On Monday, UFC president Dana White published a video hailing the promotion’s ability to operate during the global coronavirus pandemic by taking aim at various media members and outlets for their reporting and commentary on the UFC’s early attempts to run shows during lockdown.
Nearly all of the contents of White’s video are from late March and early April, with parts taken out of content. At the time, the rest of the sports world had shut down while health experts tried to figure out the dangers of COVID-19, but White was determined to keep the UFC running. Originally, the promotion tried to host UFC 249 on tribal land in Lemoore, Calif., as a way to circumvent the state’s stay-at-home orders. That plan was doomed after Disney, which owns UFC broadcast partner ESPN, shut it down thanks to a phone call from Gov. Gavin Newsom.
White was no doubt livid about this and still can’t let it go, seemingly blaming the media for delaying what he’s said was a successful year for the UFC.
While White’s “victory lap” video was par for the course, was he out of line? Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of John Morgan, Mike Bohn, and “Georgeous” George Garcia give their reactions, which you can watch in the video above.
As we roll into 2021, I just wanted to remind everyone there’s ALWAYS a solution to every problem! So, cut through all the bullshit, and don’t let these people that don’t matter tell you how to live your life. pic.twitter.com/HPMbtojjJx
— danawhite (@danawhite) December 21, 2020