Opinion: Dana White Spoke Too Soon
On October 31st, the mixed martial arts community awaited the verdict in Sean Sherk’s case involving his positive nandrolone test after his championship title fight with Hermes Franca. Instead of a resolution to the deadlocked title picture in the UFC’s lightweight division, the California State Athletic Commission managed to keep the top-tier of the division on hold for another 2 weeks. The commission did not receive an information packet that Sherk’s attorney had sent the week before. It caused the commission to push back the hearing in order to review the data that Sherk had submitted. With the fiasco that was the Phil Baroni case, the negligence of the staff at the CSAC to pass on information to commission members in the Sherk case, and the history of bad decisions that has plagued the CSAC is the past, it seems Dana White has had enough.
Dana White stated on Friday that he will not strip Sean Sherk of the Lightweight title, a move that is now being criticized heavily by the MMA community. White claimed that because of the unprofessionalism of the CSAC and said that he was fed up with the handling of the Sean Sherk steroid case. Are his claims legitimate enough to just go ahead and refute any verdict that the CSAC comes to? I really don’t think so.
Fed up?
My first argument with this decision is the reason why Dana White is allowing Sherk to retain his title. White claims that he is fed up with the handling of the Sean Sherk case. The words “fed up” would imply that there is a long list of horrible discrepancies and a history of wrongful decisions in regards to the Sean Sherk case alone. While I would argue overwhelmingly that the organization as a whole has been more than convincing enough to warrant a heated argument about its horrible disorganization, poor appeal decisions, and overall inexperienced commissioners in fight sports, does Dana White have a legitimate argument to be “fed up” with the CSAC’s handling of Sherk’s case? No.
Sherk’s first appearance at the CSAC was in order to seek a continuance so that he could build a case to prove his innocence. I commend him for actually trying to show up with some scientific proof to backup his claims that the nandrolone positive was due to another factor besides Sherk “juicing”. The subsequent appearance was to lay the case out and hope for a verdict. Fact is, the administrative division of the CSAC seemed to be a bit lazy and never provided the commissioners with the information that Sherk’s attorney provided. Yes, this is unprofessional and a lack of organization within the CSAC most likely caused the mix up. It’s only the second appearance for Sherk. I’m sure he wanted to have this case completely settled, but it was more than likely not going to be in his favor. The way the CSAC has been reducing suspensions even when it looks as if the evidence is clearly discounting the CSAC’s labs (Baroni case), it seems that Sherk may have been disappointed in the decision had they went along with the case. In only 2 appearances, the CSAC made a huge mistake in lengthening this case. Does Dana White need to suddenly become “fed up” with the CSAC and announce that Sherk won’t lose his title irregardless of the outcome of the CSAC ruling on November 13th? Absolutely not. Waiting a bit over 2 more weeks for a clear verdict to the case doesn’t seem like a horribly long amount of time. This was a bad decision by Dana White and here’s why.
Bad decision for Dana White
What if Sean Sherk’s evidence isn’t enough to cause the CSAC to throw out the case? Will Dana simply ignore it and claim the CSAC is corrupt or incompetent? I believe so. He has already claimed that it is Sherk’s title and that an interim title fight between BJ Penn and Joe Stevenson will happen. If Sherk loses the appeal, we will have a scenario in which a proven steroid user now has the UFC’s lightweight belt. If Sherk wins his appeal, I doubt anyone will bat an eye about the decision White made. If you look historically at the decisions the CSAC has pushed out in the past, the commission does not usually throw out a case entirely. It seems that White is setting himself up for a conflict with the CSAC’s decision and his own decision to allow Sherk to keep the belt.
This sets up a war of words regarding the CSAC’s credibility as an organization that oversees administering drug testing and making decisions during the appeals process. To be honest, I’d love to see something come of this in which the CSAC has some type of restructuring. Dragging the lightweight belt into the mix seems to be a bad move if Sherk is still considered guilty by the commission. This also brings up a point about how White seems to stand by his friend in Sean Sherk. Will he do the same for other UFC fighters or just the fighters that he seems to be close to? A President of an MMA organization who stands by an individual fighter under contract, but will not do the same for other fighters in the same position?
Overall, I believe this causes more problems than it does solutions. Unless an investigation spawns from his quote, the CSAC will continue to operate with inconsistencies and those inconsistencies could put Sherk in a position in which his suspension will not be thrown out but reduced. With the reduction, the commission will simply be stating that he is guilty of not submitted a clean urine sample, therefore he did use steroids. It could cause the UFC’s lightweight belt to come under scrutiny as being held by a steroid user.
