Dana White pre-UFC 99 conference call notes
Published by Zach Arnold on June 11th, 2009 in Current Events

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Q: Have you heard anything as far in Germany as far as like the media reaction, is it toned down or is it as far as the controversial aspect of it or has it kind of gone away in the last couple of weeks?

A: It’s still there, but it’s nothing new. This is what we deal with. I mean, I remember when we went into the UK, Lorenzo and I were literally in a hotel room dealing with stuff right up until we went to the event. You know, it’s all part of the process. This is nothing new. This is just a little more public than most places we go to.

Q: As far as the deal with Mirko, is it true that it’s a one fight deal or is it not true?

A: Uh, you know, I think that’s, Mirko and I are working on that still. Listen, Mirko Cro Cop ended up on this card like last minute, within weeks before the event. And this whole deal was done verbally over the phone with me and him. And, uh, you know, Since the day he left PRIDE and came to fight with us right until you know he fought his last fight with us and has been sitting out, we’ve had a great relationship. And, uh, you know, like I said, this fight was made over the phone. We’ll see what happens.

Q: Now, that’s usually kind of unusual for the company. Was it something that you been talked about, like when did kind of the idea of you wanting him or him wanting to come back first transpire and…

A: He and I started talking on the phone one Sunday. And, uh, and it escalated to this. You’re right, I’ve never done this. In the history of the company, I’ve never done this with anybody ever. You know. I, uh, you know, I respect Mirko. I’ve always said that publicly and he knows how I feel about him and I know how he feels about me. And I know what his goals are as far as the UFC and the title go. We did this thing over the phone. I’ve never done that ever in 9 years of being in this business.

Q: Are you and Lorenzo being [unintelligble word] of the Setanta situation in Britain?

A: We’re just, obviously, you know, we’re waiting to see what happens. We’re going to try to figure out if anything bad happens how to get this thing on for the fans. So, yeah, We’re all over it.

Q: So you think, I mean obviously changing, if the worst happens, changing carriers with only a couple of days is hard to do. You confident that whatever happens, the fans I guess, it’s just Britain isn’t it that would be effected, they would get to see it?

A: The fight business is so much fun. It’s always fun stuff happening. Yeah, I mean, what are you going to do? There’s nothing we can do. We’re going to have to roll with this thing and see what happens and uh we’re all over it, believe me.

Q: Just wanted to get your response to the passage of the MMA bill in the committee of tourism (New York). I saw a lot of quotes but didn’t really see anything from you. Just wanted to get your thoughts on that.

A: I’m pretty excited about it. You know, It’s about time. Uh, you know, like we said, like the stuff that’s going on in Germany right now, it’s a process. It takes time. We have to get in there and educate people and do what we do. Everybody always asks me if I’m frustrated, if I’m aggravated, isn’t it crazy that… no I’m not, I’m used to it. It’s what we do. It takes time, we get in there, We educate people and w get it going. I was very confident we’d get New York and I’m still confident it’s going to get done. We got Germany done. We’re going for France next. It’s all just a process, man.

Q: How much is a global expansion part of your business plan? How important is it to get that going now?

A: It’s very important to us right now. When we first bought this company, the one goal that we had, the one goal, now you have to understand you know everybody thinks I’m full of shit when I say this, but it’s true. Three passionate guys bought this business because we really love the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. We love the sport, all the athletes were interesting, you know, it was one of the coolest businesses we’ve ever seen. But what we really loved about this thing is turning it into a sport. And to turn something into a sport, to us that means the same game of soccer we play here in the United States is the same game that they play in Croatia, England, France, Italy, Spain and that’s our goal. Our goal is to turn this thing into a sport worldwide where everybody’s playing by the same rules.

Q: How much do you see the show in Philly as being sorta watched and viewed by the people in New York to see the success it’s gonna be?

A: I mean, if you have to watch one specific show now to see the specific business, in these hard economic times we’re still selling out shows not only here in the United States but all over the world. This thing, it’s just it’s insane. It’s not like need to sit back and watch how Philly’s gonna do, Philly’s almost sold out already. We’re almost sold out in Germany right now. UFc 100 is sold out. We just sold out the WEC up in Sacramento in Sunday. I don’t remember the last time anything sold out in Sacramento. I mean, for anybody to sit back and go ‘Huh, wonder how this is going to go?’ it’s pretty obvious. This sport continues to grow, it gets bigger and bigger every day. It’s not going anywhere.”

Q: How important was Mirko’s international popularity in your wanting to sign him both the first time a couple of years ago and recently for this fight?

A: Well, to be honest with you, I wasn’t sitting around saying, wow, imagine if we had Mirko Cro Cop on this card. Mirko and I started talking and it really just came together. But yeah, obviously, Mirko Cro Cop is a popular fighter worldwide. You know, people here in the United States love him. The UK, Croatia, Germany, wherever, Japan, so he’s one of the best in the world. So obviously we want the best fighters in the world. He called me. He wanted to fight in Cologne. I said, ‘Beautiful. Let’s try and figure it out.” We did the whole thing over the phone in, I don’t know what Mirko, three days?

Q: Does the outcome for Cro Cop determine in large part if he’s back if he wins? Obviously there’s momentum for him to keep going but if he loses does that kinda squash any hope for a second fight for him?

A: I don’t know, like I said, Mirko Cro Cop is a guy whom I respect, we have a good relationship, and you know he and I will talk about it. You know, just because you lose a fight in the UFC doesn’t mean you’re going to leave, you know, there’s a lot of different factors. You know, Mirko will fight this fight and we’ll talk after the fight and see what happens.