Dana White: That¡¦s your opinion Hiroshi. Obviously, you wanted the spectacle not the sport. The company I run runs a sport, not a spectacle. That¡¦s just your opinion, and I¡¦m sure that could be the opinion of many of the old fans. But, that¡¦s not the direction I¡¦m going in and this sport is not going in that direction. If you want that, you¡¦ll have to go somewhere else. Obviously, the old system didn¡¦t work and the sport would¡¦ve died except for Indian reservations. It¡¦s not safe for the fighters and it just doesn¡¦t work. To sit down and say our goals are flawed is wrong. We¡¦ve done the first ever fight on free TV. The old UFC just doesn¡¦t work. You can¡¦t through a 300 pound guy in there with a 150 pound guy and watch them kill each other. It worked in the first couple and then it didn¡¦t work anymore, so you have to go back to the drawing board. That¡¦s just your opinion, and I disagree with you on that one.

Hiroshi: Many people feel the NSAC rules are what will ultimately be MMA's downfall if it never becomes big in America. What are your feelings on the NSAC rules and do you feel the NSAC rules can ever be changed to allow knees on the ground?

Dana White: My feeling on the NSAC¡¦s rules is that they¡¦re what we had to do to get this thing approved. Will it be this way forever? Maybe not. You just can¡¦t look at it that way. You can¡¦t look at it as ¡¥Oh, it can only be this way with knees and elbows and no holds barred and everything goes.¡¦ That¡¦s not the right attitude and that¡¦s not the way to get things done. You get people educated on the sport. You get them into it. And then hopefully you try to slip some of the rules back in there that you think will be effective. It¡¦s not that black and white. Things just don¡¦t work that way. And, I don¡¦t think it¡¦s going to be the downfall of MMA in America. I said this in Todd Atkins¡¦ interview too, show me a combat sport more exciting now than MMA that you can go see live or order on ppv. I don¡¦t think boxing¡¦s there, and kickboxing¡¦s definitely not there. You tell me what sport right now is more exciting in a live event or on television.

Hiroshi: Dana, in an interview you did last year with primetimefighters.com, you mentioned that you didn't understand why SEG didn't let fighters fight outside of the UFC and that things would be different under Zuffa, yet Zuffa is now doing the same thing. What happened that made you change your stance on this issue?

Dana White: I did say that in that interview. Six months ago, I had 66 fighters under contract. By the end of this year, I¡¦ll have 15. So, pretty much, everybody¡¦s going to come in on a one-fight deal and anybody can go fight wherever they want to fight. I¡¦ll have some guys that won¡¦t be able to do that. Things don¡¦t work out the way you plan sometimes. We came in and we had a came plan. Some things work and some things don¡¦t. You have to have some guys under contract. I can¡¦t have a guy come in and win a couple of fights and then take off to fight for another organization. I can do swaps and trades like we¡¦ve done with Chuck Liddell, Carlos Newton, and a couple of other guys, but overall, it doesn¡¦t work that way.

Hiroshi: Dana, in an interview you recently did for ADCC News, you mentioned that PRIDE was paying heavyweight fighters more then they "deserved". You took alot of flak over these statements from fans and non-UFC fighters on the internet forums. Most felt that since you were once an agent fighting for your fighters to get as much money as they can earn, that you would be understanding of a fighter getting all they can if the money is there. Where these statements taken out of context or do you really feel a fighter should not get as much as he can(even if the UFC's market can't afford to pay it)?

Dana White: I honestly can¡¦t answer this question for you because I don¡¦t remember the interview and I don¡¦t remember exactly what I said or even if it was taken out of context. I do get very emotional sometimes, but I couldn¡¦t really give you an honest answer on this because I really don¡¦t remember. I do want the fighters to make as much money as they possibly can, of course I do. I really can¡¦t answer this question. It¡¦s tough.

Hiroshi: There is talk that Zuffa harbors some resentment with Vitor Belfort for sustaining an injury before UFC 33 and then for going on the television show in Brazil. Is there any truth to this and if so, do you think it's fair?

Dana White: Zuffa doesn¡¦t harbor any resentment towards Vitor for his injury in UFC 33. Injuries happen all the time. Was I a little upset when he didn¡¦t fight and jumped on the Brazil TV show? Yeah, I was a little upset. But, Vitor showed up and fought Chuck Liddell. I¡¦m happy for that. I have nothing against Vitor at all.

Hiroshi: Why hasn't the Zuffa tried to build up it's fighters like they first stated when they bought the UFC last year?

Dana White: I think we have built up fighters. I don¡¦t know what you guys expect. Do you expect them to be as big as Mike Tyson or the Rock? That¡¦s going to take time. You¡¦ve gotta have free TV to really build guys up. I think though on the limited amount of media that we have, I think we¡¦ve done a good job of building fighters. So, I¡¦m going to have to disagree with you there. I think we¡¦ve done a good job. It¡¦s going to take some time. We¡¦re going to need some free TV and some guys are going to be built up. It¡¦s not as easy as you guys think it is.

