FootballRugbyCricketMMAGolfBoxingBetting
sport
Share icon

Share

Three key flaws pointed out in Dana White’s public response to a disgruntled Luke Rockhold

Published 11:04 17 May 2017 BST

Darragh Murphy
Three key flaws pointed out in Dana White’s public response to a disgruntled Luke Rockhold

Homesport

Add JOE as a preferred
source on Google

Imagine the balls required to publicly call out your boss like that.

Luke Rockhold did not take kindly to the UFC's initial decision to award Georges St-Pierre a middleweight title shot upon his return to the Octagon. St-Pierre was slated to face off with reigning 185lbs champion Michael Bisping this year but due to St-Pierre's insistence on waiting until the end of 2017 for the fight, it appears that the organisation is going in a different direction now. St-Pierre is out and Yoel Romero is in, by all accounts. And that does seem a hell of a lot more logical to everyone with regards to contenders deserving of a title shot at middleweight. After praising the UFC's turnaround, another top contender, Luke Rockhold, got into it with UFC president Dana White. https://twitter.com/LukeRockhold/status/864537592603308033 https://twitter.com/LukeRockhold/status/864537892831604737 Rockhold fearlessly tagged his boss and told White to "think before you run your mouth," after hearing what he had to say last weekend. "You’ve got to earn it here," White had said at the UFC 211 post-fight press conference. "It’s like these guys want to sit around — you’ve got Rockhold right now screaming ‘I deserve this.’ You just got knocked out in the first round. You don’t deserve anything. You’ve got to come back and earn it." Fond of getting the last word in arguments, White didn't take long to respond to the former middleweight champion via Twitter. https://twitter.com/danawhite/status/864579023413719040 "I usually never respond but GSP never lost his title," White wrote. "Bisping, GSP and the fans wanted it. Stick to fighting and modelling and leave the matchmaking to us." All 4.5 million of White's followers were treated to the response but it was not without its issues. Fight fans are an observant bunch and they wasted no time in pointing out three key flaws in White's succinct tweet. 1 - White always responds. The UFC president has a reputation for engaging Twitter trolls more than a multi-millionaire ought to and his suggestion that "I usually never respond," was jumped upon by certain followers. 2 - GSP didn't lose his title but he was champion at welterweight, not middleweight. It is true that St-Pierre didn't lose his title before deciding to step away from the sport for over three years but surely that's irrelevant as he was not given the opportunity to return to the pinnacle of the welterweight division. He was allowed to leapfrog everyone at middleweight. 3 - There were not that many fans crying out for Bisping vs. St-Pierre. In fact, there were barely any. White's argument that he was giving fans what they wanted doesn't really hold water.

Explore more on these topics:

Dana White

Luke Rockhold

UFC