Dana White :: The EDGE Interview

by Chris Cilenti, Jesus Echezuria and Danilo Gabrielli

There’s an old adage that says, “Whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”. That didn’t hold true for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White when he included an anti-gay slur in a April 1 YouTube tirade against Sherdog sportswriter Loretta Hunt; the controversy ricocheted from coast to coast.

For his part, White claims the media firestorm left him at a loss for words. But it didn’t last; when EDGE reached out to White to see if he would candidly talk about his outburst, he was eager to chat.

EDGE – Dana, thank you for taking the time to sit down with us and chat today.

Not a problem, thanks for giving us the opportunity. Let’s do this!

EDGE – Dana, so much has been made of the incident and the events subsequent to it. Everyone knows what was said and the subsequent apology. Do you think your use of the slur in the blog has caused many people to overlook the initial intention of the message?

I don’t think so. I mean it was with the mainstream media but the message got through to the hardcore fans and the people who follow the UFC. It wasn’t about homophobia and it wasn’t about me being anti-gay, anti-mentally handicapped, anti-woman or anti-anything like that. It was about a reporter, who wrote a story that from the first word to the last word was full of lies. And was it that big of a deal? Was it that crazy? No, I was sick of her; she does stuff like this all the time … and this isn’t 1986 anymore where the media can say whatever they want and there’s no rebuttal. We live in a different world now man – it’s like that E60 piece ESPN did on me. You know how many fans have come up to me and said what a crock of shit that piece was. Now matter how bad the media tried to attack me on it they did it because I went after one of their own!

read full article…