Dana White interview from Sherdog

[Zen]

source: www.sherdog.com


Mike Sloan: What's up, Dana? You about to fall asleep or what?

Dana White: No, I'm in my office still (laughs). It's horrible.

Mike Sloan: Do you get any free time to do anything?

Dana White: Nope. Never. We met everyday this past weekend, too, for meetings. Me and Lorenzo had, like, seven to eight hour meetings on Saturday and then met again on Sunday.

Mike Sloan: What do you meet about, marketing, match-making, money? What?

Dana White: Everything, man. It's a full-time job, I'm telling you.

Mike Sloan: When you do get some free time, what do you do; sleep?

Dana White: Yeah. Or try to hang with my kids. You know, I've been around this for a long time. It seems like a glamorous job and I've been around actors, musicians and everything else, and it's not what it's cracked up to be. It's all work, man. But, to make this thing happen and make it big, you gotta put in the time.

Mike Sloan: Okay, let's get right down to business: Chuck and Tito. When is it going to happen?

Dana White: Don't know. We're working on it.

Mike Sloan: What is the delay?

Dana White: Tito.

Mike Sloan: Tito is delaying?

Dana White: Mm-hmm.

Mike Sloan: What, is he afraid or something? Is he really injured? What's going on?

Dana White: I have no idea. As far as we know right now, Tito is hurt.

Mike Sloan: I heard he had some sort of retinal eye problem.

Dana White: He had lasik eye surgery, he said his hand is bothering him and he said his knee is bothering him. I guess he has a few different injuries.

Mike Sloan: Do you believe him?

Dana White: Uh… Yeah, I believe him. Right after the Shamrock fight, he showed me his hand. It was all swollen and busted up, so if the guy says he's hurt, what can I say? How can I say that he's not hurt?

Mike Sloan: Yeah, and besides, he must have hit Ken about 400 times. His hand should hurt.

Dana White: (Laughs) Yeah. Who am I to say that he's not hurt?

Mike Sloan: Now, I'm not here to say that Tito's a wimp or that he's scared to fight Chuck by any means, but it's just that Chuck has been the #1 contender for about 2 years. When is this fight going to happen? I know Tito blew his knee out, so that's reasonable, but come on, Tito has to fight him sooner or later.

Dana White: Yeah. He (Chuck) deserves this fight. Liddell has been told that he's the #1 contender for a year and that he was going to get his title shot. The winner of him and Vitor Belfort was supposed to get the title shot and Chuck still stepped aside to let Tito fight Ken. Chuck has done more than his fair share for the sport and it's his time, you know? It's his turn.

Mike Sloan: At the UFC 40 post-fight press conference, Tito got up and said that in order for him to fight Chuck, he has to get paid enough money or else he'll go and fight in Japan. When he said this, Lorenzo's and your face just dropped. What was going through your head when he said that?

Dana White: I wanted to hit him with a chair (laughs). No, no, no. In all fairness to Tito when he said that, we were talking about doing a show in Japan over the summer. I think Tito was saying, 'I heard we might fight in Japan,' meaning that he was going to fight Chuck Liddell in the UFC, but in Japan. I'm almost 100% positive that's what Tito meant.

Mike Sloan: The way I took it was that he was going over to PRIDE instead of facing Chuck for a certain amount of money.

Dana White: No. What's crazy is that a lot of people were coming up to me that night and saying that Tito was such a scumbag and they couldn't believe he did that. But I was telling them that that's not what I thought Tito meant. He meant that we're having a show in Japan and he might fight Chuck in Japan, but in the UFC. I'm almost 1000% positive that's what Tito meant.

Mike Sloan: By the way, is it the same knee Tito tore up, or is it the other?

Dana White: No, it's the other one.

Mike Sloan: When Tito gets 100% back in shape and he's fully healed, of course, Chuck will be, too. When that time comes, is Tito demanding a certain amount of money in order to fight Liddell, or is he open to negotiate?

Dana White: Tito is under contract with us right now for a set amount to fight Chuck already.

Mike Sloan: So no matter what, no ifs, ands or buts, Tito will make a set amount to face Chuck, whenever it happens?

