Dana White: Thanks, John Oliver. I’m not giving you a cut either.
Dana White and the UFC have come under a lot of criticism for their decision to keep MMA events running during this global pandemic. Where most major leagues have decided to postpone their events indefinitely, it is only the UFC that has continued with the idea of having active live events.
One of the critics of Dana White and UFC was the host of HBO's late-night talk show, John Oliver. He on an episode on Coronavirus and the impacts the epidemic had on sports said, "Clearly, staging events is risky at the moment. Just the day before last weekend's UFC event, a fighter [Jacare Souza] had to pull out after he and two of his cornermen tested positive [for COVID-19], underscoring the fact that if you want to come back completely, without risk, that's just not possible right now."
The criticism didn't go well with Dana White who hit back at Oliver with a tweet that read, "I like John Oliver, I think he's funny. But this is a perfect example of how you can control the narrative by using selective facts. We did approximately 1,100 tests, only 3 were positive, it was a fighter and his 2 trainers and we had 3 events NOT 1"
Dana White got the name UF-Sea trademarked.
But looks like Dana White didn't disagree with every idea Oliver had. On the show, Oliver had said "Look at me, Dana. Why didn’t you just call it UF-Sea? It’s perfect.” Apparently, Dana White was listening and actually liked the idea.
In a recent interview, Dana White revealed that the UFC actually trademarked the name UF-Sea and they aren't even going to give John any cut out of it.
"John Oliver came out and did that piece [on Last Week Tonight] with selective facts about what we had done in Florida and all that stuff and UF-Sea,” White said when speaking to ESPN. “So I told my lawyers after that, see if the trademarks are there for ‘UFSea.’ So obviously it did and you guys know about them. I think we got it. Thanks, John Oliver. I’m not giving you a cut either.”
Dana White has been adamant about the idea of having continuous live events and has maintained that the fight island is incoming. What are your thoughts on that? Do let us know in the comments section.