If the opportunity arose, ONE Championship’s CEO would not be against a real-life Dana White vs Chatri Sityodtong scrap.
How Sityodtong and UFC president White go about running their respective organizations is very different. Much of that is about catering to the core audiences that helped to build their businesses. White uses a brash and bold promotion approach that is in line with what Americans prefer, as he built the UFC brand outward from the United States. Sityodtong uses a bit more of a subdued strategy that blends well with fight fans in Asia — the home of martial arts.
The ONE boss isn’t bothered by how White interacts with fans and media. However, he is no fan of the ways in which the UFC head honcho treats his talent. White has publicly clashed with many of his stars over the years, and Sityodtong believes the disrespect he sometimes shows his athletes comes from a lack of real martial arts training. And from not having been instilled with the tenets of mutual respect that would come from life in martial arts.
Sityodtong not a fan of the way White disrespects his fighters
I think he is an outstanding businessman. I don’t necessarily agree with the way he does things, but obviously, he’s built UFC into a phenomenal company. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts. But I don’t think he knows anything about martial arts. I don’t think he knows anything about fighting. I think he’s a fan, so I have differences,” Sityodtong said during a Wednesday appearance on “>The MMA Hour.
“I come from the martial arts community. I come from a martial arts background. And how I treat my athletes, they are my peers. I come from the community. It’s very, very different. I think if you’ve never been punched in the face or choked out, you can disrespect people publicly,” he explained. “But if you have had lifelong hard training — I just say we have stylistic differences. I don’t particularly respect the way he talks down to athletes.
Is a Dana White vs Chatri Sityodtong fight possible?
Now, Sityodtong isn’t going to go old school and seek out White to teach him a lesson in a parking lot, but if the pair of MMA executives could go toe-to-toe in martial arts competition, he wouldn’t be against it. And the idea was tossed around recently by the ONE social media team when they posted a video of their employer training and captioned the footage with, “Who wants to see Chatri vs Dana?”
Although Sityodtong says the post was made in jest, if the two 50-somethings did clash on the mats, White would have his hands full with the long-time martial artist.
I’m a lifelong martial artist. I’ve been doing Muay Thai for 35 years and I’m a jiu-jitsu brown belt,” Sityodtong said. “I train five, six times a week. If there’s a fight with someone my age, why not? I’m 50, turning 51 this year. I train five, six days a week, one or two hours every day.
Who ya got in a fantasy Sityodtong vs White open weight stand-up fight?
