel out of a contract is terrible. He should finished out his contract and THEN he would have had leverage. Not that he should be complaining seeing as he got one million at least for the gonzaga fight, how much more do you need for a fight? I mean really?
He’s also right about the mma internet community too. A lot of the so called ”experts” don’t know ****. I remember the same ”experts” saying how Cro Cop and Shogun would ”own” the UFC. Yeah that was a great call.
Dana White is blunt in what he says and I’m glad for it. Frankly, Fedor is a coward for not signing. He didn’t need the money, and he recived a bigger bonus than Randy ever did apparently just for signing (or he would have at least), and he didn’t sign. To me that says he’s running scared and would rather fight tin cans in lower promotions than be in the world’s number one mma promotion. How he can be considered top guy in the world when he has fought none of the current ufc cream of the crop is beyond me. Maybe when he beat them sure, but untill then, like most pride fighters, he’s living on hype from beating no names and overrated names like cro cop (and we all saw how he turned out in ufc).
Some of you seem totally clueless, and don’t like it when someone is as blunt as Dana.
Retarded huh? I never said that Dana White wasn’t a great business man. I said to run a business, you have to tell lies, but he got caught. He now has a bad rep, and it would be good to take him out of the spotlight. He could still run the show, but they need someone like Randy Couture with a shinny reputation in the spotlight for public relations between fighter and fans. The internet generation does cause problems by starting rumors, and in todays internet age, most fans read all they can on the sport. With someone like Randy getting all the spotlight, it lets Dana do what he does best without being seen so much.
Jaime, keep drinking the Dana kool-aid, ain’t many of you left.
“…This would provide the UFC with the credibility that it seems to be lacking, especially with Dana White at the helm…”
Exactly, people are not being honest with themselves if they don’t see Dana White as the current embarassment that he is. Dana White, saying Fedor “sucks” and isn’t even “a top 5 heavyweight”, get real, he is the president? Sounds like a angry child who didn’t get his way, but sure, he’s the guy to take them to the next level.
“…You say UFC isn’t mainstream? It kills boxing and pro wrestling on ppv…”
Wrong.
Last year it did. This year, boxing PPV is on pace to beat the UFC, check it out. Just like Dana, not thinking before you speak, and ending up being wrong about YOUR facts.
When Kelly Pavlik won the middlewieght boxing title this year, he got a police escort with about 30 polices car and fire trucks from the Ohio/Pensylvania border to his home in Youngstown. Boxing is more mainstream than you realize. The House of Rep’s acknowledged Kelly Pavlik’s win in Congress. I have never heard of anything even coming close to that for a UFC champ. MMA is still behind Boxing.
“…Some of you seem totally clueless, and don’t like it when someone is as blunt as Dana…”
Just because Dana thinks he’s right with his “blunt”ness, doesn’t mean that he is. The guy has serious control issues and has the problem my younger brother has, he doesn’t think before he speaks, and he ends up sounding like a moron.
Bah!
Too bad Tito didn’t show up to punch Dana in the face a few times.
I think Coutere would keep the date…
No doubt. I think all of this DOES give Tito a little more credability. It is the EXACT same thing he was b****ing about when he was the #1 star in MMA and the face of the sport.
Everyone has known Tito was right, but he’s the “bad boy” of the sport and Dana was able to spin that to make it look ridiculous. I still want to see W. Silva and Tito 2.
Hey Jamie Poole, I stopped listening to you right when you said Fedor was a coward. Your an idiot! I wish I could see you in the ring with Fedor for one round.
“White tried hyping the UFC 79 card by stating the 15-0 records of each fighter, I’m not convinced”
That’s UFC 78…not UFC 79.
People have to read this stuff with one thing in mind. This is all media. Both sides hyping their P.O.V. This being said, it is still the only info that has been presented. Hell, what other way is there to get this kind of info? But taking into perspective the info given….Yes Dan is scandalous and cusses like a sailor. But he did bring the UFC back from the dead. He is just being too conservative about hooking his fighters up with some respect. Or should I say “money”. He should pay them the money that they deserve. He should save his hardcore used car salesmanship and use it to better the deals not just for his business but for the fighters. Yes be tough as nails and not take it in the rear from the fighters. But just pay what is deserved. Dana is one of those types that thinks they are gonna start walking all over him. If he gives in to one fighter the rest will follow. If you want to compete with the big sports you have to pay like the big sports. The UFC is thriving now. Dana needs to stop thinking in survival mode and move on. “He” is moving on but the fighters are getting left behind and they are why the sport is doing so well. Couture is calling him out. This is bad for both sides in happy UFC land. I agree with Couture in the “respect” thing but he should have waited until his contract was finished before making such a big stink of things. Things may have changed by then or at least he would have had more evidence supporting his accusations. Either way it should have waited. We will just have to see how things pan out I guess. I still love watching the sport. It’s just that there are more black eyes in it now and not just in the ring.
DANA HAVE RESPECT, YOU ARE NOT A FIGHTER, QUIT BEING A LITTLE PUNK.