The Bottom Line: A Bad Week for the Boss

[JayPettryMMA]

BY TODD MARTIN
AUG 6, 2019
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Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.

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Over the years Dana White has operated as president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, he has had his ups and downs in terms of public perception. His detractors often underestimate the appeal his blunt, outspoken style has to a huge swath of UFC fans. What many consider his negatives in fact function as positives for him a significant amount of the time. On the other hand, his supporters frequently underappreciate the negative impression he has left at times on fans and potential fans of the sport. The last seven-plus days were a strong reminder of those negatives, as White had one of his worst weeks in years in the way he handled Cristiane Justino’s departure from the UFC.

One of White’s strengths has always been that he gives off the air of authenticity, even when he’s being dishonest. He doesn’t feel rehearsed and focus group-tested the way that other sports’ commissioners often do. That’s what made his disingenuous handling of “Cyborg” particularly striking. It felt like he was trying to put one over on fans, and in a way, that wasn’t particularly hard to see through.

There’s nothing wrong with the UFC or any sports league trying to get out its message in the most convincing manner. The issue with the conversation the UFC disseminated between White and Laura Sanko was that it was pretending to be something that it wasn’t. It was someone hired by the UFC to ask a series of questions White wanted asked who would then nod along at everything he said and occasionally interject to verbally agree or attempt to bolster what he was saying. Yet it was framed as an interview and began and ended with Sanko thanking White for his time, as if he were doing her the favor of granting media availability. It wasn’t journalism, but it didn’t even have to be. The problem was that it was non-journalism masked as journalism and figured that viewers wouldn’t be savvy enough to notice the difference.


Read more at https://www.sherdog.com/news/articl...-Week-for-the-Boss-159711#lGm2L6GSevo6owUQ.99

 

[hedidhisownstunts]

so what was wrong with how he handled cyborg, who literally posted fake news about him on social media and drew her criticisms largely from comments made BEFORE she entered into a working relationship with the UFC that she agreed to?

 

[Mcountry]

"non journalism masked as journalism?"

You just described every major news media network.

But beyond that, I do feel like there is something to be said about having to deal with her management that was stupid enough to try and put out a very obvious edited video to portray a false narrative.

Dana is being Dana. Nothing gained nothing lost this week. Cyborg or more importantly, her management acted idiotic and lost out on the UFC. Maybe that was the goal all along? To try and get Dana to look like the bad guy as they moved on to Bellator or where ever? But that doctored video with the false subtitles was the dumbest shit ever pulled. Because of that, I do think there is some truth to him saying that her management team was avoiding the Nunes rematch to save her brand.

Well congrats Cyborg. Your brand is saved. You can go back to knocking out nobodies while on horse meat diet.

Oh and and thanks to that interview, I now know who Laura Sanko is.

So that's a win.