MMARR: Do you think that if Murilo Bustamante called you today and said, “Hey I would love to fight for your belt again”, or “I would love to be your champion again.” Would you ever have him back?

DW: Sure. I like Murilo.

MMARR: Ryan Bennett used to be an announcer, why was he let go?

DW: Why was Ryan Bennett let go…..I think one of the issues with Ryan Bennett was when we were putting together the….Ryan is a great guy, always professional and we still have a good relationship with him now. One of the big problems with him was, when we were putting together the production, is that he was too big. When he stands next to some of our heavyweight fighters, he makes our heavyweights look like little guys. So from a production standpoint, using someone smaller matches up better with the fighters so the fighters don’t look tiny. That was one of our main issues with Ryan Bennett, and then we were going with the whole female experiment. You know… we wanted a good looking female sportscaster/interviewer, and you know the production part of the UFC is still a work in progress. Ryan Bennett is always professional, has always been great, we still have a great relationship with him.

MMARR: Why were the celebrities in attendance read out on the Pay Per View broadcast?

DW: That was a mistake.

MMARR: Oh I see, so that was NOT on purpose?

DW: No, that was not on purpose at all. We had a production meeting, and it was said at the production meeting that it was for the in house [audience], and to fit it in wherever it could be fitted into the show. They hadn’t done it yet, so Lorenzo [Ferttita co-owner of the UFC] jumped on the headset and said, “Hey do this thing”, and for some reason I don’t know, they thought it meant do it live on TV.

MMARR: I guess that is what you meant by the production is still a work in progress.

DW: Well you know, it is a live TV show. It is live, things happen man. Mistakes are going to happen.

MMARR: You have another person an announcer that you let go…

DW: Osbourne…

MMARR: Yeah, the same time as Ryan Bennett, why was [Jeff] Osbourne let go?

DW: Umm, I don’t think there is any specific reason you know, and to be honest with you, I really don’t want to get into why guys were let go. I don’t think it is fair to them to talk about why some guy was let go.

MMARR: I understand.

DW: It would be like if you got fired from your job, and somebody wanted to do a public “Why was he let go?”

MMARR: Absolutely….ok then lets talk about something related, there seems to be a modicum of bad blood at this point, is that because he was let go?

DW: Between who?

MMARR: Between the UFC and Osbourne.

DW: Not at all, I have seen Jeff a few times. I talked to him on the phone a couple times, I know he and Joe Silva [Matchmaker for the UFC] are very good friends. There is no animosity on our part, and I have never felt any from Jeff Osbourne so I don’t know.

MMARR: Carmen Electra was the first of the girls to kind of enter the scene. Let me ask you this. Uhh…Why Carmen Electra?

DW: Well at the time, the way the whole Carmen Electra thing happened was, Lorenzo and I did our first Press conference in New York for UFC 30. Two guys showed up, Joel Gold [Full Contact Fighter] and Eddie Goldman.

MMARR: OUCH!!!

DW: Those are the two guys that showed up for the press conference. The next time, same thing, so we said “we need a hook”. “We need someone that is going to stir up some interest in the media and blah, blah, blah”. So we were looking at her, Shannon Elizabeth, and a couple other girls that we were thinking about bringing on. We went and met Carmen in LA and had dinner with her, and the minute we met her, we knew that she was the right fit. We hired her, brought her on, and the next one we had was UFC 32 at the meadowlands. We held our press conference at ESPN zone and all the media showed up. Carmen Electra helped put us on the map, she did exactly what we paid her to do.

MMARR: Where do you see the sport of MMA ten years from now?

DW: In ten years, I see it being much more main stream. Three years ago, people thought this was human cock fighting, it was death matches and everything else, but….

MMARR: Death matches!!!

****Laughes***

DW: Already, just in three years, you notice when these guys go on and do interviews on Jimmy Kimmel and all that stuff, that whole angle is gone now. People don’t have to say “Oh is this a death sport?” “Do you think it is human cock fighting?” They don’t even talk about that anymore. They talk about the fights, they learn about the athletes, and they talk about the fight that is coming up. So I think we are already starting to overcome that whole “This isn’t a real sport” type deal. So I see this sport thriving, and doing very well in ten years.

