Dana White: "Vince McMahon is an F'n Animal"

[jmt225]

For those who don't know, the UFC's 'Fight Night: Maynard vs. Diaz' comes on next Monday, during Raw, and Dana White had the following to say about Vince booking Mike Tyson to host Raw on the same night:

"I mean we're not trying to go against him. That night is the night Spike wanted the fight. Spike wanted the fight that night, so that's the night they called for it and Vince goes into (expletive) war mode. He's calling up (Mike) Tyson. He's bringing this guy back and the Rock might come back. I love it. He's a (expletive) animal. You've never heard me say we're going to kick the (expletive) out of Monday Night Raw. You've never heard me say that."

I think we're two totally different, pro wrestling is totally different than the UFC and mixed martial arts. And I respect this guy. I like Vince McMahon. I've had breakfast with him. He's a good guy, but he is a (expletive) animal. I'm not trying to beat him on Monday night. I don't think we would beat them. Those guys pull killer ratings. It's been like the highest rated show on television forever. We're just putting a fight on Monday night because Spike wants us to."

First of all, it's kind of interesting that he heard the Rock might be there, but looking past that... the question here is: Does Dana White have a point?

Recently Mark Cuban absolutely BLASTED the NFL for booking the Dallas vs. Philly playoff game on the same day/time as a Dallas Maverick home game, and this to me is basically the same thing. However, Dana was able (even with his F Bombs) to keep this somewhat cordial and complementary. But still... is he kind of overreacting? Does it seem to you that WWE really isn't doing anything and this is just going to be a regular episode?

Another question I would like for people to ponder and give their opinions on in this thread is if WWE should even look at Mixed Martial Arts as competition? Is MMA really something that could take fans away from pro wrestling? Also, is it necessary for WWE to go all out for Raw when it's going up against a less than mediocre UFC show?

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Now, here are my opinions on the following questions:

Firstly, yes... I do think WWE is playing this up as WWE vs. UFC. Tyson is a HUGE draw (hell, like at what happened the first time he showed up on Raw), and if The Rock shows up... then it's more than obvious that WWE looks at the UFC as a threat.

With that said, WWE is taking the UFC having a show on Monday night way too seriously, if you ask me. Mixed Martial Arts should not be considered a threat to professional wrestling. It just shouldn't, in my opinion, ESPECIALLY the UFC. What's funny is that the UFC (biggest MMA company in the World) is basically the Ring of Honor of MMA (you know, all about in-ring action, instead of fancy entrances and gimmicks), whereas MMA companies in Japan resemble WWE with all the fancy pyro and absolutely ridiculous entrances and what not. I always found that odd.

Anyway, point is that Mixed Martial Arts is completely different from professional wrestling, like Dana White said. It's just another sport. Seriously, if ESPN decided to air let's say a mediocre boxing fight like Paulie Malignaggi vs. Vitor Ortiz on a Monday night, would WWE go all out on their Raw that night? Of course not. Hell, I doubt anyone there would even know the fight's happening. How is this any different? Moreover, I would MUCH rather see WWE put in this much effort for Raw week in and week out (like they did during the Attitude days), rather than them pull out all the stops just when something like the UFC is airing.

Note: To check out exactly what the UFC is airing on Monday night against Raw, please check out the following thread that's located in WZ's Mixed Martial Arts Section:

http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=89609

 

[BladeRunner]

Although MMA has the random outcomes that are great to see, it doesn't have the drama of Wrestling. And because of that I just don't see it as an "alternative" to Wrestling.

MMA is JUST fighting. Maybe the two fighters talk shit for 30 seconds about each other on a camera before a fight.

Wrestling has all kinds of extra stuff besides that. Backstage stuff, hot women, cheating in fights, Mae Young birthing a hand, you never know what it's going to throw out to entertain you. It's surprising stuff when it's at it's best.

It can also get emotional. People get emotionally involved with certain angles. The current Bret Hart deal is of that particular type. MMA doesn't have that stuff.