Hiroshi: What do you really think of the decision handed out in the Liddell/Bustamante fight? Did you think Liddell really won that fight or that luck was on his side that night?

Dana White: I thought the Liddell/Bustamante fight was a terrible fight. Chuck was out of shape. He came in all fat and bloated. I think the fight was terrible and I think Chuck lost the fight. But, I¡¦m not a judge.

Hiroshi: It seems as if there have been many dubious judges decisions in the UFC lately. What's your thoughts on this?

Dana White: There are crazy decisions in every fight organization. It happens. You¡¦ve got judges who see the fight one way and you¡¦re going to have other people who see the fight another way. You¡¦re dealing with opinions. I have no control over judges and we don¡¦t go to the judges and say ¡¥Hey, let¡¦s get rid of all Brazilian fighters. Give them bad decisions.¡¦ It happens in all sports. It¡¦s happened in the past and it¡¦ll happen in the future. It¡¦ll happen forever until the end of time. There are referees in Baseball, Basketball, Football that make bad decisions. It¡¦s one of those things you can¡¦t control. You can just hope things are going to go as fair as possible. If a guy comes in and trains hard and fights hard and wins the fight, the last thing you want to see is to have the fight taken away from him. There have been decisions that I agree with. Did I think Liddell lost? Of course I did. I said it. I admit it. I thought he lost the fight that night. Can I see how they¡¦d give the fight to Liddell? Of course. The fight was terrible. The same thing with Rizzo and Couture. I love Randy Couture. He¡¦s a great guy and I¡¦ve never had a problem with him. But, I think Randy lost the first fight to Pedro Rizzo. These things happen. Judges see things one way and their opinion counts. Mine doesn¡¦t.

Hiroshi: What's your thoughts on the following MMA promotions..PRIDE, KOTC, UCC, WFA, Ultimate Athlete, SHOOTO and Pancrase.

Dana White: I like almost all those organizations. They¡¦re all doing great things. They¡¦re all building up fighters. Something I recently said about the UCC was taken out of context. I really like them and I like all these organizations. I have no problem with most of them.

Hiroshi: It is a well known fact that the UFC had some bad blood(and rightfully so) with the publishers of Ultimate Athlete magazine. Does this bad blood still exist or are things better now?

Dana White: Ultimate Athlete is an organization that I don¡¦t care to do business with. We had somewhat of a relationship with them at one time. I personally will not ever have a relationship with them ever again.

Hiroshi: What is your opinion of Grappling magazine and which MMA magazine if your favorite?

Dana White: I like Grappling. I read them all. I really like the ones from Japan too. The thing that always bums me out about the Japanese magazines is that I can¡¦t read them. I like all the MMA magazines, all the MMA websites, and everybody that¡¦s out there working hard to push the sport.

Hiroshi: You have been posting on fightsport.com quite frequently. Do you enjoy the site, even though the posters there can be brutally honest or harsh at times?

Dana White: Yeah, I definitely enjoy the site. I like looking around on all the sites and seeing what people have to say. I don¡¦t think it¡¦s that the posters there are brutally honest or harsh. Those are their opinions. People are going to have opinions, and people are entitled to their opinions. Some people think the UFC is the greatest thing ever and some people think it sucks. Everybody has that right to have their opinions. All I can say is I read everybody¡¦s. A lot of people have a lot of good points. I take those good points and use them as constructive criticism. The people who I can tell are just being ridiculous and trying to troll, I take it for what it is. No hard feelings. I enjoy all the sites.

Hiroshi: Dana, there are many rumors that Zuffa will look to sell the UFC if the buy rates for UFC 40 are not good. Is this true?

Dana White: There are many rumors that we¡¦re looking to sell if the buy rates aren¡¦t good for UFC 40. That¡¦s not true. We¡¦re not looking to sell the UFC. People make us offers all the time. Everything on this planet is for sale for the right price. I bet your house is not for sale right now. But if someone offered you enough, you would sell.

Hiroshi: It is known that Vince McMahon(of WWE) pondered whether to buy the UFC when SEG was first selling it before finally deciding to do the XFL instead. Did Zuffa outbid McMahon the first time and has McMahon made any inquiries to see if the UFC is for sale now?

Dana White: No, we didn¡¦t outbid Vince McMahon when we bought the UFC. Has he made any inquiries? I know he¡¦s keeping an eye on the UFC. He¡¦s starting to grapplers vs. strikers in his show now, and ¡§I will tap you out¡¨ on one of his guys¡¦ t-shirts, and he¡¦s trying to set up this ¡§shoot style¡¨ match between Lennox Lewis and Brock Lesnar. Yeah, I think Vince is excited and interested in MMA.

Hiroshi: Does Tito have a rematch clause if he loses to Ken Shamrock and does Ken have the same clause?

Dana White: Either way it goes, the winner of that fight will fight Chuck Liddell.

Hiroshi: Dana, thank you for taking the time to answer these difficult questions
that the fans want to know.

Dana White: Thank you Hiroshi for taking the time to come up with these questions. Anytime anyone ever has anything to ask me, I will always do my best to take the time to answer them and I will always answer them as honestly as possible. Thank you all.