MMARR: Speaking of talking about fights, what is your favorite fight in UFC history or any MMA history?

DW: I have had a lot of favorite fights, I mean, there has been a lot of great fights that I have really, really enjoyed. Randy Couture Vs Pedro Rizzo 1 was an awesome fight. I mean, those guys went at it. I mean, you want to talk about two warriors with heart and the will to win, that fight was awesome. Afterwards, Couture had to have rehab on his legs, he got kicked with so many leg kicks. Controversial decision, it was just bell to bell an awesome fight. I really like Pedro Rizzo vs. Josh Barnett, I thought that was an awesome fight. But… I would have to say my all time favorite fight, where the energy was insane, and the hype was unbelievable, when the two fighters started walking I felt like I was at the most big time championship I had ever been at in my life, was Ken [Shamrock] and Tito [Ortiz].

MMARR: I thought you might say that one. Speaking of Ken Shamrock, he is also a pro wrestler. Is there any chance, any chance whatsoever, that we would be able to see maybe a Ken Shamrock Vs Brock Lesner, or Bill Goldberg?

DW: I would love to do that. I would love to do any of my guys Vs a top boxer. I would love to do it. But to put a deal like that together is tough. I wouldn’t go after guys like the guys K-1 are going after. I would want somebody real and legit and who is on top right now.

MMARR: What are your thoughts on Bob Sapp?

DW: He He He…I have stated publicly that he is not a real fighter. He is a nice guy, but he is not a real fighter by any means, a pro wrestler in my book.

MMARR: You are happy for him but he is not a real fighter?

DW: Right, he is a pro wrestler.

MMARR: When all is said and done, when everything falls away. You as the president of the UFC, what would you specifically most like to be remembered for?

DW: I don’t really care about being remembered. The only way I want to be remembered when I am dead, is that I was a good dad. That is all I care about. As far as being remembered, I am not interested in that. I don’t care about being remembered for what I did for work. I enjoy what I do, I love this sport, I love a lot of the guys in this sport. I don’t know, hopefully we can….Lorenzo and I have this dream about making this sport big and making it mainstream, making it be what we know it can be. When I die all I want to be remembered as is a good dad to my boys, that is all I care about.

Dana White and Kevin Randleman playing with Mr. White’s son

MMARR: When you spoke about you and Lorenzo taking the sport where you guys know it can be… If the sport just does not get to quite where you guys are comfortable, how long do you think the Fertitta’s would be willing to shell out all this money for the UFC? Is there a timetable? Or is there a time that… do you guys have 5 years or 10 years to get everything done?

DW: Anytime you put together a startup business… this was definitely a start up business when we bought this company. The only thing we bought was the name, the Ultimate Fighting Championships. Bob Meyrowitz had stripped everything down, there was nothing left, he had sold everything. We had to go out and attain all the rights back to the UFC. So you know there is always a five year plan when you have a business, and we are more then right on track with our five year plan.

MMARR: Last of all, do you have any last words for the fans of MMA and the UFC fans around the world? The hardcore fans are the best, and the most critical of any fans I have known anywhere. Some of them, sometimes they say some pretty crazy stuff, but they do support the UFC.

DW: I would agree, I would have to say every time, every time I have ever gone to the fans and said, “Hey we need to do this, we need to do that” they have always been there. I have proven time and time again, and I always will, that I am here for the fans. I will always be there, I am not some guy that’s you know, unreachable… unattainable. I will always get out there and talk to the fans and I think we have the greatest fans in the world. They are critical, but hey, I have no problem with that. (A)- I am not out there to win any popularity contests, and I know what I need to do, and I do what I need to do. (B)- I have got some pretty thick skin, it doesn’t bother me. I look at it, I see the stuff that people say, “Hey you know what, we could do better”, and I get that. There are the other guys that just… you know are trying to be goofy. I don’t pay any attention to that at all, it doesn’t faze me one way or the other.

MMARR: Well I would like to thank you very much for the time that you spent with us today, I really appreciate it I know you are a busy man.

DW: It was a pleasure.

MMARR: Thanks very much.

DW: Good interview too, good questions.

MMARR: I hope to see you at the next UFC.

DW: I’ll be there.