Final Thoughts
White made a poor decision in stating that Sherk would retain the belt irregardless of the CSAC decision. It not only sets up a possibility that Sherk could be found to have taken steroids and will still retain the belt, but it also sets up the fact that the belt’s image could be tarnished because it is being held by a man who was found to have taken steroids. You could discount that fact since the CSAC’s credibility has been in question for quite some time, but will casual fans know? Do casual fans really care?
I doubt it. Unless you avidly follow MMA, I doubt many fans even know about the case, and if they occassionally hit an MMA site online and know the story, they may simply brush it off as Sherk winning his appeal if they see him back in the cage with the title. That’s why I come to the conclusion that this simply won’t affect the belt’s stance immediately if Sherk is found to have taken steroids. The UFC won’t say anything in their broadcasts and only the hardcore fanbase will have knowledge about it. It’s a bad move, but the UFC marketing machine will do a great job at sweeping it under the rug.
Tags: Dana White, Sean Sherk
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LR, after your reading your piece which lambasted the CSAC pretty good, I am going with Dana on this one.
The CSAC is a political machine which appears to make arbitrary decisions when they want and how they want, depending on how they feel that day.
The commision is corrupt, stinks of political payback positions, and has messed up numerous, and I mean numerous times in the past.
The CSAC needs to be dragged through the mud because they have already done that to hundreds of athletes. So while they go to thier politico dinners and fund raisers, they are punishing some, perhaps innocent athletes, who literally fight for thier life. Thats what they do, and the CSAC has an aura of entitlement around them that needs to be smashed.
I am glad Dana White did it. I mean, how many times does the CSAC need to f*** up before they lose thier credibility? In my opinion, they have none.
It’s not just what they have done to UFC fighters, remember K-1, and that organization Kimo was involved in that got axed by the CSAC.
They seem to have a bias against MMA, just my perception, and again, I hope the UFC never goes back to California.
I can see Dana White’s side of the argument, but if Sherk has a horrible argument at his next case, it won’t bode well for Dana White’s stance against the CSAC.
I do agree that the CSAC needs to be dragged through the mud though. I think White should have waited until after the Nov. 13th hearing to say something.
I agree with the idea of shunning the CSAC but if the suspension is upheld I don’t think publicly supporting someone who is found to have used steroids is a good idea. I agree Lelan, he should have held off but if the suspension is upheld, reduced, or tossed I think Dana goes on a profanity laced rampage regardless.
The one point that I was trying to emphasize was the fact that this is a small delay compared to the initial delay due to Sherk wanted to mount a big case against the CSAC’s claims. We waited a long time, people are pissed, but a little over two more weeks has caused White to flip his lid? Come on!
I’m with Dana White on this too. I know we’re merely 1 week away from finding out the decision, but its been my opinion for a long time that the CSAC has poor testing, poor commissioners, and is extremely unprofesional. No reason Sean Sherk should suffer from this, time to just move past it
That isn’t what Dana White said though. That’s my argument. Dana said he was sick of how the CSAC handled Sean Sherk’s case, not everyone else’s cases. It makes no sense to me how he can justify his argument based on Sherk’s case. Sherk wanted the continuance, then the CSAC made a mistake. It was unprofessional, sure… but was it worth disregarding their decision and having it blow up in your face? I think the CSAC should be disbanded, but for now, it’s the authority, as crappy as that is. If White was simply using the history of the CSAC to come to a generalization, he shouldn’t have specified it was because of Sherk’s case, but rather said he wouldn’t use the CSAC’s decisions in general against his fighters. Of course, that would bad if they continued to hold events in the state.
Of coarse White plays favoriteism. He has stated since this started that Sherk is a friend of his, and he believes him. I think this is a bad move for the sport. As a fan I am guarenteed two GREAT fights, but as a fan of the sport, it seems the sport is turning twords a trend of light sentences for positive steroid tests. Dana shouldn’t have taken it upon himself before the board came to decision. If they came back with a BS split vote, or a totally crazy, unfair decision based on the facts, then fine. It looks bad Dana.
I disagree with your editorial……which was reinforced by your use of the word irregardless…..the dumbest word known to man. Keep up the bland work.
