December - 2015
SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
20
cage over the course of his ca-
reer, spending more time than
any other champ in the octa-
gon.
Still, from a business perspec-
tive, you’d think White would
at least let things play out.
Even more concerning, at least
when it comes to question-
able promoting, however, is
the fact that it was the actions
of White a few years ago, fol-
lowing GSP’s last fight to date,
that have in part kept him out
of the cage since: White infa-
mously, following UFC 167,
told reporters that the welter-
weight champion was unable
to attend the post-fight press
conference because he had
been badly hurt and taken to
hospital. St. Pierre, meanwhile,
was waiting backstage, but
was blocked by UFC staff when
he tried to attend.
Speaking to Chael Sonnen on
his You’re Welcome podcast,
GSP stated “If this whole thing
had not happened after the
fight… maybe I would have al-
ready been back and maybe I
would have given the rematch
to Johny Hendricks,” adding
later “I understand Dana was
pissed because I was leaving
with the belt. I got it. But he
could have done it with a bit of
better class, you know?”
And that’s the core of the
whole issue: class. White has
proven, time and again, that
he has a hard time taking the
high road — even when it’s
detrimental to the company
as a whole. At this point, the
company seems to produce
stars almost in spite of them-
selves. Now imagine how great
they could be at it if they took
the professional route, and de-
veloped stars proactively, while
treating their existing fighters
with the respect due.
