5 reasons why people hate Dana White

dana
Is Dana a bad boss?

Dana White is the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and has held that position for many years. The guy has been at the forefront of the organisation's rise and many people credit him with being the man to drag the company out of the gutter. However, there's also a large contingent who blame White for a lot of the issues within the world of MMA right now.

Some of that is warranted and some of it isn't, with opinions differing on how Dana White handles his day to day operations. Now we aren't saying that we here at Sportskeeda despise Dana, in fact, it's quite the contrary - we're simply pointing out a number of the reasons why certain fans feel this way. It's all objective, and it depends on how you view the sport itself.

Not everyone can agree on every single factor of a popular form of entertainment, which is what makes it equally so great and so frustrating. Debate is healthy and if we can't go back and forth as to whether or not someone as powerful as Dana White is doing his job correctly, then what's the point of even watching the fights on a weekly basis?

With that being said, here are five reasons why people hate Dana White.

#5 Unprofessionalism

unprofessionalism
How has nobody hit Dana in the face yet?

When it comes to keeping things behind closed doors, the likes of Vince McMahon are much more able to do so than Dana White - and that's saying something when you consider the Montreal Screwjob. Over the years Dana has had no issues with airing his dirty laundry for all of the media to see, constantly berating a number of fighters whilst swearing extensively in the process.

Also read: 5 things that could happen if Vince McMahon and Dana White switched places

This may sound like we're being a little bit sensitive, but on this platform, the fighters don't really have a chance to defend themselves and it's just Dana giving his side of the story. Naturally, it's been a problem for many people over the years, with some thinking that Dana has gotten a little bit too big for his boots during his reign as president.

Onto a similar topic that's had some pretty bad consequences.

#4 Favouritism

favouritism
White certainly has his besties in the sport

As fans of mixed martial arts we've all got our favourites, and considering that Dana is a fan too it's understandable to consider that he's got his own. Unfortunately, it's painfully obvious that he prefers some guys to others and that kind of biased opinion should automatically render him unable to do his job in a fair and reasonable way.

It hasn't, though - with big examples being the likes of Josh Koscheck being given opportunity after opportunity to fight despite clearly being passed his prime. Kos is a guy that Dana has constantly spoken highly of, and we understand that he's tough - but five straight losses? Come on now, he should've been cut a lot sooner than he actually was. Fact.

What Ronda wants, Ronda gets...

#3 Hypocrisy

hypocrisy
Ronda is above the law, obviously

Conor McGregor pulled out of the UFC 200 card due to the media obligations that were set out in front of him. The Irishman didn't agree with how extensive the plans were, and as such a lot of people turned against The Notorious One and sided with Dana White on the issue. You would think that would've been the end of it after Conor returned at UFC 202, but alas the plot thickened once again.

When Ronda Rousey made her return against Amanda Nunes at UFC 207, she was allowed to skip pretty much every single media commitment that Conor was not. Why? That kind of hypocrisy isn't really acceptable even when it's concerning two of your top fighters. If Dana can do that with ease, then how many other situations have there been like this that we don't yet know about?

Money, money, money.

#2 Money orientated

monaaaaaaaay
Poor old Romero

To any normal mixed martial arts fan looking in at the UFC Middleweight Title picture, it would seem clear that Yoel Romero is the undisputed number one contender to the championship. Unfortunately, Dana saw things a little differently and instead decided to award Georges St-Pierre the honour of battling Bisping in his comeback fight this summer.

It's a move that was clearly driven by money and nothing else, which is something that has been an ongoing theme throughout Dana's tenure as president. At the end of the day, the rankings really don't mean all too much and the UFC are always going to go with the fights that make the most money. A lot of people aren't happy about that fact, but it seems as if Dana's opinion of it is "suck it up".

We conclude with something that tends to bug a lot of fighters.

#1 Payments

payments
These fighters deserve more money

This one is a little harsh to blame entirely on Dana but considering he's the guy who a lot of the fighters go to in order to sort out negotiations, it makes a lot of sense. The idea is centred around fighters not being paid either what they're owed or what they feel like they've earned, with big money fighters like Conor and Ronda getting unbelievable amounts of money by comparison.

Then you have guys like Tony Ferguson who has recently claimed that he got less than half of his promised purse following the cancellation of his UFC 209 fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov. That's unacceptable whichever way you look at it, and unfortunately, it's Dana who has to face the music more so than any of the other guys behind the scenes.


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Edited by Staff Editor