Q&A With UFC President Dana White

By Andrew Topps, NEWS 9 Sports

OKLAHOMA CITY - The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Oklahoma after a 15 year absence. Ultimate Fight Night 19 takes place tonight at the Cox Convention Center before the premier of The Ultimate Fight Season 10. UFC President Dana White sat down to talk with News 9.com on everything from Kimbo Slice to his potential retirement.

Q:Why did the UFC choose to come to Oklahoma?

Dana White: We look at the country and we break down the ratings for The Ultimate Fighter all over the country, this is number one.

Q: The Oklahoma City market?

DW: Yeah its number one. Isn't that crazy? The ratings for The Ultimate Fighter here are staggering.

Q: By how much?

DW: Huge.

Q: What are you expecting from these fights?

DW: You know it's funny, when we were up there doing the weigh-ins I was talking to (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva and I was like this is going to be a fun card., There's a lot of fun fights on this card. I think it's going to be a great night of fights from the first prelim to the main event, it's going to be a great night of fights.

Q: What fight are you looking forward to the most?

DW: I'm looking forward to Nate Diaz and (Melvin) Guillard obviously it's the main event. I'm really looking forward to (Roger) Huerta and Gray Maynard. I think the (Tim) Creduer (vs Nate Quarry) fight is going to be a good fight..

Q: After losing back-to-back fights, how much pressure is Diaz under to get a win?

DW: A lot.. He's under a lot of pressure there's no doubt about it.

Q:Former TUF winners Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans were among the first alum to hold title belt, how much of a proving ground has the show become?

DW: The goal is to win that belt. Season one, two, three, and four of The Ultimate Fighter, the guys that came off that show didn't get any respect. Nate Diaz said, 'me and my brother used to sit home and make fun of everybody who was on the show'. He said coming off the show 'I will never make fun of anybody ever again on this show. Now I know what its about and what it takes'. In a million years I never would've guessed what a huge training camp this would really be. They come in a certain level of fighter and they leave a whole other level.

Q: What are your thoughts on some of the fighters on the upcoming season of TUF?

DW: (Marcus Jones) was a legit NFL football player, and he got into mixed martial arts and is a good jiu-jitsu guy. I think people will are going to be very interested when they see him this season.

Q: Former IFL champion big country Roy Nelson?

DW: Great physique (White laughs). I'm kidding (Nelson is in shape, he's round, very round). He's a guy you look at your like look at this guy he's fat and out of shape. In reality he's a good fighter. You'll have to see what happens with Roy Nelson.

Q: The biggest name is Kimbo Slice. You have said derogatory things about him. You said the only way he'd get into the UFC was through the show.

DW: Now I give him the props and the respect. He stepped up to the plate and took the challenge. He had a lot of other options where he could have made a lot more money. They don't make a lot of money to be on The Ultimate Fighter. He stepped up to the plate and took the challenge, so I got to take my hat off to him.

Q: Will we ever see women fighting in the UFC?

DW: I have never, and you can ask (UFC co-owner) Lorenzo (Fertitta), not once ever watched another show. I've never watched IFL, Elite XC, Affliction, and keeping going down the line. I watched that (Gina Carano vs. Cyborg Santos) Strikeforce fight that night. I don't know how to say this without sounding condescending, or putting them down, but if those are the best two fighters in the woman's' division,it goes to show you where the woman's division is. One of things I've always said is there's not enough good women to actually create an entire division. If those are the best two women, then wow.

Q: Finish this sentence; you will know the UFC has made it when?

DW: The UFC will have made it when it is seen as a sport all over the world and everybody is playing by the same rules all over the world. Much the same game of soccer we play here is the same game as China, Mexico, Canada, once we get to that level, then I'll say the UFC has made it. Yes it's big it's popular, the fighters are making millions of dollars now compared to making tens of thousands of dollars back in the day. It's all great its all good, but to me, we will not be satisfied, we will not call this successful until we get there. That's our goal. That might actually be the end of me, that might be when I'm done.

Q: How far away do you think that is?

DW: Who knows. I can tell you this. Our global expansion since Lorenzo's come over here and started ... helping, its gone a lot faster than I thought it would. I was thinking 10 years. It's going to be faster than 10 years. It's going to be a few years away. We're getting deals with major networks in all these different countries that's what starts it.

Q: When are we going to see it on network TV here in the states?

DW: Very soon. Within the next year. Like right now you and I are talking on September 15^th, 2009. By September 15^th 2010 we'll be on network television.

Q: Which one?

DW: Anyone (laughs). We're talking to a lot of them right now, pretty much all of them.