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

[dingman29]

there are many similarities between wwe and ufc and thats been well established. however imo ufc is competition to wwe. when brock made the jump to ufc, i started watching. dont get me wrong i knew some like liddell, rampage, couture etc but never followed. i believe it is one sided competition because there are many more wwe fans that are more apt to check out a real fight then ufc fans checking out "that fake wrestling"

 

[Skorpiunz]

WWE and UFC are two totally diff things. TNA and WWE SHOULD BE considered two totally diff things.. Are there not two diff baseball leagues? Theres pro and college lvl sports on TV. When a new sitcom or drama comes out the point isn't to put a competing show out of business. it's to build a fan base of its own. Sure two shows will be compared but theres no reason why two wrestling companies can't both be on. I'm so sick of hearing "TNA is going to go out" The worst thing that can happen is we lose all wrestling alternatives.

 

[redcorleone]

I think you've only got to look at how little respect Brock Lesnar is shown by MMA fans, because of his history with WWE, to realize there's quite a difference in demographic between WWE and UFC. It's probably also got something to do with him being a bit of an idiot, but he's went in there and destroyed the heavyweight division in a few years, and I don't even think there's grudging respect there for him.

As for Dana White being (sort of) complimentary about Vince and WWE, it's not really a surprise. What would he gain by trash talking? He knows he could gain a lot more being in Vince's good books, than not. Also with rumors that Shane might be working for him, it wouldn't be a good idea to start ripping your friend/employee's father.

Dana White for guest host!

 

[dx32v]

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.

No, the UFC is not competition for WWE, UFC is an actual sport with real fighting, where as lets be honest, WWE is a male soap opera. I happen to enjoy both even though I am really into the UFC and don't regularly watch WWE anymore, not because I've "moved on", just my response to the current product. I must be one of those insecure guys because I like MMA. I guess you don't know the difference between real fighting and a fight scene from a Jet Li movie. Stick to fake fighting since obviously real fighting with real martial artists is too violent for you.

 

[Dave]

Yeah, I think Dana is correct.

Being a fan of MMA and WWE, I can see where Dana is coming from. It bothers me because Vince McMahon seems to have lost his mind. I mean sure, people are going to watch UFC Fight Night but I don't think it will detract anything major from what Vince is trying to do. He has a lot of loyal fans and I can't see that changing because of a UFC event. As Dana mentioned, Raw has been a huge aspect of Monday nights for decades and one UFC show is not going to make people change the channel. The UFC card is pretty good though. Maynard and Diaz are pretty big fighters and if the truth be told, I am going to be watching both of them. However, if it came down to watching one or the other, I am pretty sure that I would be watching Raw. Yes, jmt. MMA is certainly being viewed as a big part of the competition for Vince McMahon. He seems to think that it is a bigger competition than TNA anyway. It has been no secret that Vince has had his eye on the UFC since it started to become big and I think that he sees this as some sort of show of disrespect coming his way. Dana says that it was the network that wanted it this way and he just agreed which may or may not be the correct way the events unfolded. However, either way, it will be interesting to see how UFC gets on against WWE instead of TNA. I personally think that it will do better.

 

[Tastycles]

I don't know. I think UFC and WWE share demographics, but I'm not sure they are likely to take viewers off each other unless they are directly head to head. MMA is a serious threat to boxing, which is why the heavyweight division is shit now, but I think it and wrestling can coexist quite nicely. FOr me, WWE has to go more ridiculous. If you book a ROH style product, then it looks like MMA-lite. If you focus on the angles, it looks like a completely different animal.

White is saying that Vince is going into war mode, and maybe he is, but I'm sure if UFC had a weekly show with a lacklustre card, and Vince moved a WWE show to the same time then he would alter a few things. This isn't a matter of direct competition per se, just similar audiences being asked to choose on this occasion. I think it will be a rarity for them to go head to head, because unlike wrestling rivalries or MMA rivalries, such a challenge would only split the audience, rather than grow it.

 

[Hype]

The bottom line is this, VKM is looking at it as UFC can possibly pull viewers away from Raw thus dropping his ratings for that evening.