Dana White: Yep.

Mike Sloan: Would you ever strip Tito of his title if he never fights Chuck?

Dana White: Uh… (some pondering) Would we strip him? Well, I mean… If he came and absolutely said that he refuses to fight Chuck Liddell, yeah. You can't refuse to fight the #1 contender.

Mike Sloan: Let's go back to Ken. Now, Tito whipped him pretty bad. He beat him so bad, but you can never deny Ken's heart. Is there a contract with Ken to fight again in the UFC, or was it a one-time deal?

Dana White: I love Ken Shamrock. I don't care if it's 15 years from now. If Ken Shamrock calls me and says that he needs something, I will be there in 3 seconds. Ken is the biggest legend, he has done more for this sport and he's awesome. Ken Shamrock is the man. I would do anything for Ken Shamrock ever. If he ever calls me or needs me for anything, I will be there for him.

Mike Sloan: So, is there a contract with him to fight again?

Dana White: Yeah, he's gonna fight again.

Mike Sloan: When?

Dana White: Probably June 6, here in Vegas.

Mike Sloan: Who is his opponent, Tank Abbott?

Dana White: Nah, I, uh… We haven't really announced that… We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves.

Mike Sloan: Gotcha. What's the story with Murilo Bustamante? Why won't he resign with you guys?

Dana White: Uh, we couldn't come to money terms.

Mike Sloan: Did he demand an ungodly amount of money?

Dana White: We offered him an ungodly amount of money, but he turned it down and said he wanted to go out and shop around because it wasn't enough money for him.

Mike Sloan: What kind of money did you offer that said it was no good?

Dana White: (Not giving away specifics) We offered him a lot of money. Then he went out, shopped around a little bit and realized what a great offer it was.

Mike Sloan: Now is it too late for him to come back?

Dana White: Yep.

Mike Sloan: So Bustamante burnt all of his bridges with Zuffa, huh?

Dana White: No, no, I wouldn't say that. I wouldn't say that he's burned all his bridges. It's just at that point in time, we put an offer out there that he refused and when he came back three or four months later, I wasn't willing to-… He already had walked away from the title. He already said that he wasn't going to accept it and then go out and shop around to cut another deal. He had basically already given up his title.

Mike Sloan: Why wouldn't he accept his title?

Dana White: He just didn't think it was enough money. He felt that he could get more money elsewhere.

Mike Sloan: It's been about a year or so since he's last fought, so obviously he hasn't done too good a job of shopping around.

Dana White: I don't know what his plans are. He's a great fighter, so I'm sure he'll be fine.

Mike Sloan: So I take it that his title is now officially vacant in the UFC?

Dana White: Uh… (Some thinking) Yeah. That title will be vacant in May.

Mike Sloan: So what's next? Who is Lindland going to fight for the title?

Dana White: I don't know. We still gotta figure that out.

[Zen]

Mike Sloan: Alright, as everybody knows, Jens Pulver also left you guys for more money and so forth. He went over to the UFO and UCC. Whenever I speak with him, he tells me that he's willing to come back to the UFC and fight whoever is the champ. However, since he just got beaten by Duane Ludwig, do you guys even want him to return?

Dana White: I really like Ludwig. We brought Ludwig in. I love Jens Pulver. He and I are friends, he calls me up, we talk, but at the end of the day, Jens turned his back on my title. He said, 'You know what? I'm walking away from it.' He gave up and left. I begged him not to do it. I said, 'Don't do this, Jens; you're making the wrong decision.' I know he knows that he made the wrong decision now. You know, let him get a couple of fights somewhere else, get a couple of wins under his belt and we'll talk. Actually, I think everybody should know that Jens recently signed a four fight deal with Shooto and I hope he does great. As for Ludwig, he's fighting on this next show in Miami. He's fighting Genki Sudo.

Mike Sloan: That's going to be a great fight. Ludwig's a bad ass. I love watching him fight.

Dana White: Yeah, Genki's nasty, too. That's going to be a good fight. Lawler/Spratt's another great fight.

