4 Reasons why Dana White's "fake" jab at the WWE was uncalled for
Known for speaking his mind, Dana White may have transgressed the boundaries of diplomacy with his latest commentsFor a man who is the president of the fastest growing sports franchise in the world, Dana White’s habit of shooting from the hip often leaves much to be desired in the art of diplomacy. Generally notorious for his off-hand and brusque comments, his latest jab on the WWE being “fake” has perhaps been one remark too many, even for someone of the looseness of tongue that the UFC supremo possesses.What started as a casual goad by a WWE fan about the relatively high pricing for the UFC pay-per-views soon escalated into a full-blown twitter outburst once it was clear that White betrayed no intention of retracting his comments. While the WWE and the UFC publically claim to be two different kettles of fish, It is undeniable that a large portion of the pro-wrestling audience base that also lends its eyeballs to MMA has been left flabbergasted at White’s comment; as any pro-wrestling mark would tell you, the ‘f-word’ is a huge no-no.While his controversial comments happily coincided with UFC 190 and could be a cleverly conceived method to attract more eyeballs into the product, the caustic nature of his jibe has ensured that any publicity generated could hardly be described as positive. While no apology or assuaging comment seems forthcoming from Dana White, here is a look at 4 reasons why his “fake” jibe at the WWE was totally uncalled for.
#1 Apples and Oranges
While the product that the WWE puts out is carefully engineered and scripted, it hardly does justice to the scores of wrestlers that have put their bodies on the line for our viewing pleasure to label their efforts as merely “fake.”
Perhaps being the president of the UFC has emboldened his perspective but Dana White is criminally guilty of committing the fallacy that many people fall prey to in attempting to compare pro-wrestling and MMA; while MMA is undeniably the more “real” of the two for the sake of an argument, their purposes could not be more different.
Fighters that step into the Octagon do so with the single minded intention of destroying their opponent, while pro-wrestles that work a match are acutely mindful of their counterpart’s safety. While MMA fighters look to mercilessly exploit any chinks that may reveal themselves in their opponent’s repertoire, pro-wrestlers look to sculpt a match in such a way that their opponent’s weaknesses are plastered over convincingly while effectively highlighting their strengths.
Being in a position that readily garners media attention and scrutiny, one would expect Dana White to fully understand the differences between the two before making any comments of a judgemental nature.