I guess Dana is siding with his fighter because it is Sean Sherk. Sherk and Dana have known each other for a long time. I guess Dana has a lot of faith in Sherk and believes him. Only time will tell who was right and who was wrong.
I think that Dana white is becoming more of a dick than matt huges…..Tha more tha popularity of mma growz, tha more dw seems to grow increasingly arrogant…Tha tougher his fighters get tha badder he thinks he is….What he fails to realize is there is no such thing as tough guy by assosiation….I believe he just needs to catch a beat down, a lil humble pie sets every1 straight…..
“..irregardless…..the dumbest word known to man..”
over-exaggerate is worse.
Bottom line is Dana does not care. See by saying this stuff about the commission, he sets himself up for Sherk/Penn or Sherk/Stevenson fight maybe in May or June. The commission will likely shorten Sherk’s sentence, and in addition make it Retroactive, from the time of his last fight. So call it 8 or 9 months. Dana I’m sure is expecting this so he could give two ****s what the commission rules. Its just bad precedent. When Sherk gets his UFC Hall of Fame induction, make sure its got a astrict by it too. Once again Dana thinks he knows best, and anyone who disagrees with him is wrong.
This is one more case of Dana thinking he’s “above the law”. This is something that does affect the legitimacy of the UFC of it’s champions. Bad call by Dana. Wait the 2 weeks instead of proving that you can do what you want. They are supposed to be trying to clean up the sport and it’s image, so why this now? I wonder how Kenny Florian feels about this. I bet he’s livid. (as a advocate for anti-steroid use, not as a contender, if you didn’t know what i meant)
Dana White = Don King
Don King?? Come on now. Dana in my opinion is doing a good job. No matter what happens about anything, whether it be steriod cases or him helping an old lady cross the road… everyone is going to find something wrong with what he has done. I have been a long time UFC fan, and I can tell you right now…the man has done so much for this sport, and has tried so hard to keep the garbage that corrupted boxing out of the UFC. I really dont think he is money hungry or greedy or would bring someone up to the top, just to stab them in the back when they are falling back down. Therefore comparing White to King is pure ignorance. I have said it before….if it wasnt for Dana White….most people that type thier opinions in all blogs about the UFC, or the recent blowup of MMA would not be here. The man deserves a little respect instead of getting bashed. Write about the good things that he has done instead of focusing on the bad things that he has done….
I am very disappointed in this post….
I agree with FixXer that White is the ONLY reason that this sport is still alive today. He (and Zuffa) saved the sport from being banned outright. I still think that he made a very bad decision about this Sherk deal, but he is no Don King. Don King single handedly destroyed boxing. His mobster like dealings in his promotions destroyed boxers careers and the legitamicy of any title holder. Dana White and the UFC made the UFC champions looked at as the greatest in the sport. He cannot make the right decision every time.
Lorenzo Fertitta should buy Dana out with all the money he steals from his fighters and randy should step in as president.
as good as a job as dana does from what i see most of it is just showing up. this is a fighters sport and true fighters should be in charge.
enough with Dana…. Now he is just acting like a little 2 year old… you cant wait 2 more weeks to see what the commission says?… talk about professional? the pres of the UFC saying he is “fed up?” what the hell….. he is the one who ran to CA to setup the UFC there…. now he dosent want to hear what they have to say. I you disagree with Dana, he becomes a whiney b****…. (that needs to be b**** slapped Tito!)
and to those of you that keep saying oh.. dana saved MMA… keep learning.. in truth we saved MMA… the die hard fans that talk about it in these forums… and to our friends.. pass it on… actualy its also the fighters who have had some aswome fights making us come back for more. Dana has a 5% but its dana as the ufc… not the dana dictator.
really zuffa… Randy for Prez
get this child who is now actually damaging MMA out!