Mike Sloan: Staying with Spratt, it was posted on MMA.TV that he got $8,000 to fight Newton, whereas Newton got $50,000. Why such a disparity in the money between the two?

Dana White: I think he got 8 and 8 ($8,000 to fight, $8,000 to win), which would be $16,000. Newton was getting 25 and 25. I think that's what it was.

Mike Sloan: Okay. Well, still, though, why such a difference in the amount of money between them? Newton was coming off a pretty crummy losing streak (aside from the Pele fight) and he wasn't the champ, so why did he get that much more than Spratt?

Dana White: Newton actually-… Pete Spratt is coming back. Pete Spratt's an up and coming guy, you know what I mean? We needed a fight for Carlos and Spratt stepped up to the plate like a stud and took the fight. Pete Spratt's awesome, he's another one of my guys. He's my co-main event now. He stepped up to the plate, period. He's a fighter, man. This is what fighters do. When they're given opportunities, the fighters jump in and take the opportunity.

Mike Sloan: Like Vlad against Tito.

Dana White: Exactly. Real fighters step up to the challenge. I like guys like that. I like guys like Pete Spratt. He wasn't sure if he was ready for a guy like Carlos Newton, but you know what? He was like, 'Give me the opportunity and I'll fight him!' He didn't say (in a whiny voice), 'I'm not gonna fight him unless you pay me $60,000.' He said that Carlos Newton is a big name and that he's coming up from the smaller shows, give me the opportunity to fight him and I'll take it. He stepped up and took the opportunity and I respect that.

Pete Spratt's in the UFC and not only is he fighting in the co-main event now, but we also set him up with this big deal with BET, Black Entertainment Television. He was the host of their show that they are going to air on April 23rd. He's a stud. He's a fighter, he stepped up and I'll do anything for him that I can. I like real fighters. I come from boxing, man. I don't like these guys who sit back and say, 'Oh, I'm the champ so I'm just gonna sit back and pick my own opponents.' Those guys are clowns to me and I got no time for them. Guys who step up are the ones I like. Lawler is the same. He'll fight anyone, anywhere, any time. It doesn't matter who it is, Robbie will go toe-to-toe with anyone.

Mike Sloan: Like with WFA 2, when Shonie Carter had to pull out of his match against Frank Trigg for various reasons, John Lewis went through about ten guys before he finally got Jason Medina to fight. Then when Miletich hurt his neck for WFA 3, Hallman stepped up to fight Trigg. Trigg was all pissed because he's like, 'What the hell? You're in town just in case you have to fill in, yet you won't fight me?'

Dana White: Exactly. Hallman's a real guy, too. Call Hallman on two days' notice and he'll be there. Pete Spratt; give him an opportunity and he'll take it.

Mike Sloan: Chris Brennan…

Dana White: Chuck Liddell. Call these guys and they'll be there to fight. I'm talking about real fighters, not guys who fought a couple of guys, think they made a name for themselves then don't want to fight anybody again. 'Oh, I need a comeback fight!' Come on. Tank Abbott comes back and fights Frank Mir. Say what you want to about Tank. Say you don't like him, say he's not an athlete, say whatever you want, but he fought Frank Mir, a young guy who's great at submissions, a guy who is on top of his game. Tank came out and fought him. He didn't ask for some obscure guy that nobody's ever heard of. He came out and fought Frank Mir. He's a real fighter. That's who I like, that's who I respect and that's who I want. I want real fighters.

Mike Sloan: Yeah, not some guy who dodges everybody, like when Tyson paid Lennox Lewis 1 million to not fight, or when Riddick Bowe tossed his belt into the trash so he wouldn't fight Lennox.

Dana White: I know. There is a handful of guys in MMA, and they know who they are, who want to go out there and hand-pick their opponents and all this stuff that keeps their name out there. A bunch of clowns. Ken Shamrock came out and fought Tito Ortiz. When I talk to Ken to line up another fight, he doesn't want any no-name guys. Ken doesn't want to fight a guy who doesn't have a name. He wants the best and will only fight the best because Ken Shamrock is a stud and he's a real fighter.

