UFC president Dana White was in rare form during a recent interview with Carlos Arias of the Orange County Register. The interview, which was filled with angst-ridden rants and many deleted expletives, depicts a very outspoken White addressing a number of topics.

When asked about Fedor Emelianenko's rumored impending free agency, White addressed the question but then referred to a previous question that inquired about the state of the UFC's competition.

Question: The other big thing out there is apparently Fedor Emelianenko is going to be a free agent again very soon. Is he somebody that the UFC would be interested in getting if he becomes available?

DW: “All I have to say about that is don’t ever (expletive) doubt us. All these (expletive) idiots out there that like to talk (expletive) and (expletive) don’t ever doubt us, man. Don’t ever, ever doubt us.

“The other thing is that goes with Fedor thing is all these people get out there and start talking. It’s like every (expletive) five minutes I’m answering questions about the new guy that’s going to take the UFC down. A year and a half ago it was the IFL. The IFL has a better model. They are going to take care of these fighters. They’re really going to take care of them. They are going to give them stock options. They are going to get medical benefits. They are going to give them a retirement plan. Here we are, the stock is at 8 cents now and they are going out of business. OK.

“The next guy was (Calvin Ayre and) Bodog. This guy is a billionaire and he’s doing this and that. Oh my God, look at the contract he gave Matt Lindland. Matt Lindland never got paid  his (expletive) money. The money Matt Lindland was supposed to get paid from Bodog, he never (expletive) paid him. He’s like, ‘(Expletive) you. I live in Costa Rica. What are you going to do about it? The government can’t even touch me.’ OK.

“The next guy is (HDNet Fights’) Mark Cuban. He’s a billionaire, this, that and everything else. Then the CBS deal pops up and Mark Cuban isn’t as scary anymore. Look at CBS now. Every (expletive) day it’s somebody new.

“Let me tell you what, whether it’s the fans, the fighters or whoever, the fighters get taken care of in the UFC. I’ve made more (expletive) millionaires in mixed martial arts than anybody. Even that moron, Tito Ortiz. He’s an (expletive) liar. He was on Howard Stern and blatantly flat out lied about what he made. The guy has made millions. Remember the interview with him, ‘Booh hooh, I crashed my car into a tree. My life is over.’ I brought him back and made him a coach on Season 3 of The Ultimate Fighter. The guy has made millions of dollars, millions, OK. This is where it’s at. This is where the fighters are going to make the money.

“You got all these guys trying to put together companies. M-1 and this and that and all these different (expletive) things. They’ve never even put on a fight, yet. They’ve never even put on a fight and they are going to be the company to beat the UFC.

“You think of this. You come over to my house this weekend and we kick back and watch TV. We put on (expletive) NASCAR. We’re like, ‘Holy (expletive). Look at all the (expletive) people at this race. All those fans and this and that. These guys got television deals and merchandise deals and all this crazy (expletive). You know what? Let’s steal two of their drivers, and let’s start our own (expletive) company. We’ll call it (expletive), you know, GASCAR instead of (expletive) NASCAR.’ That’s how (expletive) stupid it is. It’s the exact same thing, you know. NASCAR is huge. Nobody is going to jump out and start competing with NASCAR. But small races go on every weekend all over the country. All these guys eventually want to make it to NASCAR and become professional drivers.

“It’s the same (expletive) thing with the mixed martial arts market. The UFC is here. We’re pulling all the numbers. We’re doing all this (expletive). We’re the real deal. But every weekend, all over the country, all over the world, fights happen. That’s the way the business works. We need those smaller shows as a feeder system to get to the UFC. The whole (expletive) psycho internet thing where everybody wants to jump on and everybody is going to kick our (expletive), it’s all insane.”

 I highly recommend you read the interview in its entirety, which you can do by clicking here.

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Sam Caplan

Lead Writer/Editor - ProElite.com

SamCaplan.ProElite.com

Many people are pretty much ruling out a return to the UFC by Tito Ortiz following recent comments he made on video. However, UFC president Dana White is refusing to rule out the possibility of Ortiz re-signing with the organization following the final fight on his current contract, which is scheduled for UFC 84 on May 24 against Lyoto Machida.

“I’m not planning on quitting because Tito doesn’t want to fight if I’m here,” White is quoted as saying in a new interview with MMAWeekly.com. “Even with all the issues I’ve had with that moron, he’s still in the UFC, so we’ll see what happens.”

