UFC’s White not shy
Sensitive, shy and soft-spoken are three characteristics that do not describe Dana White, the Ultimate Fighting Championship president. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
He’s arrogant, rich and loud, and some people don’t like that.
But White, 39, also is colorful and clownish, so he’s a good interview. He grew up in Las Vegas and was kicked out of Bishop Gorman High School.
He held back nothing in a lengthy interview for the September issue of Playboy.
On how big the UFC can get: "(Bleeping) big. In eight years the UFC will be bigger than the NFL, bigger than World Cup soccer. It will be the biggest sport in the world."
He admires Tiger Woods, but what he thinks of Woods’ sport: "I (bleeping) hate golf. It’s a stupid game and a waste of time and good land."
Asked if he’s still a Catholic: "I don’t believe in God, the devil, ghosts or any of that (crap). But I’m still fascinated by religion — how violent and crazy it is."
On a near-death experience: "The summer of my junior year I was 16, drunk and hauling ass in my girlfriend’s Subaru with a girl who wasn’t my girlfriend. I hit the median, spun the car and hit a pole, and the impact shot me out of the car. It scalped me, took all the hair off my head. I landed in the parking lot of the Dunes, which is now the Bellagio. … The doctor looked me over and said, ‘He’s dead.’ "
• WINNING GAMBLERS — Eight years ago, White convinced Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta of Station Casinos to buy the UFC for $2 million and make White president with a 10 percent ownership stake.
On the company’s losses by 2004: "In three years I’d lost my friends’ $44 million, and I was devastated."
The UFC now claims its value to be more than $1 billion. There’s no proof of that, even if its growth is incredible.
But not even White’s monster ego is bigger than the NFL.
• THE TACTLESS DODGER — The Los Angeles Dodgers are on a five-game losing streak, and sourpuss second baseman Jeff Kent recently lost a verbal fight with Vin Scully, the team’s longtime broadcaster.
"Vin Scully talks too much," said Kent, upset that Scully attributed Kent’s improved hitting to being in front of Manny Ramirez in the lineup.
"Everyone says I’m hitting now because some guy says so on TV? I’ve been here four years and I have never seen Vin Scully down here in the clubhouse."
From T.J. Simers of The Los Angeles Times: "Next week, I presume, Kent will go after the Pope. Sometimes you wonder if he sleeps with his bed against a wall forcing him to always wake up on the wrong side."
• THOUGHTFUL GUY — Kent was not popular with Dodgers fans after his attack on Scully. But imagine the cold reception he’s getting at home after this quote he gave to Simers:
"I don’t care about birthdays, anniversaries," Kent said. "My wife just had her 40th birthday, and I didn’t buy her a card."
COMPILED BY MATT YOUMANS REVIEW-JOURNAL
