Everyone seems to have suddenly picked up on Dana White’s comments during the UFC 73: Stacked conference call regarding the upcoming matchup between Dan Henderson and Quinton Jackson. I’m not sure how this little nugget slipped past everyone’s radars (including mine) but I’m glad it’s being brought up now.
When Dana White was asked about the Dan Henderson vs Quinton Jackson fight at UFC 75 and whether the bout would unifiy the UFC and PrideFC 205lb titles, he had that following answer:
No. What we’re doing with that thing is we’re respecting both (the UFC and PRIDE) titles. The UFC title is the UFC champion and we’re respecting Dan as the PRIDE champion. Quinton will walk out with his belt if Dan wins and vice versa.
This is very puzzling to me and and raises many new questions. First, if there will be no titles on the line, regardless if it’s the UFC belt, the PrideFC belt, or a unified belt, why have this fight in the first place? Quinton Jackson is the UFC Light Heavyweight champion; why have him fight in a non-title fight? Dan Henderson is the PrideFC Welterweight and Middleweight champion; why have him fight in a non-title fight? While it will be a good fight to watch, what really is the point with no belts on the line?
Also, if this isn’t for the UFC and/or PrideFC belts, what truly is Dan Henderson’s contract status. If, according to Dana, after the fight Dan will “walk out with his belt” no matter what the outcome, is Dan signed with the UFC or is he under a PrideFC contract? Is this a one fight thing for Henderson in the UFC?
What if Henderson beats Jackson? Where does that leave the UFC in the eyes on the ever-growing fanbase? We will have a UFC champion who will have just lost a fight but still holds his title belt. Will the average fan understand the fact that there really is a differentiation between the UFC and PrideFC belts? Will they understand that a champion can fight in his weightclass without putting his title belt on the line? What does the UFC have to gain at all with this fight?
[Source: OCRegister.com via UFCJunkie.com]
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YO DANA WHITE IS A DUMB ****..
I think this is because Chuck was supposed to win the fight against Jackson. If Chuck had won I think Dana would have made this a unification matchup. With no Pride events even scheduled what sense does it make for them to even have a champion. The way it’s been looking there may not ever be a Pride FC anymore. Either way this doesn’t make sense I just think Quinton ruined Dana’s ultimate plan of having Chuck as the man at 205.
i was going to tell everyone about this last night but i didnt have enough sources to confirm or deny this. needless to say this sucks!!!
FIRST OFF I HOPE DAN WINS IM SORRY IM STILL A LiDDEL FAN I NEED TO SEE RANPAGE GET KO’D 1 ROUND BUT I THINK RAMPAGE WILL TAKE IT HES TO FOCUS BUT THIS IS WHY I LOVE MMAHQ.COM BECAUSE THEY GIVE NEWS ON UFC AND PRIDEFC THATS *** THAT THEY HAVE NOTHING LOSS IF THE LOSS SO WHATS THE POINT…
its like i said before dana is a beast of a promoter first i was watching when tito pushed rashad WTF were they even doing sitting together i think dana wanted that to happen.Second The ufc didnt purchase pride just to let it die there bringing all these guys over to get exposure over here then before u know it they will be gone and pride will have a buzz again with new fans notice how there mentioning pride over and over again and every ufc ppv there is a new pride guy coming
hendo steps up his game when the games better i predict hendo by tko
I’m fine with this. If the goal is to still run Pride cards somewhere down the line, why “punish” Jackson or Henderson by forcing them into possibly double the title shots in either promotion. At no point has Dana or anyone else stated that all the belts would become unified, the only thing said was “We will finally see who the best really is” and you will find that out after the bout.
@Gatties
very true. but if we want to really see who the best in the world is they should do a big assss year long GP they dont need to even have more then one fight in a night just take the top 32 or 64 names in mma and let them fight it out for the next year. i think we wold get a way better idea about who can win fights and who should be called the best.