Mike Sloan: So is Nogueira over in PRIDE. When was the last time he fought a stiff?

Dana White: Exactly, exactly. Nogueira, too. I agree.

Mike Sloan: Speaking of Nogueira, have you ever tried to get him to fight in the UFC?

Dana White: Well, you know… (some pondering) Um… No, we haven't.

Mike Sloan: Why not?

Dana White: He's got a deal with PRIDE. He's got a contract with PRIDE and I wouldn't go after another guy's fighter.

Mike Sloan: Let's talk about Josh Barnett for a while. He pissed hot for steroids twice. He was booted from the Nevada Athletic Commission, he was fined, suspended and you took his title. Now, it seems, that he doesn't want to fight at all. What's your take on this situation?

Dana White: I don't know. I really can't make any-… I don't know what Josh is doing. I ran into Josh in England and we had a good conversation. But before the England show, we had no dialogue at all. We didn't talk at all. There was a lot of bad atmosphere I would say. But I like Josh and I don't what he's doing. I have no clue what he's doing. I think he's training guys or pro wrestling and stuff like that. I wish him the best.

Mike Sloan: If Josh calls you tomorrow and tells you that he wants to fight in the next UFC, would you allow him? What would you do?

Dana White: I'd talk to him. I'd talk about it. The last time I talked to Josh and his manager, they were in La La Land, as far as money went. But I'd talk to Josh, I like him. I've got no problem with him.

Mike Sloan: In the last four UFC heavyweight title fights, there have been four different winners; Couture over Rizzo, Barnett over Couture, Rodriguez over Couture and now Sylvia over Rodriguez. Do you think it's a good thing to have a new champion after every fight and it keeps everyone on their toes, or do you think it's bad for the UFC because there have been so many new heavyweight champs?

Dana White: It's just one of those things, man, what are you gonna do, you know? Guys keep winning. Obviously, a guy who defends his title and just dominates his weight division like Matt Hughes does is a good thing because you can build a guy. But this is just one of those things in our sport that you can't just get a guy and have him keep winning because there are so many different ways to lose.

Mike Sloan: I know. You can get caught with a flying knee, flash elbow, a choke, kick, armbar, there are so many ways.

Dana White: I agree.

[Zen]

Mike Sloan: BJ Penn and Caol Uno have to fight for a third time. In the second fight, I felt that BJ did enough to warrant the decision, but it was declared a draw. What do you think of the outcome in their rematch?

Dana White: BJ and Uno? To be totally honest with you, I left during the Baroni/Lindland fight.

Mike Sloan: Why?

Dana White: I got sick, man. I freaked out. I don't know what the hell was happening. I thought I was having a frigging heart attack.

Mike Sloan: Are you serious?

Dana White: Yeah. I left and Lorenzo kept calling me on my cell phone and updating me on what was happening. (Laughs) I thought I was dying! I had to get out of there, man. It was the weirdest thing to ever happen to me.

Mike Sloan: Have you watched that fight on tape since?

Dana White: Just on the plane on the way home, but I watched it briefly. I haven't really seen the show yet.

Mike Sloan: The general consensus is that BJ should have won, but he got robbed with the draw. Whatever. It was a good fight, though, and it was back and forth, but I thought BJ won. So, when is the third fight?

Dana White: I don't know. It's not lined up, so I have no idea.

Mike Sloan: You mentioned earlier that you had plans to have a show in Japan, but that has been pushed back. What other plans do you have as far as foreign countries go? Are you going back to England, going to Brazil? What?

Dana White: Right now, we're just focusing on the US. We're not going anywhere else but the US.

Mike Sloan: You have the next one in Miami then back to Vegas in June. What's next?

Dana White: We're shooting for August 1st, but we don't know where yet.

Mike Sloan: Let's go back to the show in England. There was a brawl that happened afterwards at the post fight party. I wasn't there, but a few of my buddies were and I heard the stories. Were you there when it happened?

Dana White: (Becoming a bit irritated) No, I wasn't there.

Mike Sloan: When you heard about it, what did you think? How mad were you?

Dana White: Uh-huh. I was pretty pissed.

