Demetrious Johnson is the latest in an absurdly long line of fighters who have had beef with Dana White over the years. The inaugural, current, and only UFC flyweight champion in history, is in the middle of a public spat with the UFC president, over the next defence of his championship.
This is nothing new to Dana, he’s involved in several such conflicts per year. Already in 2017, White and Tyron Woodley, Anderson Silva, Luke Rockhold and now Mighty Mouse have clashed.
White does nothing to shy away from such confrontations. In fact, White seems to legitimately enjoy some of them. There are times however, where the confrontation is entirely his fault. This article takes a look at 5 of such occasions.
We will start with the most recent clash:
5. Threatening To Fold UFC Flyweight Division (Alleged)
Granted, Dana White has not commented on the validity of this alleged statement. According to Demetrious Johnson however, White threatened to fold the whole division if Johnson didn’t accept a fight with TJ Dillashaw.
Johnson wanting to duck the first challenger fans have wanted to see him face in years is not ideal, but to threaten a whole division of fighters? Threaten to strip him of the belt maybe, but strip fans of the entire division? Granted, the flyweight division has not been the most interesting over the years. Still, if it wasn’t for the 125lbs division, where would “Uncle Creepy” Ian McCall go to have his fights cancelled last minute?
Johnson doesn’t seem like the type of fighter who would just lie for no reason, so White probably did say something to the effect of closing the division down. The chances are slim of him having actually meant what he said however. White was most likely just trying to say what he could to get Johnson to agree to the fight. If UFC cut an entire division it would allow Bellator or someone else to claim they have the top 125lbs division in the world, and UFC doesn’t want a competitor to be #1 in any division.