However, White was on the offensive towards Ortiz during much of the interview and his comments are unlikely to endear himself to impending restricted free agent.

“He said he’ll never come back to the UFC as long as I’m running it,” White said. “Tito’s always going to say stupid (expletive). Every time that guy opens his mouth, dumb (expletive) rolls out, he can’t help himself.

“And he’s a liar. I don’t know if you guys heard his Howard Stern interview where he says all he makes is $250,000. Tito Ortiz has made millions of dollars. Remember, when he was in that thing crying, ‘I crashed my car into a tree, my life was over.’ We brought him back into the UFC, we made him a coach of The Ultimate Fighter, and since then Tito Ortiz has made millions and millions of dollars.”

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Sam Caplan

Lead Writer/Editor - ProElite.com

SamCaplan.ProElite.com

Following UFC 81, UFC president Dana White continued his calls for current heavyweight champion Randy Couture to return to the promotion and defend his crown.

Gary Herman of 15rounds.com quoted White as saying the following:

“I expect Captain America (Couture) to step up to the plate and give Nogueira the chance to win the title,” White said, “Couture was knocked out twice by (Chuck) Liddell. Then, he called me and asked for the heavyweight title shot. I gave it to him. Now, it’s his turn to return the favor.”

 Click here for more post-UFC 81 notes from 15rounds.com.

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Sam Caplan

Lead Writer/Editor - ProElite.com

SamCaplan.ProElite.com

EliteXC live events president Gary Shaw has said in the past he believes that Kimbo Slice can be the best heavyweight in the world. While UFC president Dana White didn't address Shaw's comments specifically, he does share a different appraisal of Slice's ability.

In an article by Gary Herman of 15rounds.com, White was quoted after UFC 81 as saying he doesn't believe Slice can compete in the UFC.

“Sean Gannon beat him in a street fight. Everyone saw happened to Sean Gannon when he fought a guy that no one ever heard of (a decisive TKO loss to Branden Lee Hinkle in the UFC),” White is quoted as saying in Herman's article. “Gannon was in the hospital for three weeks.”

But White wasn't finished. 

“That’s what would happen to Kimbo Slice if he fought in the UFC. He would get hurt bad – real bad,” White concluded.

Click here for additional post-UFC 81 notes. 

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Sam Caplan

Lead Writer/Editor - ProElite.com

SamCaplan.ProElite.com

UFC president Dana White recently spoke with Pramit Mohapatra of SI.com and guaranteed that the UFC will not only ink a deal with a network, but will be doing so sooner rather than later:

PM: In the United States, was UFC 80 ever a candidate to be on a television network like CBS or NBC?

DW: Absolutely. I guarantee we're going to be on a network, and soon.

White, who conducted the interview with Mohapatra while in the UK for Saturday's UFC 80 event, indicated that the deal will be in prime time as opposed to a possible late night timeslot:

PM: Was there consideration to the rumor that UFC 80 would be the prime event while the writers' strike continues?

DW: It'll be the prime time. It will be ready when we cut a deal that works for us. I'm not going to go out there and cut any stupid deals. I use boxing as the blueprint of what not to do with this sport. And, no matter what, we're out there, we're working hard, we're trying to grow the UFC and expose it to more people, and get it into other countries. But, we're not going to cut any deals that don't make sense for this business long-term.

When Mohapatra tried to get White to give some sort of hint as to which network the UFC may end up signing a deal with, the UFC president refused to rule anything out:

PM: You've been connected to three major networks -- two broadcast and one cable -- HBO, CBS, and NBC. Which of those would you say the deals are still alive and which are dead?

DW: That's a good, sneaky question. I'd say they're all still alive. We're talking to a lot of different networks, and no door has closed with any network.

For more from White, including his thoughts on Randy Couture, how the California State Athletic Commission handled Sean Sherk's appeal hearing, what's the latest on UFC 83, and whether he respects Mark Cuban, just click here.

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Sam Caplan

Lead Writer/Editor - ProElite.com

SamCaplan.ProElite.com

As most of you know by now, I'm a huge fan of "Mr. Sunshine" Steve Cofield's work on Fox Sports Radio out of Las Vegas. Steve is a general sports talk show host by trade, but shows mad love to boxing and MMA on his program.

Steve's interviews with MMA figures are always top notch and I'm not sure why a TV outlet or fight promotion hasn't hired this guy to do their post-fight interview. It's not like he needs another job though, because he already hosts like 50 radio shows.