It's also got hardcore random stuff. Like guys doing double flips, going through tables, and whatever else their crazy minds can come up with.

My point is, that MMA only provides the bare minimum of what wrestling provides. Wrestling provides like a whole variety of more stuff to try to entertain you.

That's why I don't see it as that much competition.

 

[jazzua]

First I just have to say that I love Dana White. The guy is pure awesome. I love how he acts like he isn't running the largest MMA company in the world. He's just to much fun to listen to in interviews.

As far as MMA vs WWE I have do disagree with you. They are definately in competition of one another, somewhat. There are definately two sides to this. I think that largely the fan bases aren't exactly the same. Even if aiming for the same demo it is very possible that different people watch each. I certainly don't find them to be competition when it comes to TV. Raw truly is the juggernaut that they taut it as. It wins ratings week in and week out.

So where are they competition? PPV obviously. How can they not be competition on TV but they can be at PPV? Easy, we pay for ppv, directly. I'm sure as hell not buying a UFC fight on Saturday then turning around and buying a WWE ppv on Sunday, or even 8 days later. This is about the only place I see direct competition. I'm a fan of both WWE and UFC, and while I don't order more than a few ppvs total in a year I can promise I would never order one from each in a month. That is just me, but that's the way that I see it.

 

[De Mysteriis Dom Satanas]

MMA is modern day gladiatorial combat, whereas professional wrestling is more like a stage show with pure athletes instead of actors. At least that's how I see it! Still, Dana's one hell of an entertaining individual, and his appearances on Opie and Anthony are usually the best thing on radio. As for Vince, his business mind is absolutely ruthless.

I'll be watching both programs, no question.

 

[MoneyMack]

I think WWE & UFC are two different animals all-together. One is a violent sport & the other is Entertainment.

I think this is more about Hogan/Bichoff convincing SpikeTV to run something more popular Vs RAW. I guess if TNA cant be on TV every Monday...they're gonna try to stick it to Vince any other way they can.

 

[Freddy4190]

Two different beasts. Vince and Dana are two different animals. I think Vince is taking it a bit too far. I don't think he believes that Spike "just wanted to schedule it on Monday" or whatever. He just got one of the most (in)famous boxers in the history of the sport to host his show. Vince really is an animal. He heard TNA was bringing in Hogan, so he brought in the person everyone thought they would never see in a WWE ring ever again. I think Vince didn't just randomly schedule Tyson to host. He's trying to go up against UFC. Maybe not vice versa, but he's definitely trying to compete.

 

[daddyJ_t]

dont get me wrong, i love the ufc ever since the beginning. but come on, do ya think dana is blowing this out of perportion jus a little? wwe has been having guest hosts since donald trump. this jus happens to be random using tyson. was vince trying to compete with deal or no deal when he used bob barker? no he wasnt. is spike trying to stick it to th wwe? possiby for leaving their network, maybe. but for dana to say that vince booked tyson cause he looks at them as compitition. get real dana you may see it as so, but to vince, business as usual

 

[Travaje]

I also love Dana White, and he should get the majority of the credit for putting MMA and UFC on the map. That's the real him, 100% of the time. I wish Vince would do the same thing-he's way more interesting when he's not trying to be "Mr. McMahon".

Yes, they are in competition with one another, maybe not directly, but they are. The bottom line is that many of you complain that wrestling needs to go back to "the good ol' days" and "the attitude era", and the vast majority of that audience, the Male 18-34 demo (the most coveted demo), is going to watch MMA. If you go to a club and you're wearing an Affliction or a Tapout shirt, something to that effect, something a MMA guy would wear while being interviewed by Joe Rogan after a fight, you're considered pretty cool to most people. If you go to a club and you're wearing a DX "World's Largest Member" t-shirt, you're going to get laughed at.

