http://mmajunkie.com/news/27427/ufc-has-no-intention-of-dividing-fighters-and-managers-dana-white-says.mmaOMAHA, Neb. – UFC president Dana White said a grand total of two fighters have negotiated with him directly since he took his current job: Forrest Griffin and Chuck Liddell.
"And I don't think Forrest or Chuck have done too bad," White told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) on Tuesday.
Responding to recent comments that implied the UFC is attempting to cut managers out of the picture, White said he does give advice to fighters about representation – but not whether they have representation.
"The two things I always say to guys? No. 1, get a guy you can [expletive] trust and make sure that all your taxes are being paid," White said. "This is something we tell them at the fighter summit. The other thing is, be careful who you get to represent you. Because that's exactly what they do. They represent you."
This week, former light-heavyweight champ Mauricio "Shogun" Rua underwent a change in representation when he announced a split from manager Eduardo Alonso in an interview with Sherdog.
Conspiracy theories were fueled, however, when Rua said, "The UFC has made it clear to us that we don't need managers."
White said he "didn't know where 'Shogun' is coming from on that" and "couldn't care less" about whom fighters chose to act as their representative.
"These guys are all grown men," he said. "They can do whatever they want. There have been cases where there's managers I can't stand. I don't tell people to change their managers. They can do whatever they want to do.
"Does a fighter need a manager? What a fighter needs is a real good attorney. The fighter needs a great attorney to go through their contract, and an attorney can negotiate your contract for $250 an hour. Or you can have a manager because (with) some guys, it depends on what you want. Some guys have these managers who do everything for them. They get sponsorship for them. They get all their bills. They do all their [expletive]."
Before he became UFC president, White managed Liddell and Tito Ortiz, who would become two of the promotion's biggest stars as it expanded from fringe sport to mainstream property. He publicly feuded with Ortiz during that time over a variety of issues, including pay, though the two reconciled in mid-2009.
Aside from the occasional legal issue, White has been considerably more low-key about his relationships with fighter reps.
"It doesn't matter if they have a bad relationship with me," he said. "It's about how they act and how they represent you publicly. There have been tons of managers who have [expletive] made sponsors have a huge hard-on to get a guy, and then once they deal with their manager, they want nothing to [expletive] do with that guy."
Rua, who most recently lost a unanimous decision to Dan Henderson at UFC 139, has yet to clarify his earlier comments.
"When me and (UFC CEO) Lorenzo (Fertitta) were just in Brazil, we met with Eduardo," White said. "We had dinner with him. He's a great guy. We like him a lot. I don't give a [expletive] what guys do. If they want managers, don't want managers – that's up to them."
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