White's Dream Comes True - MMAUniverse.com

First, Chuck Liddell appears on the cover of ESPN The Magazine. Now, the holy grail. Mixed martial arts makes the cover of Sports Illustrated, and UFC president Dana White couldn't be happier.

"(Yesterday) was one of the greatest moments of my life," said White. "We were walking around with Sports Illustrated in our hands all day."

The moment represents the pinnacle for the UFC, an organization that once struggled to make money -- let alone notoriety -- on any scale, but one that White resurrected when he bought it six years ago.

His vision was simple: focus on the athletes, not the off-colour spectacle it once was. And in particular, making sure their cards were always filled with the best fights. But it took time, and it took work.

"We travelled around, met with sportswriters, never veered off course to try to turn this into a spectacle again," described White. "It's all about the athletes."

This week's issue of the most notable magazine devoted to sports had a cover picture of one of those athletes, Roger Huerta, behind the cage surrounding the octagon with the question, "Ultimate Fighting: Too Brutal or the Future?"

It's a common question these days. Many people consider the sport, a combination of boxing, wrestling and martial arts, to be a freak show. They liken it more to the WWE than boxing.

White knows the best way to answer the question is to simply get someone to come to an event.

"You come to one fight, and you're hooked," said White. "It's the greatest live sporting event there is."

And as for the question that the sport is too dangerous?

"We care about (our) guys. Nobody is more safety conscious about our athletes than we are."

Some may be surprised that the first SI cover on MMA did not feature Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell, the current face of the sport, or some other more high-profile personality. But that doesn't bother White.

"Huerta deserves to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated after a fight like that," White said referring to Huerta's defeat of Leonard Garcia at UFC 69: Shootout, which is described in the story. According to White, the sport is filled with great personalities. Even after Georges St Pierre -- the extremely talented Canadian fighter whom White thinks could be the future face of the sport -- was shockingly upset by Matt Serra on that same night, he never viewed that as a bad thing for UFC.

"I never worry about that," admitted White. "I never think, we need this guy to win. These guys are all great guys."

During Thursday's conference call, White also took the another opportunity to rant on the other sport that MMA is compared to, the sport of boxing, and in particular what's wrong with it.

"There's one thing wrong with boxing and one thing only: Greed," exclaimed White. "The big problem in sports today is everybody talks about money.

"Who gives a s--- about that? You'll never hear me talk about money."

White reiterated that what makes his sport so great is the athletes.

"I have a whole stable of fighters who are marketable and can fight. That's what makes the sport so interesting."

Asked if he'll be disappointed if the UFC doesn't make the cover again in the next year: "Are you kidding me? Some people never make the cover even once in their lifetime. To finally get the respect we've felt this sport always deserved... this was a dream fulfilled."

White doesn't need to dream anymore. If he keeps running the sport the way he believes is right, more covers are bound to come.

Source: www.sportsnet.ca