Vince is smart enough to know this, and that's exactly why he's altered his programming to go after a different audience-one that is too young where many parents wouldn't let them watch MMA. He can also plant the seeds as well and hope the young kids stay loyal to his product when they get older. When he brought back Bret Hart, it was to counter TNA putting the Nasty Boys and Val Venis on, cause he knew that would be more interesting, but not to draw back former wrestling fan or MMA fan. I don't believe that the WWE is really pissed Bret didn't draw more rating on RAW, because that would have to mean former wrestling fans who have moved on to MMA and grown out of wrestling tuning in for the first time in years just to see a guy they used to watch, and Vince is too smart to think that was actually going to happen. And most of those kids, the new fans, are too young to know why Bret Hart is. Pretty shortly, kids aren't going to know who Stone Cold is.

Even if The Rock came back and gave the best promos of his life and Stone Cold could come back and flip everyone off and give a thousand stunners, that would still not be enough to bring back even 50% of those former WWE/now MMA guys. If they recreated "the attitude era" exactly as it was, the WWE would not be able to duplicate the success, and I'd argue that if MMA was as successful now as it was in 1998, the "attitude era" (and even the New World Order) would not have have the runs that they did. Different time, different place.

As far as Spike TV putting UFC on the same time slot as WWE, it's a (perhaps ill-fated) attempt to see what percentage of the WWE audience is still older people that likes both and will be forced to choose. Vince, while not putting up the numbers he used to, still puts up bigger numbers than almost everybody in cable, and people are always going to try to go after those numbers for themselves. Vince knows this. The reality is, because the audience is different, it's not going to make much of a difference for either product in the ratings. Just like the whole TNA/WWE thing this past monday. WWE is for new fans/kids, TNA is for older marks who are like that guy in the YouTube video..."it's still real to me, damnit!" Most kids 10-12 years of age that I know think TNA sucks.

UFC will continue to beat WWE in PPV buys no matter what: PPV's are expensive, and older UFC fans can afford to pay....young WWE fans who can't afford to pay and are computer savvy will find it for free on the internet.

 

[ErictheEnt]

The UFC isn't going to wipe out the WWE but it is going to suck SOME audience away from RAW. Yes, it's lacking the drama but a lot of the WWE's audience is male; 18-34; and men that age tend to like violence. It's the same reason they like football over baseball or tennis. Some will prefer the real thing to 'fake violence.' Not all, but enough that it will probably slightly affect ratings.

 

[classicviolence]

They are in competition for the 20-40 demographic. Most of that demographic lived threw the Attitude era and needs that type of action and blood that UFC can provide them. UFC has always been somewhat competition to WWE especially on the PPV front where they now own WWE in PPV buys on a consistent basis.

Vince is not going to war with WCW or TNA here. He really does not need to go into panic mode, however HE knows that WWE lacks the blood and intense action that UFC or even TNA offers and really needs to shy away from the PG stuff.

All the PG era is doing is allowing TNA or UFC the chance to pick at the RAW audience and convert them to the competition. People need cursing, blood and violence in pro wrestling as long as it is in good taste.

 

[The Roid Rage]

I'm not generally a fan of Dana White because I hate, detest, and loath MMA. However, this interview made me kind of like the guy a bit. I like that he was giving Vince McMahon and the WWE their credit, and kind of showed that while UFC is huge, he knows his place.

Vince is another story. I love Vince, the character and the guy, I think he's the shit and you can write that down for the record. I like the way he goes at anyone who even seems to be taking a shot at him. I also think that in this case it would more likely be Spike TV taking a shot at him, rather than Dana White and the UFC. They just happen to be the company caught in the fray.

As for whether or not UFC actually IS competition to the WWE, I'd have to say of course it is. It is another form of entertainment on Monday night, in the same time slot as his Monday Night Raw. MMA has regrettably been a growing phenomenon for some time now, and while I believe it's just a fad for insecure guys, it appears to be around to stay. That being said, UFC has a large enough fan base to make a noticeable impact on Monday nights.

I don't think that the UFC would want to make a formal war out of it in the fashion TNA has though. As Dana White himself said, Vince is a fucking animal. He won't take it lightly, and there is no telling how far McMahon would go to make his point clear. I don't think having Mike Tyson on Monday Night Raw is any sign of him doing just that. I am pretty sure all it actually amounts to is a coincidence in booking, unless it was a move by the network.

