Cru Jones Society

We at the Cru Jones Society are huge UFC fans. Hart and I can thank Sr. Limon for that as he was well ahead of the curve on mixed martial arts asking me to watch this with him five years ago. Now Hart and I get together for most of the big fights and excitedly down pitchers of beer watching two guys beat the bejeezus out of each other. UFC is becoming a household word, and a big reason for that is Dana White.

Sr. Limon covered current UFC President Dana White quite a bit in his “Why I Love MMA” article, but after watching last night’s Ultimate Fighter semi-final, I feel compelled to comment on this man further. As a refresher, here’s Sr. Limon’s appraisal of Dana White:

“Lastly, and in a way maybe just as importantly, the UFC is made great by current president Dana White. A man born to head up an organization such as this one. He’s cocky, unapologetically wealthy and just slimy enough to pull off the persona of a fight promoter while somehow still managing to be likeable enough to keep people from hating him while he does it.”

In general, I think Limon’s characterization of Dana is accurate – or perhaps was accurate before I watched the way he handled Jesse Taylor at the conclusion of Season 7 of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

Dana White is a polarizing figure in many ways. You can criticize him for a lot of things, and you’re not wrong. He’s president of one of the fastest growing companies in the world and can’t go three sentences without dropping an f-bomb. His treatment of Tito Ortiz, while amusing, was downright appalling at times. Sure, I enjoyed hearing Dana poke fun at Tito’s “big ugly gorilla face,” but at the end of the day, I felt for Tito. And I don’t even like Tito. But can you imagine having to work for a company where your boss persistently and publicly ridiculed your intelligence, your appearance, your heart and your business sense? It’s abuse of power, pure and simple.

On the lighter side, you can make fun of Dana for being a dead ringer for Andre Agassi. Look at the picture above and tell me he and Agassi weren’t separated at birth…

One thing I will never, ever again question is Dana White’s integrity. Dana cares about the UFC, he cares about the growth of the sport, and above all, he cares about shedding the “human cockfighting” label bestowed upon mixed martial arts by John McCain nearly a decade ago. Those who fight for a living are often unfairly classified as thugs, punks, or meatheads out of hand. And sometimes they are – look at a guy like Nick Diaz – but Dana White is working his ass off to make sure his organization, his baby, has none of these types. He wants the sport to be the biggest in the world, and he can’t do that if he’s got a bunch of dangerous dimwitted hooligans populating his ranks.

Which brings me back to Jesse Taylor. Following the conclusion of The Ultimate Fighter, the finale was set to be Amir Sadollah VS. Jesse Taylor. Jesse decided to celebrate with a night on the town in Las Vegas and instead of behaving like a professional, turned into an apeshit lunatic. He kicked out the window of his limo and proceeded into the Palace Station casino where he harassed the women in the bar area and got hostile with hotel security all the while proclaiming “You know who I am? I’m a UFC fighter!”

As Dana said after watching the security tape, “That shit don’t fly.” He immediately called Jesse in, told him his behavior was unacceptable, and kicked his juvenile ass out of the UFC. Here was a guy set to co-main event a national television broadcast -a guy fans had watched for two months on Spike TV’s highest rated show – and Dana booted him without batting an eyelash because he exemplified all that was wrong with UFC’s previous public perception. Jesse could have become a star and Dana could have easily given him a slap on the wrist, but he didn’t. The integrity and future success of UFC is too important to gamble on a kid that’s not ready.

Dana showed him tough love, and he didn’t crush Jesse’s dreams just for fun. He reprimanded him because he had to. His business, his passion, and his honor were on the line, so he made the tough decision and stood firm behind it. That’s called integrity. And it’s to be respected. Dana even took it a step further by telling Jesse, “Get out of here. Go home and get your life together, and in a couple months, you call me.” It would be easy to write this kid off as just another hot-headed, infantile punk, but Dana is willing to give him another chance if he deserves one. That’s called compassion.

Jesse Taylor absolutely deserved to be kicked out of the UFC for his stupid antics in Las Vegas. But that doesn’t mean this can’t serve as a wake-up call for this kid to get his act together. And that’s what really matters. The UFC continues to build its reputation, Dana White shows why he deserves to be the leader of this organization, and a kid who needs a kick in the ass gets one. That’s admirable.

Dana White is a terrific showman, an incredible promoter, the biggest cheerleader of his sport, and a relentless workaholic. But above all, he’s a man of integrity. I feel good knowing he’s at the helm of my new favorite sport.

I grew up getting fooled time and again by Vince McMahon to the point where I don’t believe a word that comes out of his mouth and am completely disenchanted with professional wrestling despite obsessing over it as a kid. I look at football and see Roger Goodell’s complacency toward Spygate and silent consent of steroid use by his hulking, frothing-at-the-mouth maniacs. I see David Stern brush off allegations of cheating of the highest order, Bud Selig fumble around and fuck up at every turn, and Gary Bettman continue his reign as the worst commissioner in the history of sports.

Then I see Dana White trying to build the integrity of his sport by giving his young fighters tough love, suspending and/or firing guys for drug and steroid use, and answering tough questions face to face from all his critics. That’s the guy I want at the helm.

And that’s why he’s forever immortalized as a CJS “Thing We Love.”

edagger@crujonessociety.com