Dana White appeared on the Carmichael Dave show on Monday, December 29, 2008 to talk about everything that went down at UFC 92, Fedor, and much more.
White talks about the now infamous “shock pen” that got a ton of use in his UFC 92 video blogs where White went around shocking Chuck Liddell, Rampage, Lorenzo Fertitta, and other players within the UFC promotion.
White reveals that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira went into his interim title fight with Frank Mir having just come off a case of staph infection and “other problems.” He also said, “It happens to all of us, one day you just show up and look your age. That’s what happened to Nogueira that night. Nogueira looked horrible.”
White applauded the new UFC Interim Heavyweight champ on putting together a great gameplan. However, not yet convinced that Frank Mir has reached the level of MMA enlightenment, White confesses, “The thing is with me, I want to see if Frank Mir looked that good or if Nogueira looked that bad.”
Mir’s next fight will be the true test of how far he has come according to White, “If he can get through Brock Lesnar again, no one can doubt Frank Mir after that.”
Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is a possible next match up for the two heavyweight legends.
White believes nothing will happen with Rampage when he goes to court because he had delirium. He was sick and not himself so they don’t expect any problems because of the car chase with police in Summer 2008.
White was scheduled to leave the country for England on December 30th and is not due back until January 18th.
Carmichael Dave seemingly wanting to poke a bear with a stick asks Dana, “…I know you’re a perfectionist…Does it bother you at all that the number one heavyweight in the world is not in your promotion?”
Dana responds, “Don’t call yourself the best when you fight once every year or two. If you want to be called the best then come in here and fight three times a year and if you beat everyone then you can be called the best…I have tried to bring him in and I’m still trying. I would cut a deal with Fedor today if he called me up.”
Dave then asks Dana, “Would you take any one of your heavyweights and bet on them against Fedor?” Dana replies, “Yeah.” But he did not specify who that heavyweight would be.
Dana also reveals he has retired the shock pen.
There’s a lot of nuggets of info in this interview. It is highly recommended that you listen to the podcast below.
DANA WHITE interview part 1:
[podcast]http://podcast.sports1140.com/khtk/1504732.mp3[/podcast]
DANA WHITE interview part 2:
[podcast]http://podcast.sports1140.com/khtk/1504735.mp3[/podcast]
This audio is from an interview on the Carmichael Dave Show at Sports 1140 KHTK-AM.