 

[Doomsday Device]

I think Vince is just playing it safe. Better safe than sorry. He's not underestimating any little "fighting" group out there. He doesnt want anyone to sneak up on him and take his #1 spot on tv.

 

[BigAdz]

This is gold. Absolute gold! Another reason why I would buy Dana White a few rounds of beers were I to ever meet him, guy's a total champ.

Vince is from a wrestling background. A background he almost single-handedly shaped into what it is today. He did this by completely monopolising the wrestling industry, eliminating the vast territories in the US and pissing on a few legacies along his way. All's fair in love and war though so I'm not trashing him; Vince went to war to be the best in the wrestling industry and it's fair to say he's succeeded. Will it last after he's gone? Who knows.

Thus, with the mentality he has had with his wrestling turf wars, he's striking out to Dana in the same way, in a bid to take out the competition. But Vince isn't facing another wrestling territory here. He's not even facing another entertainment show. He's facing the UFC, the fastest-rising sport in the world right now. Dana doesn't need to buy in to Vince's petty games cos he knows Vince cannot touch his empire.

The WWF would coax and entice talent in other territories with sweet contracts, title opportunities and just the overall "grass is greener" approach. Any pro wrestler wanting to make it big would take that offer. This doesn't apply to MMA fighters. These guys are just that: fighters. And the best at what they do in the best stage to perform their craft. Sure, guys like Bobby Lashley, Ken Shamrock and, to a lesser extent, Samoa Joe have proven you can succeed and be relevant in both arenas but that doesn't change the fact that it's a completely different ball game.

Vince sees Dana as competition. And in terms of ratings, Dana has the potential to be if UFC's upward trend continues (which it will). Vince can't stop Dana by stealing his talent like he did with ECW, so he's doing whatever he can to stop his momentum. But UFC fans don't give as much of a shit about Mike Tyson not being at Fight Night than they do about the 2 guys who're in the Octagon at any one time. Which is where the awesome appeal of UFC lies: in the competition itself. Vince can't compete with that, same way Dana can't compete with the variety and production values of the WWE.

The difference between the two? Dana isn't trying to compete. He knows who his fans are and what they want. Dana is dedicated to simply deliver the best of what Mixed Martial Arts has to offer, nothing more, nothing less. Vince is out to crush any one who he thinks takes away from his product. But he's run into an opponent that he can't beat the same way he's normally done so.

 

[Supersayin]

Just like the whole TNA/WWE thing this past monday. WWE is for new fans/kids, TNA is for older marks who are like that guy in the YouTube video..."it's still real to me, damnit!" Most kids 10-12 years of age that I know think TNA sucks.

Thats a generalisation and not true, WWE fans make up nearly all of TNA's viewership, TNA doesnt have that many of its own fans, i am probably in the rarity because i dont watch WWE. People who watch WWE will watch TNA, especially the internet fans. Thats why TNA is known as a alternative, so basiclly you just labelled yourself and WWE fans MARKS and people who think wrestling is real which is not good.

And i have been told by 6-12 year olds that think WWE sucks and do you know what the reason was? because they are too soft. What is the world coming to.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

For all those debating about whether UFC is competition for WWE or not, let's look at it this way. Let's go to an extreme hypothetical example and state that "UFC in 2 years would take away 60% of the WWE viewers, because the WWE viewers became tired of what they see on WWE and liked the idea of a real fighting sport better".

Then, would you consider UFC competition?

It would certainly seem to me like they would be competition in that example, since you had to compete with them for viewers, and they took a humongous chunk of WWE viewers away in that example.

UFC in my view, is competition, and that is because they appeal to the same key demo that WWE does, with fans of similar interests. So I don't know if both Dana and Vince truly believe that the other is not competition, or if they are simply saying those remarks publicly while thinking something different behind the scenes. But because UFC has shown to take wrestling fans away from the WWE, I would definitely consider them competition. Again, we are talking about the same key demo of fans both are trying to target.

