Dana White's opinion of bloodyelbow.com

by thetakeover on Jun 28, 2009 4:14 PM EDT Comment 26 comments

If this was already blogged on this site and I missed it, forgive me, but I was taken aback when I was paging through the May issue of ESPN the magazine and came across the name of my favorite MMA blog.

Supposedly, Dana White thinks bloodyelbow.com is bad for the sport.

Consider: Dana White hires and fires on a whim yet thinks nothing of handing cash to a random dude outside a casino ("He needs it worse than I do"). He opens pay-per-view events with images of a Roman gladiator strapping up for battle, yet feels websites like bloodyelbow.com and thesavagescience.com project the wrong image of his sport.

Dana White wasn't actually quoted dissing bloodyelbow.com, and his feelings may be more complicated and positive than the summation provided by the story's author. Has anyone seen any other references Dana has made to bloodyelbow? This is the first I'd seen. I assumed he was aware of the site, and probably a lurker, but to go out of his way to mention it to the ESPN reporter is something else.

I would really like to know more about what Dana thinks "project[s] the wrong image of his sport." From the context, it appears to be that the site encourages bloodlust and reinforces the stereotype that MMA is uncivilized violence rather than sport, but that has been the opposite experience I've had since joining. Sure, people take shots at Dana on the blog, but that's to be expected, and the moderators go above and beyond to keep the conversation civil, including a "no fighter bashing" rule, which is something Dana himself doesn't always adhere to himself.

Dana, if you're reading this, hopefully you'll reconsider your stance and be more supportive of independent media in general and bloodyelbow.com in particular. Sites like these are good for your business, and good for the sport. I'm a fan of both Dana and bloodyelbow, but if I had to choose allegiance, it would be to the latter.

UPDATE: As Luke points out, this was discussed on the MMA Nation podcast. Here's as summary of the author discussing the backstory:

Dana White did not specifically mention bloodyelbow.com. One of the top editors as ESPN magazine added the reference to bloodyelbow, not him. The comment was more about savage science's name rather than bloodyelbow.

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.

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You should listen to MMA Nation

Covered this awhile ago: http://podcast.wjfk.com/wjfk2/1746883.mp3

by Luke Thomas on Jun 28, 2009 4:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Sorry man. Don’t listen to podcasts. I’ll check it out when I get a second.

A wise man told me don't argue with fools
Cause people from a distance can't tell who is who

by thetakeover on Jun 28, 2009 4:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

So basically Dana doesn't have one.

by subo on Jun 28, 2009 4:58 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Well, the UFC certainly does

They’ve indicated it to me. But we don’t know if Dana does or does not.

by Luke Thomas on Jun 28, 2009 5:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

So how does the UFC feel about this site?

"The path to enlightenment is through suffering"

by RearNakedChoker on Jun 30, 2009 5:54 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

the name is probably regrettable

I had no idea it was going to blow up into anything when I named it. Just needed a URL that wasn’t taken and that one got a lot of laughs around the office.

Follow me on Twitter @KidNate

by Kid Nate on Jun 28, 2009 5:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Take the Kentucky Fried Chicken approach, change to KFC. Bloody Elbow could just start going with BE on all the labeling. Lots of people call the site BE anyway.

by who me on Jun 28, 2009 6:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Personally, I love the name

It’s catchy, and it separates it from any other sports blog. Besides, if Dana is giving “knockout of the night” for brutal KOs, I really don’t think he should complain about “savage science” or any other name that plays on the visceral nature of the sport.

A wise man told me don't argue with fools
Cause people from a distance can't tell who is who

by thetakeover on Jun 28, 2009 10:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

the name is bad IMO

Its automatically blacklisted on a lot of corporate URL “unsafe site” lists simply because of “bloody.” I work for a huge corporation and I can get every mma site but this one which sucks because this is my favorite one.

by banter on Jun 28, 2009 11:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You can sort of get around that by going to Google and typing “cache:bloodyelbow.com” into the search bar. That should allow you to view the front page without pissing off the blocker. If that doesn’t work, you can click on the text only version.

"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR

by Rundownloser on Jun 29, 2009 1:22 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

or you could just quit your job.. ;)

weoweoweo .deviantart .com

by Anton Tabuena on Jun 29, 2009 4:21 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wow, I didn’t know corporate sites were blocking the word “bloody.” I thought they blocked sex terms, but this I’ve never heard of.

A wise man told me don't argue with fools
Cause people from a distance can't tell who is who

by thetakeover on Jun 30, 2009 12:20 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

(skips bloody sex term joke)

by subo on Jun 30, 2009 1:18 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

My job blocks anything that might post information or opinions that run counter to the policies of the party in power. Seriously. Including academic, news, and research sites that say things that the current government doesn’t like.

"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."

by AJB on Jun 30, 2009 6:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

If boxing is the sweet science, then wouldn’t that make MMA the sweet quantum physics? Rather than the savage science.

by Swordslasher on Jun 28, 2009 6:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Boxing, more like the sour science these days…

Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, growing up as a child Kimbo Slice was never given any bread with his meals. This is why he insists people... give him his bread."

by xFenixKnightx on Jun 29, 2009 4:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

BTW, I had never even HEARD of “savage science” before this interview, so Dana would have been better off not giving it free publicity (I went and checked it out, and came away unimpressed). Perhaps the editor is a secret BE ready and decided to insert a more known name to get the point across better.

A wise man told me don't argue with fools
Cause people from a distance can't tell who is who

by thetakeover on Jun 28, 2009 10:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I’m not going to name any names, but most of the other blogs and forums just plain SUCK! It’s probably because the collective intelligence and education level of posters at BE is higher than any site I’ve regularly visited.

by cmsove on Jun 29, 2009 9:11 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

This is true. I’m not sure exactly how Luke and Co. have managed to pull it off, what exactly they did differently, or whether it was chance that they attracted like-minded adherents who felt the same need to establish a smart place to talk about MMA, but I am glad for their work and dedicated to preserving this space and making it better in any way I can. I find that there are a high proportion of other users that have the same mindset, and I think it’s the community-building aspect—from fanposts, to good moderation, as well as continually producing quality journalism that makes the rest of us fans and want to help in their goal. This is one of the reasons why I don’t want BE to be tarred as just another “blog” or be viewed as somehow inferior to “mainstream” journalism—this is the best outlet for journalism and fan discussion about MMA, and I hope someday the UFC will recognize and support that by giving Luke and his crew the access and respect they’ve earned.

A wise man told me don't argue with fools
Cause people from a distance can't tell who is who

by thetakeover on Jun 30, 2009 12:24 AM EDT up reply actions 5 recs

IMO, BE has one of the best communities on the web. I’ve seen plenty of heated debates end in “lets agree to disagree” and then go on to joke or agree on a different topic. Were pretty much every other site I’ve been to, it would have turned into personal attacks, pointless flames, and random threats.

by EnsignFrog on Jun 30, 2009 1:04 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, we leave those to Supremacy and Subo.

(And you both know that we all love you and gain hours of amusement out of your rivalry… which probably results in us pooring gasoline on it for fun.)

"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."

by AJB on Jun 30, 2009 6:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs