UFC President Dana White is currently amongst the 200 candidates eligible to be selected for TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People issue, which is to be released later this year. Here’s what the magazine had to say about him in his bio:
The sport White champions is officially called mixed martial arts, but he and his partners successfully branded it Ultimate Fighting, the name of their outfit, and that’s how it’s almost universally known — to the chagrin of other MMA organizers. By doing so, he has revived a spectacle that had fallen into such disrepute that it was once described as “human cockfighting.” Now professional boxing wishes it were Ultimate Fighting. White is the UFC’s public face, most pugnacious booster, No. 1 tweeter and most irrepressible fan — the ruler of Fight Club.
Payout Perspective:
This news is likely to be received as another sign that MMA – or perhaps more correctly, the UFC – is on its way up and slowly gaining mainstream acceptance. How could it not; I mean, Dana White in TIME Mag??
Sadly, I really don’t think it means much. Dana may join the likes of Barack Obama, Warren Buffett, and Bill Gates on the list, but he also shares the honor with the likes of Alec Baldwin and The Creators of Lost. The issue has very much become a measure of fan dedication; more a show of which celebrity has the most loyal fan base, rather than which individual has the most influence or even the most celebrity.
This all reminds me of the 100 Greatest Canadians poll run by the Canadian Broadcast Corporation about 5 years ago in which citizens were asked to vote online for whom they felt was the greatest Canuck of all-time. To be fair, the top ten individuals were merely placed in the select grouping by alphabetical order. However, the rest were ranked according to votes cast and a local Winnipeg radio DJ by the name of Hal Anderson ran a campaign during his daily morning show that ultimately saw him placed 34th on the all-time list – ahead of many great politicians, exemplary professionals, athletes, and social pioneers.
White’s candidacy shouldn’t be over-estimated.
I think TIME is very accuarate in including White as a candidate. HE controls the UFC and its fighters and the match ups fighters get and has a lot of control over who becomes a star(easy path of opponents). He controls the cloths the fighters wear and the sponsors on the cage and the cloths. The cloths themselves have become mainstream fashion to anyone under 40 years old. Wether directly or indirectly Dana White is very influential. Where on the list he should be is anyones guess but he deserves a nomination.
its good for dana white…but its much better when a fighter is the one on the cover after all theyre the ones fighting….imagine don king making the cover rather than mike tyson in the 80;s or david stern instead of lebron james on the cover….or jerry jones instead of irvin…..this is more like dana is the star..what happens when he’s gone
ggg
This isnt about anyone being on the cover of time magazine. Yes Dana will be gone some day. BUt fighters only last a few years. Dana can be president of the UFC for the next 40 years. Also this is not a sports magazine. Its a news magazine which Jerry Jones, King ans the bunch have all been on the cover and features in many magazines over the years. Especially for their business sense. This is no different.
Also putting fighters on the cover isnt always a great idea for the UFC. Huerta was on the cover of SI and wasnt a very good fighter at all. They protected him the best they could but he wasnt good enough but was popular. He then tried to use his popularity to milk the UFC and then went to a rival promotion. Being on SI was great for Huerta but did nothing for the UFC. Huerta just didnt work out. Pushing a fighter is a crap shoot. Im not saying Dana should be out trying to be a super star. But if he can gain any kind of star status, respect, or following then it is even better for the UFC because he will be around for a long time and is a sure thing. The average championship rein is only about 2 years in the UFC.