...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Dana White's not happy with some media outlets this week regarding the disturbing story in War Machine's latest assault on Christy Mack. White takes issue with some headlines referring to War Machine as an "ex-UFC fighter" which, while technically accurate, placed the story on the UFC rather than the organization he'd been fighting for, Bellator.
White expressed his frustrations in a pre-fight media scrum this week in Maine ahead of tonight's UFC Fight Night 47 event.
"It's horrible, man. Horrible," he said of War Machine's actions (transcribed by MMAMania.com). "And every time I gotta look and see, 'Ex-UFC fighter' when the stories are written. He fought twice [in the UFC], six years ago! He's a current Bellator-Viacom fighter. I had my staff calling these reporters [who] are like, 'We don't know what Bellator is.' And I said, 'You ever heard of Viacom? That's who he fights for. He fights for Viacom, not the UFC.'"
"They want clicks, they want readers. How unfair is it? The guy fought six years ago and he's an ex-UFC fighter? He's been a Bellator fighter since they started Bellator, or however long. It has been, years since he has been fighting for them. I get it, not everybody has heard of him, but it's freakin' Viacom."
Penick's Analysis: White's got a point that this shouldn't be a case of War Machine being branded a "former UFC guy" over the fact that he was at the time being promoted elsewhere. There are so many fighters who have come and gone on the UFC roster throughout the years that placing them in the story as if they're somehow facilitators of that behavior is an unfair characterization. At the same time, he did appear in the UFC, and those outlets weren't incorrect in calling him an "ex-UFC fighter."
[Dana White art by Travis Beaven (c) MMATorch.com]
DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