 

[INDYjon22]

Bladerunner, have you ever actually watched a UFC fight? There is plenty of drama in every fight, but to the common fan you may not see it. I will agree that the drama is much more open to the audience in the WWE, since they have writers, but don't think for one second that the UFC does not have drama in their fights.

It is very interesting that Spike scheduled this Fight Night on the same night as Raw considering last Monday they put TNA up against the WWE. I think Spike is just trying to figure out how they can bring viewers to their programming on Mondays and compete with the Vince McMahon and the USA Network. I for one, will be tuning into watch the fights on Spike, but then again I am biased.

 

[ABMorales787]

Brock Lesnar on WWE wouldn't bother UFC. They're competition but not the same thing. The idea of Spike putting Fight Night on Monday is to continue scouting the ratings. Vince realizes this therefore he want his ratings to be at their highest, to elude Spike TV. If the ratings are seen as successful then Spike TV will be sure they can compete with WWE. Either if its with TNA or UFC. This obviously posses a threat to Raw's "unstable" ratings because the more alternatives appear on Mondays the higher the chances of losing viewers. Dana is just being a nice guy and sadly his organization has been caught in the TNA vs WWE fuzz. He obviously has no intentions on competing because it isn't necessary.

 

[rubxcubedude]

Is MMA competition for WWE? Hell YES!

I know that I am personally attending the UFC event this Monday as are many of my friends. None of us are going to watch RAW(as a complete sidenote we are still going to watch Heroes on DVR). If I wasn't attending the event, I would be watching it on TV and not watching RAW.

For the people who say wrestling is more entertaining than UFC I have no clue how you can feel that. I'm a huge WWE fan but the realness and raw over the top characters you get in MMA(brock lesnar, gsp, bj penn, josh koscheck) are more entertaining than any character that WWE currently offers

 

[BladeRunner]

Bladerunner, have you ever actually watched a UFC fight? There is plenty of drama in every fight, but to the common fan you may not see it. I will agree that the drama is much more open to the audience in the WWE, since they have writers, but don't think for one second that the UFC does not have drama in their fights.

Yes, I have seen UFC fights.

Yes there is a physical drama of sorts.

It's not that I didn't see that, it's that you're misinterpreting what I mean by drama.

Let's be honest, Wrestling is half stagecraft half fighting.

That's what I mean by "drama". The theatrical parts of wrestling.

UFC simply does not have that part of wrestling.

Imo, UFC is closer to boxing than wrestling. There's the before game smack talk, the fight, and then the results. And that's about it. Wrestling has so much more.

Yes, you can make indirect comparisons between the two, wrestling and MMA. But the only thing they really share is the fighting. That's it. And like I said, wrestling has the fighting plus a whole lot more other stuff.

My point is, is that the products are vastly different. It's like saying Wrestling is in competition with Scrubs, because Scrubs happens to have acting in it. You could say football is in competition with Wrestling because it's got physical aggression. It shares things with lots of stuff if you think really generally about it. And if we go by that aspect of shows having 1 thing in common, everything on TV is in competition with WWE, because it probably shares at least 1 thing with everything on tv.

 

[KKarvox]

I agree, i think white is over-reacting a little bit, but it is odd that vince picked that night to put Tyson on. I don't see either company as competition of each other, as both have entirely different demographics. UFC is more like boxing, and people who watch that watch for the physicality and the "real" element. Wrestling is strictly entertainment, and has a demographic of those who want to see violence, but not really. It's like watching a movie. Wrestling is kind of like theatre for dudes in essence.

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

This is a good thread, and it's something I've been wanting to talk about for a while.

I don't think Vince should be looking at the UFC as a bigger threat than TNA simply because it's a different product. The people who watch UFC watch it because it's a real sport with total unpredictability. A UFC fan isn't going to switch over wrestling to watch who the next scripted champion is going to be, and a WWE fan who watches wrestling for the drama and the stories doesn't care about who beat the crap out of who in the octagon. I mean, sure there are fans of both, like myself, but they don't compete with each other in my mind.

