Aww man. Check out these two very recent post-fight (UFC Live on Versus 2) tweets by Dana White:

1. @mbungle the other site you mentioned doesn't even matter and I am a degenerate so they finally reported something right17 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® in reply to mbungle
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2. @mbungle shitdog is the shittiest UFC hating site on earth, fuck em.18 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® in reply to mbungle

Well, I don't go to sherdog ("shitdog" according to White), but I love this site and it pains me that we're held in such low esteem by the guy who really has taken MMA out of its Dark Ages and into its Renaissance. It looks like White has been made aware of Kid Nate's accusation that he's a "degenerate gambler", and in a self-deprecating manner dismissed the charge and then the rest of us right along with it. I think that sucks. White is one of the most accessible sports personality of any importance, and I think it would serve us better if in criticizing him we didn't engage in unwarranted, personal accusations. "Degenerate" with respect to gambling connotes low or non-existent moral standards, such as risking the money for rent or utilities on a spin of the roulette wheel. Inherent in the term is the condition of irresponsibility i.e. that the actor is acting imprudently by taking risks the consequences of which he cannot afford. 

It doesn't matter if Dana white risks losing, and then actually does lose, half a million dollars at a time playing cards, because relative to his net worth, that's like losing a few quarters under the couch cushions. You know how you'll know if he's a degenerate gambler and not just a hobbyist gambler? His assets will start being repossessed or sold off, his marriage will suffer, and he'll lose his job. 

Now, I don't want to rip on Kid Nate, because my guess (hope) is that if he had to do it over again, he'd have worded his concern differently; I'm a fan of Nate's and I think this was just an error in judgment. And the reason this situation matters to me is precisely because of White's accessibility to the MMA fans. I'd much rather have a worse case scenario where Dana considers Bloody Elbow to be relevant but often misguided and thus still worth having a look at than to have him dismiss us altogether as irrelevant e.g. "the other site you mentioned doesn't even matter" -- on the off chance that somehow some of the things insignificant fans like myself write here might make it to his eyes.

I'll end this with a famous and pertinent quote by David Lee Roth: "I used to have a drug problem. Now I make enough money."