The Internet Did What?: Dana and Randy Break Up

When a friend of mine called to tell me what Brian Knapp reported, I didn’t believe him. I found the link to the Fight Network and read it, just annoyed. I spent the rest of Thursday night annoyed, reading unhappy comments from other unhappy fans who were over-reacting, missing the story, or being equally as sad and dead on.

I went over to Zach Arnold’s FightOpinion Friday morning to get a handle on the damage. The usually smug Arnold (my favorite cynic to pick on this week) didn’t even know what to say. He let the bloggers, websites, and reports do it for him. And I saw shock, and sadness, and fans trying to rationalize answers. And I saw Adam Morgan’s column. “Dana White Fucked up, PERIOD.” Yep.

Usually I’m hard on hardcore fans of MMA. They tend to be very emotionally involved sports fans with no perspective on the business side. I often let Dana off the hook because I don’t think his little offenses are as big as his larger victories. Not this time. Not one bit. We all have a very big problem here.

Dana White, just an hour or two after Couture wrote a well-thought out, non-slanderous resignation letter and let Sherdog have comments, gave his take. He said:

“I’m not surprised at all by Randy’s decision. I talked to Randy everal weeks ago and he said that if he couldn’t fight Fedor, then he has nothing left to prove in the sport of mixed martial arts.

He has been doing a lot of acting, and I know he is in South Africa right now filming a movie. I think it’s a great move for Randy’s acting career to retire from fighting while he is on top.

As we all know, Randy retired before. The landscape in MMA changes every day. So when he is ready to come out of retirement again, he is still under contract with me, and I’m ready to promote him.”

Maybe you aren’t surprised, Dana, but there’s no need to say it. It’s symptomatic of a person with control issues, who has to let you know, even if the information is irrelevant, that he isn’t as shocked as you. He’s fine with it because he knew. Did ya? Did ya! Then why weren’t you on a flight down to South American to make this right? Forget about it “just being a fighter” to you, or not wanting to be anyone’s bitch. It’s business. He’s your champ. It looks bad if he leaves. Especially him. Him being the biggest MMA star you have. With Tito Ortiz you can get away with this crap. People see Tito as a heel anyway. He’s an entertainer who fights. Randy Couture is your world champion.

You felt the need to explain away that Randy had nothing left to prove, but you had to write how you had him if he comes back. Obviously you are concerned with Randy Couture making a move to follow Fedor in M-1.

And while you were trying to give a reason as to why he’d walk away, you missed what Randy Couture, the man who’s been there for your company for a decade, said. He said you treated him without respect. It wasn’t just a money thing. He would have waited to negotiate that. But at almost 45-years-old, he didn’t want the disrespect. Instead, you talk about him going into acting, giving a reason that amounts to him being a frontrunner like yourself by going into acting without losing in the ring. What would it matter if he retired champion or not? How, in your screwed up mind, will that help him in Hollywood? He can either act or not. That’s it. Don’t try to undermine the man.

But the biggest indicator that Couture’s assessment on appreciation and respect, the clearest sign that he was right to walk away, was that you couldn’t even be bothered, or rather, made to look weak in your mind, by saying thank you. By wishing him well. Instead, you made it about you, and what you can do, when he inevitably returns to you, right?

Here’s why this is stupid on Dana White’s part either way: He can alienate himself from the internet based sites all he wants (I understand to a small point, like 20% of the way down the road he goes, but doesn’t he realize that the future of all publication and media is online?). The problem begins with the fact that you aren’t gonna win a public relations battle with hardcore fans who go to these sites daily and invest more of their time then most fans, or with Randy Couture, the most beloved fighter in MMA history (at least in UFC’s home market). In the end, Randy Couture knows where he got the information. This amounts to a guy blaming his wife’s girlfriends for telling on him when he cheats. it doesn’t matter if she caught him in a lie, or she found out from a friend, she’s leaving you Dana!

Then Friday you come out with a statement blaming the Internet. I thought it was a parody of what you “would do”, like a caricature of your worst actions magnified. Damn, I was way off when I said it would be Dana blaming Sambo as the Dana White “negative thing to hate about him” – story of the week. I’ve tried to be fair, but who is gonna defend “internet sites give false earnings” as a good excusing from Dana? How would that even hurt you, Dana?

Wouldn’t Dana actually be paying fighters more then is listed (and those figures are almost always figures from State Athletic Commissions) if we’re to believe what even his most trusted media sources (like Meltzer or Iole) report? You’ve said it publicly, so anyone covering a press conference could report it as a quoted fact attributed to you. So if anything he’s saying Randy is dumb because he reads internet sites, which isn’t gonna win points with fans or Randy personally, or he’s saying those figures are wrong, I pay these guys way more then you after bonus, silly Randy!

It’s a disturbing Vince McMahon-like pattern of losing in a negative way those stars who, for better or worse, built your house. Frank Shamrock, Tito Ortiz, Josh Barnett, and several other figures join Randy in shaking their heads, even if they shoulder some of the blame. The common denominator is still Dana White.

Finally, the worst thing before this goofy tirade was that he couldn’t help himself in yesterdays press release. Very Telling. In the final lines he can not resist, as he sees the high road, and starts down it, but turns back and says “I” when referring to promotional contracted rights to Randy Couture. Should have never been mentioned. Randy has lawyers. He isn’t dumb. He knows. That’s mud throwing in public. It looks bad. And in the case that Couture might have a change of heart, White sounds like he’s threatening him, as he states, “He is still under contract with me”!!! It should have read “the UFC”, not “me”, and been followed by “will welcome a legend like Randy Couture back anytime he’d like to return in any capacity”. Even if you don’t feel that way, it’s what you should say.

The saddest of subplots, on a serious note, is the coverage. The MMA media has stepped up and was all over this on every end within three hours of the story breaking. Fight Network had live coverage on the radio with Lorretta Hunt and Caplan, the sites had all the news and opinions on it, and Sherdog came through with more Randy comments in an interview. Dana White even joined in on the coverage, or his reactions to it.

But where was ESPN? Where was USA Today? Where was any mention by any major print copy of a nationally respected newspaper? The fact ESPN didn’t even have it as a top story is pathetic, and all sports media should be ashamed. They missed the boat on Randy’s title win. They missed the second time around on Randy’s defense in late august. And they dropped the ball on him walking away, possibly for good. It’s plain arrogance in the face of huge numbers of 18-34 year olds that support MMA in droves. Arrogance like Dana White showed this week. I’m not sure who I’m more disappointed in.

E-mail John Philapavage at johnnyp@mmaopinion.com