It's like comparing boxing with the Rocky movies.

What Vince really should be worrying about is competing with TNA. Regardless of my opinion of TNA using ex-WWE stars more than their originals, that's what they're doing, and people are going to see Hogan, Bischoff, and Jeff Hardy and TNA's rating might be a little higher than what they were doing on Thursdays.

A side point I wanted to make is that WWE actually pulling out the stops to compete with UFC might be a good thing; it might provide some competition-by-proxy with TNA. But fans of wrestling aren't going to convert back and forth between UFC, and fans of UFC won't convert either. But if the WWE isn't careful, all this on-and-off competition might lose them some fans to TNA.

 

[Big Sexy]

To me this is Dana White overreacting a little bit and making it something it isn't. RAW has been doing the guest host thing for a while now, well before the fight night was scheduled and although Tyson is one of the bigger names, he is far from the biggest that has been the guest host. Every week RAW tries to draw big numbers and Tyson is a big name.

As far as Dana White talking about the Rock showing up, that's just him adding extra bs to the story to make it sound worse. Trust me, if the WWE were to have the Rock show up on RAW they wouldn't have it be a surprise appearance. They would promote the hell out of a Rock return.

 

[wazaveli]

I've recently gotten into the UFC heaps. And there isn't anything on RAW or WWE for that matter that would make me pick there show over a good night of fights.

TNA I enjoy, even when it makes little to no sense, I'll admit to watching it. I don't know why, I just enjoy it.

WWE's strength was considering everything on TV competition, its just a shame they can't come up with anything good that would make me want to watch them over anything else.

 

[Mikeski215]

The UFC Does WWE job better then wwe does it wwe just dont make any stars anymore they dont its the same Champions over & over same feuds People are tired of it. The UFC Makes stars like for example The took Kimbo slice and repackage him so the fans can like him look at most of the ufc tittle contenders they mosty guys from the TUF Series and most of those guys are fan Favorites Im still a bigger wrestling fan then MMA fan but lets face it wwe is droping the ball and the UFC is picking it up.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Could the UFC and WWE be in competition with one another? I think yes, to some degree. The one area in which the UFC holds a clear edge is in ppvs. The UFC has booked one of its ppvs on the same weekend as WrestleMania. Even though the event will air on Saturday night, it could wind up forcing fans of both the WWE and the UFC to choose which event they wanna order on ppv. If anything, I think thise gives Vince McMahon an incentive to make WrestleMania as interesting as he can and provide as strong of a card as he can. He needs to forget about stuff like having Kid Rock play for half a fucking hour, he needs to not make the celebrities themselves the center of attention at the show and, if he wants to have celebrity involvement in a match or an angle, it needs to be planned out and organized much better than what happened with Mickey Rourke.

UFC offers real fights to people that want to see real fights. The only downside to real fights is that, most of the time, watching "fake" fights is more entertaining for a lot of people. Let's face it, the fake boxing matches in the Rocky movies simply look much better than actual boxing matches. In the Rocky bouts, every single punch was the type of punch that could potentially end someone's life. Every jab like a lightning bolt, every roundhouse the type of punch that would knock anybody loopy in real life. And, simply put, they looked awesome. In a real boxing match, the fighters tend to lock up with each other in order to get a little bit of a breather. The drama offered by the fake boxing matches in movies is tangible. In a real boxing match, you don't often have all that much drama. It's the same with the UFC and the WWE. Often times, the "fake" matches simply look better and look more like something you might see in the scene of a movie in a lot of situations. In real MMA fights, you don't see two guys standing in the center of the ring trading roundhouse kicks to the ribs like you would in a Van Damme movie or something.

Both offer something different, based on what your preference is. What wrestling ultimately has that MMA doesn't are characters. You've got colorful guys in wrestling running around that have loads of charisma. In the UFC, not only do you really not have that, but you don't need it. If illusion looks better than actual reality, as it tends to do when it comes to violence, then it's easy to see why pro wrestling appeals to so many.