Urijah Faber Compares Dana White To Donald Trump
Urijah Faber is one of the most popular fighters that the UFC has under contract and prior to joining the UFC, he was a superstar while in WEC. Faber stated in a recent interview that Dana White is a good dude, but they’ve had their moments.
“Dana White’s awesome,” Faber stated. “He’s an emotional guy, but I feel like he’s a good guy. He’s an emotional guy. He’s like Donald Trump. He says whatever the hell he wants.”
Following a loss to Mike Brown at WEC 36 in 2008 for his featherweight championship, UFC President Dana White picked a wrong time to say negative comments about Faber.
“Yea, there’s been a time,” said Faber. “I mean, we didn’t not get along, but I had to, you know. I’m a guy who says what I want, as well. It was a time when he was having some sort of dispute with Jon Fitch and it was just after I lost a big thirteen-fight win streak. He was like, ‘These fighters need to quit worrying about business.’ Fitch wouldn’t sign this agreement to let [UFC] use his likeness for the video games.
“So Dana was on this big rant. He was on with [Sacramento sports radio host] Carmichael Dave and he was asking Dana, ‘Is Urijah coming back?’ This and that, blah blah. ‘Yea, but you know, all these guys need to worry about fighting, not about business.'”
Faber found out what White had to say about him from his own father, which was relayed to him later.
“My dad told me about it and that pissed me off,” said Faber. “I was on a thirteen-fight win streak. [The loss] had nothing to do with business. I got caught with a right. I texted [White] and said, ‘Hey dude, way to kick a guy when he’s down. I didn’t even hear this. My dad heard it.’ He said he didn’t say anything, blah blah blah.
However, White called Faber’s father later on and apologized for his comments.
Then he called my dad and apologized. He was actually really cool about it. He’s a good dude, but you know, he’s real.”
With the UFC bringing in Reebok as the official UFC apparel brand for their fighters, Faber will not longer be able to wear his own brand of apparel, something that Faber will have to get used too.
“It’s rough for me because I’m one of the guys that has built a brand, but I’m OK with the look,” said Faber. “It’s not my style but it’s not horrible. It’s quality stuff. I would say that moving forward as a brand, I understand why the UFC would do something like that. As a businessman, I understand that’s their business and they can do they want. For me, I have to find a different way to get my brand out there.”
Faber is scheduled to fight Frankie Saenz at UFC 194.
