Dana White once said that we would never see women fighting in the UFC. Now he claims that Ronda Rousey is the biggest star the company has ever had. Quite a 180 Dana has pulled on that one.
It isn’t so much that Dana favours and protects Ronda as much as it is that Dana wants to protect the money that she represents. This is the same reason why Dana allows Conor McGregor to call the shots to a degree that no other fighter has received previously. But Ronda represents more than just PPV buys or TV ratings. Rousey is a cross-over star that is far more PG-rated than Conor. Rousey can go on early morning TV and media outlets geared towards non MMA fans. Conor doesn’t flourish as well in that environment.
Rousey is also something of a pioneer of women in sports, and that branding reflects well on the company. It only makes sense that Dana is going to try and protect her.
Here are 5 times Dana White has protected Ronda Rousey
5. He Trashes Cyborg
One of the things Dana White has done up until just recently is trash Cyborg whenever he can.
Cyborg represents a real threat to the Ronda Rousey cash-cow, or at least she used to. If you remember, Gina Carano was on pace to be come the first marketable star in women’s mixed martial arts until she fought Cyborg. Gina Carano vs Cyborg was marketed as the first high profile MMA show being main event’d by 2 women. Unfortunately the results of that fight didn’t exactly go as planned for fans of Gina Carano.
The much less marketable, and much more physically imposing Cyborg beat the will to compete right out of her. Carano would end up deciding to make B-Movies instead of continuing her MMA career.
In order to prevent that from happening, Dana White has consistently trashed Cyborg, accused her of steroids, and done everything he can to make it less of a big deal if Ronda never fights her. He once even referred to Cyborg’s appearance at a formal event as looking like “Wanderlei Silva in a dress”. He refused to apologize as well, and instead only re-affirmed his belief that she did indeed look like Wanderlei Silva in a dress.
Now it appears Ronda wants to face Cyborg, and Dana appears to be supporting this. That fight better make a lot of money, because it could be the last fight of Rousey’s career.
