The Doggy Bag: Love and Hate

In this edition of Talk Back, readers chime in on Loretta Hunt’s article concerning backstage access at the UFC for fighter representatives and also Dana White’s reaction to the article. Sherdog.com published its statement on Friday afternoon. Published below is strictly portions of reader opinion.

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Mr. White himself acknowledges the article's factual accuracy. He criticizes Mrs. Hunt and her use of anonymous sources only to draw attention from the article's subject: the management and conduct of the UFC. Some manager-agents are not permitted locker room access. The UFC makes this decision because their business is not one big family of promoters and fighters and agents... I wish Dana would address honestly why these changes are made rather than attack Mrs. Hunt and Sherdog. As a fan, I'm more interested in what this means for the sport than Dana White's hasty and seemingly emotional response.
-- Nicholas Thompson

Dear Sherdog, Please call the wah-mbulance. Thank you.
-- Steve Hubbard

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The public has always been best served by a free press. Without it, secrecy leads to conspiracy... absolute power corrupts absolutely!
-- P.W. Rice

Good article regarding Dana White’s Remarks. I believe the UFC needs to be in check just like every other big company. It’s a free country, and Dana White thinks he can censor the UFC and hide these things under the table. He is power hungry and fighters are not getting what they deserve, while the UFC continues to make millions off the fighters who keep the business booming. Keep your accurate stories coming because the public needs to be aware of Dana’s power hungry dictatorship he is trying to set with the UFC.
-- Adrian Apodaca

While I agree that the UFC should be reported on, both good and bad by an independent media, I do think your article paints an overall tone that there is something horribly wrong for the organization to discourage fighters from speaking about certain topics, or to specific media outlets. You portray an environment of extreme intimidation on the part of the UFC, including severe repercussions for fighters who choose to speak out. This is probably true. And to that I say... well, duh! In what business can you publicly bad mouth your employer to the media, or reveal private company conversations, and not have repercussions? These fighters are employees of the UFC, and the UFC should hope for at least some level of loyalty from its employees, as any business should. If not, they should feel free to release these people who are essentially causing a disruptive workplace. That may be threatening, but that is life when you work for a company. And this is not comparable to the NFL or NBA, since the leagues are not the direct employers, the team owners are. How many times has [Terrell Owens] been let go from teams for behavior that White tolerated from Tito Ortiz?
-- David

I would like to comment on Mr. White’s recent comments about a reporter. He was wrong for doing it the way he did. He starts off by calling her a "Retard." He apologizes because he called [an anonymous source a homosexual slur]. Why didn’t he apologize to the mentally disabled people of the world for trying to compare her to a person who is mentally retarded? I have a child who was born with Down syndrome, and he would never talk to someone like Mr. White did.
-- Hal Docherty

If [Sherdog.com] was a print magazine, I wouldn't use it to line my birdcage. No one cares what a bunch of parasites with no actual fighting experience think about MMA.
-- Eric Bass

I commend you guys for the stories you do on the UFC, both good and bad. Keep up the good work. I feel the reason Dana launched in to a tirade is because he is a control freak, and the reason the UFC became successful is because he micromanages everything. Unfortunately that will be his downfall in the end. If money is still being pumped in to MMA in this economy, it’s only a matter of time before someone is able to run parallel or at least not far behind. I think eventually Dana will bid on a fighter that has come up through another promotion. The second this other promotion makes a higher offer to retain said fighter Dana will throw the same tantrum, maybe not on Youtube but it will happen.
-- Drew Sommers

Even if UFC is doing something wrong, why attack them? Would any of you have a job if the UFC did not exist? No! Would any of you have a job if Dana White and the Fertittas did not save the UFC? No! Did anyone, other than a few thousand people, care about Sherdog.com before the recent revitalization of the UFC? No! Does anyone know who Loretta Hunt is? No! Will anyone care if Dana White curses her in a blog if he leaves out the [offensive slurs] statement? No! I would just be careful [about] who you piss off with your articles. UFC can blackball you out of the sport. Have fun writing about Strikeforce, Bellator or the Japanese organizations!
-- Matt Perdue

The UFC is becoming bigger and bigger by the day, and has even surpassed the world of boxing in many ways. But just like how fast the MMA industry developed and improved, it can fall and collapse in a short period of time. As an avid fan of MMA, I appreciate how Sherdog.com has always tried to do what is right. I believe Dana White is great enough of a man to not only criticize and question people (such as asking "Do you wanna be a F-----g fighter!?), but also accept criticism for what he did wrong. I respect how much Dana has done for the sport, but this sport was built by fighters, their sweat, and their blood. If he decides to treat fighters like crap, he should be mentally reading himself to take some crap too. After all, fighters fight for themselves. They don't necessarily have to fight for the UFC. Dana White is fighting a losing war here and the situation won't change unless he changes his own attitude. Sherdog.com works for the world of MMA, not Dana White, and I would like to keep it this way.
-- Jason

Dana White’s video response to Loretta Hunt’s article was made simply for one reason, and that was to intimidate, discredit and stop her (or anybody else) from writing anymore articles that he deems negative for the UFC. When someone questions potential problems with the managing of the sport, that person should not feel fearful to keep asking questions. This attitude does not advance the sport. If this is how he talks in front of the camera, heaven help us when he talks behind the camera.
-- B. Driscol

I think Dana White is trying to expand MMA in his image through the UFC… Let's not forget Dana's aggressive love for the sport and that this is a free market economy in which private businesses still have control of their interests. Dana is trying to protect the UFC from getting ruined like boxing is.
-- T.A.

I thought your article in response to Dana White's remarks regarding your reporting and your editor, Loretta Hunt, was excellent. No, the UFC is not evil, nor is it perfect, but someone needs to state the obvious: despite being the biggest bully on the playground, even they get too big for their britches sometimes. Sticking up for the fighters and representatives in the sport was a classy thing to do, and hopefully you won yourself some more fans for the way you stuck up for yourself.
-- Dave S.

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