Dana White: I want more fighters to get involved in judging and reffing
UFC President Dana White discusses Wanderlai Silva, TUF: Brazil, problems with judging and UFC 148 with Fuel TV’s Karen Bryant.
It seems for the past four or five events, inconsitent judging and refereeing has been a real thorn in the side of White and last night was no exception: “I think the ref did a great job at not stopping the fight. Obviously, he was able to keep going. I have to go back to the judging again. They had a draw in an earlier fight and they didn’t have a draw for Wanderlei vs. Rich. I am in a bad mood because I am tired of stupid little things that happen from last night and tonight. I would like to see more fighters get involved in reffing and judging. I think we are going to see more of it. It is going to be a problem for a while until the athletic commissions start working on it. They need to review tapes with the refs and show these guys what they did wrong when they make a wrong call.”
On the main event, White was pleased and had nothing but praise for Wanderlai Silva: “Wanderlei almost won that fight. It is tough to say. I said it last night, he used to be my arch nemesis over at Pride and I wanted that Chuck fight since Pride. But since he came to the UFC, he has been great, acting like he has been in the UFC his whole life. He has been honest and great and he is going to be with us for a long time, whether he’s fighting or not.”
Still, fans who wanted to see Silva take on Vitor Belfort as was supposed to happen at UFC 147, will have to wait a bit longer: “His (Belfort’s) next fight will not be against Wanderlei, he just lost tonight. When Vitor heels up, we will see what happens and go from there.”
White had sharp words for TUF:Brazil contestants and the way they were acting during the event as well: “These guys came out like killers to get into the house. I think with all the hype and they were busy all day signing autographs and the arena was packed, so they came out like Rock stars, singing and dancing, like they had world titles, but guess what, you’re not in the UFC yet.”
On the subject of UFC 148, while White never predicts a fight’s outcome on the record, he did say: “UFC 148 will be the biggest fight of the year and one of the biggest sporting events of the year.”
