Dana White Fact Check: UFC 251 Edition

Or Let's See What The Boss Has to Say

UFC president Dana White had some things to say to the media on Friday. Let’s examine some of those things.

Dana White: “This is trending off the charts.This thing is trending higher than a Conor McGregor fight. The only that this fight is comparable to is Conor vs. Khabib…This thing is trending as big of a fight as I’ve ever seen in my entire career.”

C’mon Now: With no way to access the information on PPV sales, it’s hard to determine if this is true or not.

One thing that can be considered is pay. When Nurmagomedov and McGregor fought at UFC 229, the disclosed pay numbers were $2 million for Nurmagomedov and $3 million for the man who got smashed, Conor McGregor.

We don’t know what Nurmagomedov got for beating Dustin Poirier at UFC 242. McGregor’s disclosed pay for UFC 246, where he defeated Donald Cerrone, was $3 million.

Does anyone think Kamaru Usman or Jorge Masvidal will receive a paycheck of $2 million (disclosed) for tonight’s fight? I think it’s a pretty safe bet the answer is no. With White bragging of the numbers, I would say Usman and Masvidal both deserve at least $2 million, that is if White is being honest.

DW (on fighter pay): “We’re never going to have a scenario where you guys (MMA media) are going, ‘holy shit, Jim Johnson, thinks you’re overpaying him. He thinks he’s making way too much money for this fight.’ We’re never going to have that conversation, ever.”

C’mon Now: No one is saying fighters should be overpaid, although that would be nice to maybe make up for all the years of them being underpaid, but we do want to see fighters paid correctly. With that said, if this is the biggest fight card ever, pay the fighters like it’s the biggest fight card ever, that’s only fair. But fair? Fair is not a word Dana White knows.

DW (on Mike Perry): “We’ve had some guys do some counseling. I saw this coming in the last several months with Mike Perry. All you have to do is watch his interviews. Watch the way he’s interacted with the media.

“He literally said in an interview leading up to his last fight, ‘I hate all of you. I hate the media, I hate the fans. You guys want to say stuff to me on Twitter and walk up to my face and be nice to me. I’m telling you, don’t walk up to me. If you see me in the streets, don’t touch me, don’t say hi to me.’ He said that leading up to that last fight. He is a man of his word, apparently and here we are today.”

C’mon Now: This one gets a c’mon now. White has also said he hates the media. Not long ago he said he had a “mostly hate relationship” with the media. He’s also called the media wimps and disparaged the physical appearance of the media as a whole. But yet he has the audacity to bring up Perry saying he hates the media. C’mon now. A lack of self-awareness is one of White’s strongest traits.

Also, is the UFC wants Perry — or any — fighter to get counseling of any sort, how about putting some cash toward that? The UFC shouldn’t just make money off fighters, it should help them in any way it can. To ask Perry to get help and then not to offer him that help is pathetic.

Speaking of pathetic. Why does Perry need to get help before he gets a fight and Conor McGregor can throw a dolly threw a bus window and injure UFC fighters and staff and punch an older man in the head and he doesn’t need to sit out or go to counseling?

I think we all know the answer to that. First, the UFC is incredibly hypocritical. Second, Conor McGregor brings in money and that soothes any issues the UFC might have.

DW (on social media): “I love criticism, I love whatever you want to call it on social media. I’m just built that way.”

C’mon Now: Yup, I’m still blocked by the man who loves criticism.

DW (on Reebok deal): “These guys have all made money.”

C’mon Now: Fighters have made money, yes, they’ve just made a lot less money than they could have if they were allowed to get their own sponsors.