Mike Sloan: Were there any lashings to the fighters involved?

Dana White: Yeah. There were some-… yeah. Yep.

Mike Sloan: Well, what did you do? Fine them?

Dana White: No, we didn't fine them, but it looked like some of the guys were going to get kicked out of the UFC. We haven't had an after party since (a pause of silence because that situation obviously angers Dana).

Mike Sloan: I know. When I heard about it and how Tito supposedly got knocked out, I was like, 'What the hell are these guys doing?' They're going to get hammered then go fight in an alley? Come on. It just looks really bad for the sport.

Dana White: I agree. It sucks. And for the record, even though Tito and I aren't on the best of terms right now, he did not get knocked out in that brawl. That's a stupid rumor.

Mike Sloan: King of the Cage is coming here to Vegas in May. Are you going to attend that show?

Dana White: Yeah, I'll probably go. It depends. If I'm in town, I'll go.

Mike Sloan: Obviously, UFC is headquartered in Vegas along with the World Fighting Alliance. Now that King of the Cage is coming, do you feel threatened or do you welcome the smaller shows into your home town?

Dana White: I welcome them. I absolutely welcome them. I don't see them as a threat at all, any of these smaller shows. I want them to flourish and do well. I want them to continue to go on, no doubt about it.

Mike Sloan: Have you guys at Zuffa ever thought about striking a deal with some of these smaller shows that during their broadcast and promotions that they say their show leads to the UFC? Maybe dub these smaller shows as the UFC "minor leagues" and actually work with them hand in hand? Like during a UFC broadcast, have the commentators explain that fighter A is a King of the Cage guy, or that fighter B is a UCC guy?

Dana White: I never really thought about that, but you know… I never really thought about it. I don't know, I've got enough problems with my own show right now (chuckles).

Mike Sloan: This is just my observation and I can't prove that it happens every single time, but during the UFC broadcasts, I can't remember Goldberg ever mentioning PRIDE. He always says "Japan." I've heard him say 'Abu Dhabi,' but I honestly can't remember him ever saying 'PRIDE' or 'Shooto' and I can only remember him saying 'King of the Cage' once or twice. Is it in his contract that he can't say the name 'PRIDE' and that he has to say 'Japan' as well as with the other MMA shows? What is the story with that?

Dana White: No, not at all.

Mike Sloan: So he can say 'PRIDE' as much as he wants?

Dana White: I think they just-… I don't know. I've never really noticed that. But that's really an interesting observation.

Mike Sloan: Yeah, because I've noticed that Goldberg never says 'PRIDE,' he only says 'Japan.' When Ken Shamrock commentated last time, he said 'Shooto' and 'Pancrase.'

Dana White: Shamrock never said 'PRIDE?'

Mike Sloan: Well, Ken wasn't talking about a guy from PRIDE. But Goldberg, at least from what I can remember, has never said 'PRIDE.' I was just curious and thought that maybe he had some sort of gag order in his contract to not say 'PRIDE' and that he had to only say 'Japan' because PRIDE is the "enemy organization."

Dana White: No, no, but I might have to do that, though.

Mike Sloan: What, to not say 'PRIDE?'

Dana White: (Laughs loudly) Yeah, to make a contract so he can't say it. (Snickers) No, I'm just kidding. But, no, he can say whatever he wants.

Mike Sloan: Okay. I was just curious about that. Switching gears, I was talking to Frank Shamrock a few days ago and he told me that as of right now, he has no plans to fight in the UFC because he feels the management is no good. He disagrees-

Dana White: (Interrupting) That's weird because we're not interested in Frank Shamrock fighting in the UFC, so he's right.

Mike Sloan: Why is that?

Dana White: We're just not interested in him. Frank hasn't fought in a long time and I think it's good for him to fight in the smaller shows and get that rust off of him.

Mike Sloan: I take it you two have animosities towards each other?

Dana White: Do we have animosity toward him? No, whatever. I mean it's unfortunate that Frank feels the way he does, but at the end of the day, I'm not too concerned about what Frank Shamrock thinks about me at all.

