UFC President Dana White

By Jesse Heitz

Well, it looks like UFC President, Dana White, is on the old warpath again.  This time his ire isn’t directed towards longtime nemesis Tito Ortiz, or even a rival promotion.  No, it’s directed at UFC Hall of Famer, Ken “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” Shamrock.  The exceptional amount of bad blood seems to stem from the fallout of Shamrock’s unsuccessful lawsuit against the UFC’s parent company Zuffa.

The irate comments from MMA’s top promoter stemmed from the allegations of several UFC veterans and MMA icons over the UFC’s poor treatment of its fighters.  The ferocity of White’s outburst was directed at Ken Shamrock who made no attempt to temper his words, stating via Twitter that,

“So what your saying is that the fighters did not make the ufc what it is today that disrespectful promoter did all of that wow what a smart guy you are why didn’t I think of that who needs fighters when you can just disrespect the guys who made your promotion and talk trash and make loads of money and not give what is partially the fighters money.”

As was reported today by MMAFighting.com, Dana White fired back, stating,

“I don’t even want to mention this guy’s f–king name.  But it’s just like, Ken Shamrock burst back on the scene. ‘Hey everybody, I’m here to save everybody,’ or whatever. No, you’re trying to become relevant again is what you’re trying to do. Let’s not forget that Ken Shamrock tried to sue us, that he said that his contract — Ken Shamrock owes me $175,000. And I’m coming for it, Ken. I’m coming for the f–king money, you piece of s–t.”

“You should have f–king stayed wherever you were, hidden under the f–king porch somewhere. The guy owes me $175,000 because him and his f–king scumbag lawyer put together some phony lawsuit that he lost. And he owes me $175,000 in attorney’s fees. And he’s out there talking about what he doesn’t have and what guys aren’t getting and all this s–t. He’s trying to make himself relevant again and if anybody can’t see that, you’re just f–king stupid.”

First and foremost, take a breath Dana.  Just breathe.  Maybe Shamrock does owe Zuffa a sizeable sum of court-ordered cash, but just calm down a tad.  However, it is incredibly unseemly for the president of the world’s largest MMA promotion to engage in such a petty squabble in full view of the public.  Save the strong language either for behind closed doors meetings, or simply let the lawyers do the talking.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the façade Dana White presents, or I at least hope he presents.  Yet, it’s important to note that he’s a businessman, the face of the franchise.  Heck, he’s the promotional face of an industry that still struggles to gain widespread acceptance.  Sure, it’s entertaining to hear Dana White’s off-the-cuff remarks, but maybe it should be kept reasonable.  Lengthy and ridiculously heated diatribes aimed at one of the men who built your empire with blood, sweat, and tears, might not be the smartest option.  After all, who knows when employing one of these scorned legends may be good for business.