During an early afternoon break, I caught up with UFC President Dana White via text message. Here’s the gist of what we covered:
CD: Shogun’s manager recently said that if Randy Couture gets past James Toney, he could see Randy being Rua’s first title defense. Is that a possibility?
DW: The winner of the Rampage Jackson vs Rashad Evans fight will get the first shot at Shogun.
No time to relax for Shogun.
This makes sense, and is also a little surprising. The 205 belt is historically difficult to successfully defend, and Dana, Joe Silva, and company are wasting no time giving Shogun a challenge. Look for that fight sometime in the fall, barring injuries.
CD: Now that you’ve cut Kimbo Slice, any parting thoughts?
DW: I have nothing but respect for Kimbo. I wish him well.
As expected. I was one of many who thought the dude was a freak show, and he proved me wrong. Yeah, he’s not a UFC caliber dude, but he took it seriously, and tried hard. I think Kimbo was a victim (if you can call it that) of the YouTube and EliteXC personas that were pushed and promoted. I question the use of “victim” because he made quite a bit of money off that persona, but at the same time it propped up expectations a little too high.
CD: Koscheck and GSP? Aren’t you worried that might be boring? Were you rooting for Semtex just a little?
DW: LOL, you’re such an internet goof! Listen, everyone was smashing this season cause of Chuck and Tito, and every episode has done 2 million viewers. Its out rated the NBA playoffs in the demographic. Come on.
Easy to see where he’s going. As the Zuffa PR machine has proven in the past, they could turn Grandma vs Grandma into a battle for the ages with the right editing. There were quite a few people bitching that both Liddell and Ortiz were irrelevant, yet the returns on this season ratings-wise have been good. A quick check of the male 18-34 demo showed that White is speaking the truth, as TUF has edged the TNT/TBS combo of NBA playoffs when they overlap.
CD: Speaking of the internet, I know you read the UG (mma.tv’s forum), when are you getting this Sean McCorkle guy in the octagon? Undefeated and GINOURMOUS….what’s up?
DW: I don’t know who he is.
CD: Ahh. Big giant dude, hasn’t lost, sounds like a good guy. Check him out. What’s next for Lyoto Machida?
DW: Honestly, I don’t know yet.
gotta love mma math. I think Shogun should win, he would just need to be careful of Rasshad's wrestling, similar to Rashad's fight with Thiago