Mike Sloan: What happened to spark these feelings you have towards each other?

Dana White: Um… Frank said some weird stuff, you know? He said that we flew him out for business advice. Hah. We flew him out here once to train us in submissions. He's probably the best submission guy I've ever worked with. I think I learned more from him in a week than from the entire time I had trained. He's a great trainer and everything else, but in my own opinion, he's delusional. In my opinion, he's a very delusional guy.

Mike Sloan: What are some of things he says that make him so delusional?

Dana White: I just think that Frank thinks that-… The thing that's probably the toughest for Frank is that if you ask anybody, 'What do you think of Frank Shamrock?' They'll say, 'Oh, you mean the guy who fought in the WWF?' 'No, that's his brother,' you know what I mean? That's KEN Shamrock. Frank did some great things at a time when nobody was watching. The hardcore fans know who Frank is, but if you ask any of the mainstream people, they think you're talking about Ken. I think he has this kind of thing where he lives in his brother's shadow. I think that kind of rubs him the wrong way. I don't know. When he beat Tito Ortiz, like 2,500 people saw it. He did some good things when nobody was watching.

Mike Sloan: True, but if you ask anybody who is into MMA who the best fighter he's ever seen, chances are extremely high that that person will say either Frank Shamrock or Bas Rutten. That has to mean something.

Dana White: I agree. I totally agree, but because of that, Frank thinks he demands huge dollars. You know, he talks about how we're killing the sport, right?

Mike Sloan: Yeah, he was against Tank's return because Tank is not a true sportsman and that he's very disrespectful.

Dana White: Yeah, but what does he care whether Tank Abbott fights or not? Does he decide who should fight and who shouldn't? In my opinion, he's very delusional. That guy, man, I don't know. It's unfortunate that he feels that way, but at the end of the day, Frank Shamrock doesn't determine how I run my business and what I do. I'm more than happy with Frank fighting in the WEC and any of the other smaller shows. That's cool. More power to him. I'm just not interested in Frank at all.

Mike Sloan: What if some of UFC's biggest names start calling him out? What if Lindland or Hughes or Ortiz or whomever start to ask you to bring Frank back? What would you do then? What if they say, "Dana, we want to fight Frank Shamrock! Sign him!"

Dana White: Oh, I don't know. Again, it goes back to Frank being delusional, in my opinion, and thinking that he's worth crazy kinds of money. You know, let's talk about ruining the sport. He's charging these small shows outrageous amounts of money to fight, then he has to own all the rights to all of his fights and he gets to handpick his opponents. That's not the way I do business. For those kinds of demands, I sincerely hope that the WEC gains something by having Frank fight in their show. Actually, the guy who owns the WEC, Reid Harris, is a stud. He's a really, really good guy. I like him. He's a nice guy, his heart's in the right place and he really wants to do things to help the sport, so I hope that by putting up with the demands of a Frank Shamrock fighting in his show paid off for him. I hope he gets something out of it because he is a good guy.

Mike Sloan: Frank told me that he's taking half of his purse and is giving it back to the show's production. Whether he did it or not, I don't know.

Dana White: Yeah, whatever (laughs). You know what I mean? I'm not interested in that. At the end of the day as a promoter, when you pay for two guys to fight, what you pay for is that tape that you own the rights to, that fight that you paid for. I don't know. Frank's just a very delusional guy and he's not a very good businessman in my opinion.

[Zen]

Mike Sloan: Okay, fair enough. Why is there no featherweight division in the UFC?

Dana White: Hmph. We don't have enough slots to fill up the weight divisions that we have! (Laughs) To do weight divisions like that, we'd have to have a TV show.

Mike Sloan: How far off do you think you are from that?

Dana White: I don't know. If you asked me this a year ago and which you probably did, Mike, I thought it was going to be a lot faster than what has happened. But I'll tell you; we're out there every frigging day hammering it. We're working on it.

Mike Sloan: Right. No, I totally agree with you.

Hopefully you can answer this one for me. How come Rumina Sato has never fought in the UFC?

