White blasts SI on fight fix discussion

Last week Dana White responded to an SI Roundtable chat which discussed whether or not the Anderson Silva-Chris Weidman match was fixed.  The SI Roundtable is an example of what we like and hate about perceptions of MMA.

In what has become usual for talking heads, the SI Roundtable featured four writers discussing different topics in the world of sports and giving their opinion.  The pane included boxing writer Chris Mannix and the Dan Patrick Show’s Andrew “McLovin” Perloff.  None of the writers indicated that they watched the whole fight or professed being an MMA viewer although they had working knowledge of the sport.

The discussion focused on whether the fight was fixed and Mannix (whose background is boxing) brought it back to his comfort zone – boxing.  He mentioned that the potential for an Anderson Silva-Roy Jones, Jr. boxing match.  While the discussion was based on the potential of fight fixing, it talked in general terms.

Obviously, Dana White was not happy about discussion of fight fixing especially when it came from media that did not cover MMA.

Sports Illustrated invited him on the show after the segment aired so that he might get the record straight.  White railed against SI for the discussion that the fight was fixed. White made the appropriate arguments that despite Silva’s antics, a fight would not be fixed because the odds weren’t stacked for a Weidman payday.

White pointed out that no one that discussed the fight “fix” on the roundtable actually watched the fight and were not MMA fans or familiar with MMA.  He also railed against the irresponsible nature of the roundtable since they basically had no idea what they were talking about.

Payout Perspective:

Certainly White has every right to defend the UFC against allegations of a fix.  Also a nice jab at SI when he mentioned he was on ESPN.  Talk of a fight fix is not good for the UFC brand or the sport of MMA.  He made his point known and added that the odds were such that if a fix were to occur, it would be for Silva.  Interesting enough, McLovin was the one that brought this up.  He also was the one that made the mistake about MMA being less regulated.  The talking head roundtable occurs in all aspects of the media and sometimes there are discussions like the SI version which displeased many MMA fans.  But, talk of a fix after Silva’s antics should not be some taboo subject and MMA media types shouldn’t jump to the sport’s defense blindly.  If the talking heads had actually seen the fight, discussed the pros and cons of why the fight was probably not fixed but pointed out the reasons why it seemed fishy I think the segment would have been fine.  Its the lack of preparation and opinion (which is prevalent everywhere) that was the problem.  And for that White was correct in correcting SI.