UFC President Dana White makes comments about AEW
UFC President Dana White has had a complicated relationship with the professional wrestling industry, from calling the craft "Fake S***" to sitting in attendance at WrestleMania. White has an up-and-down history with wrestling but seems to be taking a positive and non-combative approach to AEW.
In a recent interview with Barstool Sports' Robbie Fox on My Mom's Basement podcast, White was asked about MMA Top Team's Tom Lambert's time on AEW. Lambert has had many MMA stars appear with him and his crew on recent episodes of Dynamite. In his follow up to the question, White offered AEW good luck wishes, and hopes for their success in the future:
"I didn't know (about Lambert on AEW), but I'm very close to the owners [Shad & Tony Khan] of that organization. They are awesome people. [Tony] and his dad are very good people and I wish them all the success in the world. Good for them," h/t Fightful
The comments, along with Top Team's involvement in AEW, have fans speculating what UFC and AEW's relationship could look like going forward. While UFC and WWE have had strained relations over the last few years, AEW seems to be a promotion that White could work with. Future partnerships could surely help bolster AEW's position going forward.
Dana White accused of stealing Vince McMahon's persona
Like Vince McMahon in WWE, Dana White has turned himself into a cult of personality in the MMA world and mainstream culture. However, he has recently been accused of "stealing" McMahon's personality and style.
Back in August, it was reported that Veteran MMA referee 'Big' John McCarthy accused White of copying WWE's Vince McMahon. On episode #171 of his podcast Weighing In with Josh Thomson, he said:
"Dana needs to bow down to Vince [McMahon] because he stole everything from Vince. He stole his persona, he stole exactly how he runs his company, all of that." (h/t Sportskeeda)