I want to weigh in on a recent conversation on Beatdown Radio about Dana White affecting children’s exposure to the sport.
First off, I totally agree with the hosts that combat sports are inherently limited in potential, as entertaining as I might think they are.
Someone commented that one can simply watch the fights without ever being exposed to TUF or Dana White, and I have to agree, and that doesn’t mean being a UFC-only fan.
I always watch every UFC, WEC, Strikeforce, Dream and Sengoku event without fail, but my only exposure to TUF (post Season 6) or Dana White, is through websites such as Sherdog. (…and, uh thanks for that – not).
Dana White does not speak at the events and I certainly hope it stays that way. I’m quite baffled by the amount of attention his antics receive and I often wonder if its simply a matter of media sites being hungry for controversy.
So these factors have zero impact on when and whether I will expose my kids to mixed martial arts.
What does play a factor, is that MMA is a combat sport. Despite the fact the my five year old son and I both train in fighting, I’m reluctant to expose him to the glamorization of fighting (besides that I would not allow my five year old child to sit down to three straight hours of TV). But eventually that will change, and while I don’t think I’ll ever expose him to TUF or Dana White, I look forward to the day when we watch the fights together. I hope he’ll be as entertained as I am.
Additionally, regarding D.W. and Zuffa’s antics, I’ve always believed they are all contrived. Similar to the way Zuffa seek to saturate the market with their MMA products, they seek to saturate the media with controversial topics. If they didn’t you might be talking about what Scott Coker or Tom Attencio are up to. So if you want Dana White to stop with the antics, stop covering it. I realize that’s easier said than done.
