Dana White Likes Nick Diaz, Still Dislikes Hollywood Agents
Ah, Dana White. Lover of all things controversial, hater of all things that could benefit a fighter.
Earlier in the week White appeared on a segment of Tapout Radio, where the UFC President all but confirmed his interest in former EliteXC lightweight champion and UFC veteran, Nick Diaz. Dana cited one minor issue with Diaz, which of course stems from Nick’s long documented ability to act well before he thinks:
“I think Nick Diaz is a bad ass. Nick Diaz is a tough kid, Nick Diaz doesn’t handle himself right all the time in public. I like him — I respect him as a fighter. I love his attitude. I love the way that kid fights. But you can’t do the stuff that this kid does in public. You can’t get into fights when the fight is over … you can’t do that stuff.”
Speaking of Diaz, he’ll be returning to Japan for a bout around New Years, though what event he’ll be participating in remains undecided, as DREAM’s K-1 Dynamite! on December 31st or Sengoku 7 on January 4th are equal possibilities.
White also made some noise the other day when he (again) voiced his distaste for “Hollywood Agents”, referring to Georges St. Pierre’s recent signing with entertainment powerhouse CAA (Creative Artists Agency.)
“All those Hollywood agents. You know how I feel about that…They’re all a bunch of pukes who tell you ‘we can do this, we can do that.’ If they deliver on 20 percent of that they tell you they’re going to do, you know…When you end up signing with this those guys, they end up (screwing) you up some way…Randy Couture, when do you think all that s— started… It started from the day me and that agent had that talk on the phone. That’s when it started.”
Given, Dana has had some unfortunate battles with Couture’s representation, but if there was ever a fighter to place high value on it would by all means be Georges St-Pierre. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that GSP is the unofficial, clean cut poster boy for the UFC. A role which he fills quite nicely. That being said, is it that big of a deal when a man who makes your company boatloads of money in pay-per-view revenue decides that he’d like a legitimate agency on his side? Personally, I’d rather have GSP on my roster with a “Hollywood” agent than Nick Diaz with all of Stockton behind him. But that’s just me.
yeah nick diaz rules get him back dana! as for the agents dana dislikes them cos he likes to be in charge of the fighters, and im guessing if the fighter has an agent the agent get’s the last say??
Yah johnboy i’m with you buddy, Diaz is a wicked fighter. So what if he smokes weed and has a potty mouth. To tell you the truth I don’t think either of these things should discourage Dana from taking him back, if anything he’s a character guy that most people enjoy, especially his antics.
Dana doesn’t like agents because they are money hungry where as the fighters are just there to fight. He doesn’t want to lose money in negotions with the hollywood guys. Or i could be comepletely wrong and it’s becuase he just hates phoney assholes. either way i’m with dana on this one.
Cannot say I blame Dana about hating agents look at what they’ve done to baseball and football. Guys like Rosenhouse(sp) and Scott Borass(no sp there..) essentially drive up the price of their clients to the point where either the player is a perennial disappointment(because the overpayment makes them never live up to the standards) and/or small market people get walked on. However, I will say it comes with the territory of being the premiere association. That being said it also helps the fighters in the long run because it can lead to better pay.
I suspect the Hollywood agents make demands like “He needs 6 months off fighting to shoot ________” or “He needs a 25% pay increase each year to match the deals I’ll be turning down so he can fight.”
Note, GSP didn’t sign with a SPORTS agent. That means Dana has to work around GSP’s non-MMA work schedule which ultimately means less GSP in the UFC.
Chris L, he didn’t sign with one of those guys. He’s gonna do movies and stuff, taking time away from MMA. CAA doesn’t do MMA, they do movies/commercials/modeling, etc.
i mean this pisses me off if thats true DBiz. if ur a fighter u f***ing fight if ur an actor u act i mean what f***ing bussines does gsp have in acting? i sure hes not short of a bob or two so why do it, gsp should be more worried about BJ PENN kicking his ass then signing with an hollywood agent so he can get abit of screen time in some fighting movie thats prob guna suck ass, (rant over) for now!
