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UFC On Fox Results: Dana White Offers Fighter Criticism As Analyst

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Dana White was the primary analyst for the UFC's prefight and postfight coverage on Fox. Jonathan Snowden sees that as a potential problem for the UFC boss.

By Jonathan Snowden
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HOLLYWOOD, CA - SEPTEMBER 20: UFC President Dana White speaks during the UFC on Fox: Velasquez v Dos Santos - Press Conference at W Hollywood on September 20, 2011 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)
HOLLYWOOD, CA - SEPTEMBER 20: UFC President Dana White speaks during the UFC on Fox: Velasquez v Dos Santos - Press Conference at W Hollywood on September 20, 2011 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)
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After a big fight media members small and large are called on to share our opinions. If you're MMA Nation senior editor Luke Thomas you do it on radio shows nationwide. If you're one of his lowly writers, you do it for your friends, family, and those who tolerate you on Twitter.

It's a time honored tradition - people who have no real experience coaching or competing at the highest levels letting the world know how bone headed the highly trained professionals were on the field of play. In football, they call it "the Monday Morning Quarterback." Nascar has "backseat drivers." There's no name for it yet in MMA, and as much as UFC President Dana White tried to avoid criticizing his own fighters, he nevertheless made his opinions known.

White, sitting in the analyst's chair for Fox, let lose with his opinion about the Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos fight in front of a national television audience:

Listen, I'm no strategist and I'm nobody's coach but I don't understand why they didn't go for the shot early. They should have shot in on Junior Dos Santos knowing that he has the power early in the fight and tries to knock you out. But the truth is that Junior Dos Santos gets tired at the end of fights, you know? Here he is standing right in front of him trying to trade and bang with Junior Dos Santos and gets hit with that big right hand right behind the ear and down he goes. Down goes his heavyweight championship. I'll say it again, not saying that I'm some strategy coach but I don't know why they wouldn't take the shot on him and wrestle early.

It's one thing to feel a fight out but when you're standing right in front of a guy that you know his biggest weapons are his hands and he can knock you out and this thing is a five round fight. Get in there and start working him. Stay busy and put him against the fence. Rough him up and tire him out a little bit and bring it into the later rounds where Junior Dos Santos is well known for getting tired.
On the surface, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. White's job in the moment called for him to share his thoughts with the audience. As any member of the media will tell you, that doesn't always make you popular with the athletes being criticized. White's position of prominence in the sport makes his stinging words cut even deeper.

White isn't just a commentator on Fox. He's also Cain Velasquez's boss. He negotiates with the fighter and his management and as the UFC President, the two men work together to grow the sport. Sharp and public criticism makes that harder to do.

White has to be very careful in his dual role. There's a reason matchmakers like Joe Silva, Sean Shelby, and Sam Caplan don't offer predictions and candid commentary about the fights they create. It would create hard feelings and make negotiations a nightmare. White finds himself facing the same issues. I suspect before the next event, Fox will find itself searching for a new commentator for pre- and post-fight action. And that's okay. It's better for everyone if the analyst in charge of giving candid views isn't hiring and firing them later.

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