Dana White: Rumina Sato? We were trying to get Rumina right when we first bought this company, but it never worked out. They (Shooto) weren't ready to let go of him. They weren't ready to let him come over here, and then he started losing, so it just never worked out.

Mike Sloan: He hasn't had a win in, like, 37 years!

Dana White: (Laughs) I know, but I love Rumina Sato.

Mike Sloan: He's probably the most fun fighter to watch, ever.

Dana White: True, he's just so exciting.

Mike Sloan: How has the war in Iraq, so far, affected your business strategies?

Dana White: I think it has affected everybody. We'll find out more when we do the show in Miami, but I just hope that it's over soon and that not too many people get hurt. It's just not going to help anybody's business. We gotta do what we gotta do over in Iraq, and I just hope that it's over soon. As long as it takes, let's just make sure we get it done this time. We support the troops fully, though. You know what's really cool? We get emails and letters from the troops and we send them tapes all the time. Just yesterday, we sent the Air Force over there tapes of 38, 39, 40 and 41. We send them DVDs and tapes all the time.

Mike Sloan: In the past couple of months, the biggest boxing events such as Jones/Ruiz, Tyson/Etienne and a few others granted our troops overseas free pay-per-view broadcasts for the events. Do you have any plans to do such a thing for our troops and allies?

Dana White: Man, do you want to hear something funny? We thought of that first. We were going to do that, but the head guys in charge over there thought UFC was too violent!

Mike Sloan: What? We're out there killing these enemies and getting shot at left and right, but UFC is too violent? We're trying to kill the most violent person since Hitler, but UFC is too violent?

Dana White: Is that funny or what? It's ridiculous.

Mike Sloan: It is. Okay, you've brought back Ken Shamrock and then Tank. Dana, when is Royce coming back?

Dana White: (In a gleeful, yet covering-up sort of voice) I don't know. You never know.

Mike Sloan: The way you answered that question is that you have plans.

Dana White: (Snickers) You never know, man.

Mike Sloan: Ah, you have to tell me. Let's go, Dana. Come on, now.

Dana White: (Bursts out in laughter) All I can say is that you never know.

Mike Sloan: Whenever I talk to Royce, he tells me that he has good news and great plans.

Dana White: Right…

Mike Sloan: I can't get the "news" out of him, though.

Dana White: (Laughs again)

Mike Sloan: Royce is fighting in June, isn't he?

Dana White: Who are you writing this for, anyway?

Mike Sloan: Sherdog.

Dana White: Okay.

Mike Sloan: So, on the June card in Vegas, who is Royce going to fight, Ken Shamrock?

Dana White: (Shrouding the answer and dodging the question altogether) Ha-ha, you never know, man.

Mike Sloan: Okay, I get the point. I'll be covering Royce's next fight, obviously.

Dana White: (Chuckles)

Mike Sloan: Well, that's all I have, Dana. All the questions have been covered, except for Royce's UFC return.

Dana White: (Laughs again) It's always a pleasure, buddy.

Mike Sloan: Take it easy, man, and get some sleep!

Dana White: I know. See ya later.

So there. Now we know why Tito won't fight Chuck and if Royce is coming back to the UFC. I'll have to interview Royce and see what he says. My feeling is that Royce is coming back for sure, but Dana refused to budge on that subject.

Questions? Comments? Mike Sloan (mike_sherdog@hotmail.com)

[Squezze]

Sweet interview. It'd be cool to see Royce back in the UFC, but I think he'd probably get mangled.

[Zen]

Major props to Mike Sloan, I thought it was a really good interview.

I'd also love to see Royce back in the UFC, of all the old school guys he is far and away my favorite. I'd love to see him fight a guy like Newton, and I think he could still hang.

[Bluecifer]

Interesting.

[lightweight]

Long interview, it sounds like he was subtly ribbing Tito about how he doesn't like the Champs who fight a few guys then sit back and pick opponents.

[Tom]

great interview!

[DOGGx0]

that was a very detailed interview with Dana. Alot of questions were answered. Thanks, Zen for posting that and I thank Mike and sherdog.com for getting such a great interview. It was long, but it was worth the read. Its interesting to see what prevails in the near future.