Just floating this out there, but I think we are going to see a network deal soon for the UFC. The sport is huge and with EliteXC out of the way and the UFC still making money and growing in popularity there is a huge gap that the UFC can fill. The UFC should just eliminate the undercards and put those fights on network TV. I pay for every ppv and I usually only get to see half the fights anyway.
i mean this gets me mad if its true DBiz. if ur a fighter then u fight if ur an actor u act, what business does gsp have in acting, im sure hes not short of a bob or two so why do it! gsp should be more worried about BJ PENN putting a beating on him then signing with a hollywood agent so he can star in some rubbish fighting movie thats guna suck!
there u r kris i toned it down a bit i like my other post better tho, this doesn’t make me sound as mad as i am.
DBiz
Great analysis, i definitely don’t want GSP in “The Scorpion King 4″ like Couture did. But i bet he’ll be in Mighty Ducks five and he can be the enforcer with a soft, kind heart. Also DBiz, in your pic did someone get hit with a chainsaw nearby or get back from a hardcore wrestling match?
Diaz should come back to UFC, he’s tougher than concrete, but i unfortunately don’t see him being anymore than the elite contender gate keeper.
I gotcha DBiz and I knew it wasn’t with either of those guys. I’m just saying when agents get involved to market an athlete with his potential marketability (lets face it he has looks and charisma) and skills to back it up, typically guys get swept up in everything money-related and their sport/performance is kinda secondary. It’s great that they get paid for it all but still the fans like us suffer.
Keep in mind folks GSP still has the same manager (Shari Spencer) and I don’t believe that he has plans to leave the fight game for movies or some other b.s. any time soon. CAA isn’t just entertainment (though that’s how they started), their sports division is legit and they represent a bunch of pro athletes including Jeter, LeBron James, Peyton and Eli Manning,David Beckham, Sidney Crosby,Ryan Howard, Pennington, Romo, Brees, the list goes on. Just trying to keep some perspective.
I disagree that Diaz is a wicked fighter, he has looked like a shell of the guy he used to be. I know he is still young and probably learning but his Boxing looks slower and in general he looks like he has lost interest.
I think the elder Diaz has “lost his heart” to fight the Elite (pun is free) guys in the MMA world he wants everything handed to him, just my opionion tho
GSP’s former management was really inexperienced. GSP’s brand is strong and it was being wasted. At least the folks at CAA understand how to leverage his brand. But I sure hope it’s not to remake Van Dam movies.
D0 any of you guys know of another web page besides sherdog,mma news, mmabay where i can get mma news?
You know, CC, I had a similar thought. Like he would just have to mouth the words and they could use JC’s voice from the original film.
fyi, i don’t believe his potty mouth or even the weed is what kept diaz out of the ufc for the last couple years as much as it was the fighting with joe riggs in the hospital after a fight. hopefully diaz has calmed down a bit by now. if not, i can see why dana wouldn’t want the association cuz they guy can get super crazy. i’m a big fan of both diaz’s but it’s hard to keep respecting a guy that doens’t show the class that a pro athlete should possess.
MC84 - MMAFrenzy.com
nick is a really good fighter for what the polls say he ko’d one of the top 185 pounders robbie lawler he is good
Give the kid a shot, as a fighter Diaz the elder has shown immense passion in every fight and is far from boring to watch. Sure he made some mistakes outside the octagon but if Rampage can get away with what he did with minimal controversy why not Nick?
Also I would think that all of GSP’s 6-figure paychecks would be adding up by now, how bad does he really need to work on this? He literally got on his knees to beg Dana for a title shot before becoming champ, to show a lack of interest in fighting in favor of acting or media promotion would be a slap in the face to the fighting world. I’ve been a long time fan of this guy since his early days, I’d be pissed if he branched out this early. At least Couture waited until he was near the end of his MMA career.
he does the outburst stuff for show ……. Definately a stone cold fan growing up I would imagine .he has had a rough start to life obviously and given a little big brother treatment by dana wont hurt .
“Stockton is Great. Take a Look.”
remember when babul held the choke too long and got fired…..hmmmm bj penn did the same thing against jen’s and he is still in the ufc….hmmmmm
GSP is an Athlete first and not a businessman, i think you hire a professional to help you if you are overwhelmed with obligations to free up some time to train more. I’d hate to see GSP go downhill because he did not have enough time to focus on the sport. Dana seems to be a control freek and likes to deal with the fighters on their own, maybe some get taken advantage of because of their lack of business savy.
The point of having an agent in the entertainment field is so that you don’t have to focus on it. The agent does it for you and makes you aware of opportunities, which you then decide weather or not to take. It really means nothing except he is interested in broadening his life. Catch a clue newbs..