THats about 50 percent right. First we didnt save MMA…it was never big enough to be “saved”. But you are right….if it wasnt for all these newcomers, who have all of a sudden been lifetime fans of the UFC, then it would not be as big. But the thing is it takes promoting and money. Dana did most of the promoting. Also, Dana owns 10% of Zuffa, so all decisions made within Zuffa, or the UFC go through Dana. So go back and do some research and you will see that he is the reason why you are a MMA fan now. So a2hawk, keep learning
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The point that no one seems to be making here is the blatant hypocrisy of Dana, who earlier this year said that he would “b****slap” steroid users, and who felt that his organization was doing all that it could to ferret out PEDs, although the primary responsibility for that fell with state Athletic Commissions. In countless quotes, he said that he would defer to the decision-making of said athletic commissions, and only when they promoted in places that didn’t have Commissions would they feel obligated to enforce procedures to ensure that fighters weren’t doping. To me, it undermines the decisions of the athletic commissions when you (a) presume that a positive test result is per se invalid, when the state procedural framework suggests otherwise, and (b)publicly criticize the length of the appeals process, then state that the final opinion will not factor into your ultimate decisionmaking. That would be akin to a police department having one of its officers convicted of a felony, and first saying that he will be keeping his job pending the appeal, then saying that because the process is too lengthy, he will keep his job regardless of the final decision. Obviously, it is within the rights of the UFC to do so, but then they can’t be said to be “standing behind the state Athletic Commissions.”
To me, if the UFC wanted to be perceived as running as tight a ship as they claim, the policy would be simple: If you submit a positive test, then you are provisionally stripped of the title immediately, and an interim championship is put into play. If you appeal, and succeed in getting your suspension overturned, then your championship is reinstated, and you face the interim champion in a unification bout. (Also, any bonus money that had been withheld from you should be awarded to you.) If you do not appeal, or your appeal is unsuccessful, you serve out your suspension, and it becomes discretionary as to how many fights you need before getting another title opportunity. Had this policy been in play when the Sherk situation happened, Penn vs. someone would already have happened, and Sherk would still be waiting for a decision, but the UFC would have been able to press ahead with a Lightweight Champion in tow.
I realize the point you are making madiq, and its a very respectable point. I am not saying that you are wrong either. The argument I was throwing out there was that Dana White never gets the respect that he deserves with what he has accomplished. Its more like he gets pounded for the things that he does wrong. I just want to see people focus on the good things of this sport rather than why someone or sumthing is killing the sport…..thats what is gonna kill it. We should all be happy about what we have with the UFC rather than finding everything wrong with it
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Dana White has got to have some thick skin. This guy eats more **** from us fans than the gold metal winner at a **** sandwich eatting contest. I am not happy about his decision to let Sherk keep the title reguardless of the outcome, but I think he genuinely made this decision based on the recent actions of the CSAC. He could have waited, and not even of had to say Sherk would remain champ. By the time he has to facr BJ or Stevenson, his suspension (supposed) would have been up anyhow. I think he has a lot going on right now. He may want to hire a PR represenative or something in the near future. When all is said and done, it really doesn’t matter what we think about his actions. I don’t think he is going to kill the sport, and I am not going to stop watching any time in the near future.
Thank you MisoDeadly and Accomando!! My 14-year-old son knows that “irregardless” is not a word. Come on, Leland! You should know better!!
In my defense,
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/irregardless
It is used in casual writing…
Alright, I’m busted. You all GOT ME!
I wrote the piece on about 3 hours of sleep and my boss at work seems to use the word a lot which got me to start repeating it, ugh… I must stop!
No worries, Leland! It’s a small (and forgivable) thing.
BTW: I watched a very talented student get shredded by a not-so-forgiving English professor for the very same thing. That experience pushed that word to the very top of my “do not use” list.
Fixxer with all do respect.I think u are Dana White….or in luv with him…People went to DW for MMA because he wuz tha only game in town. But thats not tha case any more..Tha more people and fighters experience UFC and Zuffa, the more they will sign with M-1, Strike Force, Elite XC, and countless others..DW gave us UFC, thats fine..But he isnt a GOD nor is he an ambassador for tha sport… Infact I dont think a non-fighter should be in charge when dealing with fighters. I dont think he know’s how, I say that because of tha cynical behavior he showed to hughes team on TUF..Granted Matt Hughes is a DICK, but hiz team seems o.k. FIRE DANA. RANDY FOR PREZ..
I am not Dana… or in luv with him. I am not saying he doesnt make mistakes…I dont agree with everything he does, or even the Sherk situation. It just seems that every MMA site you go to (with the exception of UFC.com)….they are bashing Dana in some way. I am a huge Randy fan….as a fighter, but his whole situation…I agree with Dana more.
#24- Scotchy….dude u basically wrote everything I was thinking haha. He really does need to get a PR.
Dana has done a lot for the sport, but like Scotchy said, he’s not going to be able to kill the sport. He might run more people to other fight organizations, but that’s about it.
#28- ThaSuper1…you also gotta remember…Dana did not give us the UFC. Zuffa did not own the UFC until Early 2001…did you watch it before then?