In addition to his radio work, Steve has also been submitting MMA columns to FoxSports.com. His latest submission is an article discussing the current growth pattern of the UFC and MMA. In it, he has quotes from UFC president Dana White, EliteXC live events president Gary Shaw, and fighter/commentator Frank Trigg.

The Shaw quotes are especially noteworthy, as he shows no mercy in going after White, challenging the UFC president in a number of areas, such as:

"It was easy for UFC before there was competition. There was no other choice in the past. Once you have choices, there's a problem," said Shaw. "You can't stuff a pay-per view down the throat of the fan every month if there are other choices out there. I don't know what their real pay-per-view numbers are, but I guarantee you they're not doing the 700,000-800,000 pay-per-view numbers now. And you don't hear them bragging about it."

Shaw also believes that EliteXC is promoting its fighters in a different fashion than the UFC:

"Their philosophy is different than ours. No one is bigger than the fighter in Elite XC. In UFC, no fighter is bigger than Dana and the company. My thought is the athlete is the single most important component of our company. We're more interested in making great, fan-friendly fights than who we're going to pick to be our next champion."

Is it possible UFC could be headed for the same fate as Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Entertainment? WWE saw record profits in the late '90s, only to plateau and fall back over the last seven years.

"It's just like the McMahons. No wrestler was allowed to be bigger than Vince," said Shaw. "UFC's model is flawed. They keep recycling stars. If you ask people about UFC fighters, they will give the same four names. For as long as they've been around, they really haven't developed many big names."

I think there is a lot of validity to what Shaw is saying. However, I think he's way off base with the following statement, that is, assuming it was presented in its proper context (but it appears almost immediately after he claims the UFC hasn't really developed many big names for as long as they have been around):

Shaw suggests White may not have the true gift of being a great promoter.

"There's a knack for building stars. It's not luck. You can feel, see and smell a superstar in the making. You just know it when it's in your presence. Guys like Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya, Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture, are they the very best fighters? No, but they are the biggest stars. They just have it."

He's leaving a few stars out. One in particular. It's a guy with a mohawk that I saw fight at UFC 79  against Wanderlei Silva. It seemed like the crowd was into him. What was his name? Oh, yeah, Chuck Liddell.

You also have fighters such as Matt Hughes, Georges St. Pierre, B.J. Penn, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, and Rich Franklin that the UFC has played a large role in building. I know I'm leaving some guys out. 

Has the UFC produced an abundant amount of one-man draws? Outside of Tito, Randy, and Chuck, no. But right now no North American MMA promotion has ever come close to building the amount of draws that the UFC has. Granted, EliteXC has only been around a year but building the next Liddell is far from a given.  

There was something else in the article that also struck me as interesting. Shaw is not going to roll over for the UFC:

Shaw takes a daily jab at White and his UFC subordinates, who must drive by a giant Elite XC billboard just down the road from the corporate offices in Las Vegas. The sign featuring Elite XC fighter Kimbo Slice is at the Sahara exit off I-15. The billboard doesn't promote an upcoming event, but simply features a giant photo of Slice with the tag, "From the Streets to Elite."

That's great competitive spirit and all, but might it be a wiser idea to use that promotional money to promote Kimbo's next fight? Also, I don't know if I would be so bold as to put a Kimbo billboard up and wagging in White's face. He might try and sign Kimbo as a free agent once he becomes available just out of spite.

But what I've addressed here is just the tip of the iceberg. I highly recommend you click here to check out Cofield's entire article.

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Sam Caplan

Lead Writer/Editor - ProElite.com

SamCaplan.ProElite.com

World Championship Fighting has announced that UFC president Dana White will be appearing on its next card on February 8 in Wilmington, Massachusetts at the Aleppo Shriners Auditorium.

The show will be headlined by former UFC fighter Dan Lauzon, who will be taking on Team Renzo Gracie fighter Andrew Calandrelli.

Ohter featured fights include Justin Homsey vs. John Franchi; Jamie Campbell vs. Robbie Roberts; Jesse Peterson vs. Leigh MacNeil; John Benoit vs. Justin Hammerstrom; and Jonathan Sola vs. Greg Croteau.

In addition to White, other advertised featured guests include Marcus Davis, Kenny Florian, Sean Gannon; Jorge Rivera, and Murilo "Ninja" Rua.

For more information, go to WCFighting.com.

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Sam Caplan

Lead Writer/Editor - ProElite.com

SamCaplan.ProElite.com