UFC
UFC President Dana White pushing for surgery, vows to beat Meniere's disease
May 25, 2012 - 2:25:26 PM

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

UFC President Dana White missed his first event since Zuffa purchased the UFC earlier this month when he didn't make the trek to Virginia for UFC on Fuel 4. White was supposed to go under the knife to treat Meniere's disease, which he was diagnosed with recently, but that ultimately did not happen.

White discussed the disease in an interview this week with Ariel Helwani at MMAFighting.com, while revealing that he's still pushing for the surgery to take care of the issue.

"Anybody out there who has Meniere's disease and who has dealt with this knows what it's like, and it sucks," White said. "It's the last thing on Earth I wanted to deal with, with all the other s*** we've got going on. But it is what it is. I have it, I went in for the surgery and the doctor refused to give me the surgery. Because he is a doctor and doctors want to treat things."

"The problem is, only 50% of the people respond to the treatment," he continued. "I tried to explain to him what my life is like, and that I don't want to be on a 14 hour flight to Brazil and have that ever happen to me again. So I am pushing hardcore for the surgery; the problem with surgery is, the surgery is not the cure either. They go in and cut the nerve inside the ear that controls the equilibrium, so you have to learn how to walk again, you have to learn depth perception and all these other things, so you have to go through this therapy."

"I want the surgery, I will have the surgery, it's just a matter of when now. It's been a real pain in my ass, this thing. But I will get it fixed, and I will overcome this bulls*** and move on."

White's insane travel schedule has certainly put some wear and tear on his body over the last several years, and it's only gotten crazier as the UFC branches out worldwide and puts on several events on a monthly basis. However, don't expect White to slow down anytime soon, even as he deals with this issue.

"Believe me, people have been saying, 'because you don't stop, because you won't do this, this is your body telling you if you won't stop than we'll stop you,'" White commented. "My body isn't even going to stop me. I'm going to get this thing fixed, I'm going to get this surgery, get past this thing and keep moving on. It's unfortunate that this happened to me, but this happens to lots of people. Your life isn't over because you have this thing. I'm going to beat this."

Penick's Analysis: Part of the issue for White in trying to get the surgery is timing. With so many events, and what sounds like a very difficult rehabilitation process, he's going to need to find a time where he's not needed for a couple of weeks. Perhaps the medication he's on will work for him, but he's clearly wanting to go the surgery route. He's not going to take it as a sign to slow down, either, but whichever way he goes with it hopefully it's not something that is going to make it worse for him going forward.