Dana White is across between the WWE's Vince McMahon and Donald Trump. That's not necessarily a good thing for the UFC.
Former UFC women's bantamweight champion Holly Holm felt compelled to speak out against the UFC president, following his disparaging comments that suggested she was too lazy or ignorant to be involved in negotiations over her first title defense and that she was foolish to let manager Lenny Fresquez negoiatie on her behalf.
Miesha Tate Says Ronda Rousey Fight Too Far Away, Eyes Cybord For First Title Defense
"For me, I don't really care what people say about me," Holm said on The MMA Hour, according to Fox Sports.
"But I do care when people are negative about the people around me who I love and who support me. So yeah, it's frustrating, because it was something that I wanted and it's something that [her manager Fresquez] pushed for [afterwards]. He said, 'Holly wants to fight.' That wasn't him saying that, that was me. He was speaking on my behalf. So, I don't like when people think that he's pushing me to do things against my will. That was my wish, and what I wanted."
Dana White's 'I Feel Bad For Holly' Comments Insulting To Ex-Champion
After Holm lost the title to Miesha Tate by a fifth-round choke out, White said he felt bad for Holly because she didn't realize the potential payday that awaited her had she just waited for a rematch with Ronda Rousey, whom she knocked out in November.
"I don't know if Holly really knows what she lost. I think she has so much faith in the people that surround her, she feels like, 'Well, they got me this far,'" White said on ESPN's Rusillo and Kanell.
"We had this meeting, and Holly wasn't even in it. Holly, that's your life. You should be in that meeting. Don't leave it to these people."
It's ludicrous for White to want his fighters to negotiate without any kind of representation. Agents are a part of the fabric in almost every other professional sport, to provide negotiation skills and business tactics for the clients they represent. It prevents people like White from taking advantage of the fighters.
"Unfortunately, fighters using managers who advocate hard for their clients seems to often make White upset," Fox Sports reported. "He also has a history of burning bridges during negotiations and having an interpersonal communication style that has prompted some fighters and their camps to choose to negotiate instead with UFC co-owner and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta."
No commissioner or president of any sport should also serve as that sport's promoter, which White does routinely.
He unashamedly has favorites, including Rousey, for which he has attempted to halt the women's bantamweight division his interpretation of her wishes. He originally wanted the 34-year-old Holm to wait at least eight months for a possible rematch with Rousey, one she never agreed to.
White's original intentions also coiuld have been detrimental to his darling Ronda.
"Immediately after Holm beat Rousey, and while Ronda was suicidal and in no physical condition to be training for another fight, White pushed the horrible idea that Rousey get an immediate rematch," Fox Sports added.
White is trying to do the same with Tate, and Rousey still has not agreed to a November fight with the new champion. Not ironically, Tate is mimicking Holm's response by declaring she wants another fight before taking on Rousey.
White's biases and bullying tactics are bad for the UFC. He would argue about the growth of the sport under his watch, but to that, the proper rebuttal would come from "Seinfeld" character George Costanza, who once said "It's like discovering plutonium by accident."
White hasn't grown the UFC; White is the fortunate individual to be in charge when the sport's popularity exploded on its own.
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