@DanaWhite believes there are limited dangers to his UFC fighters saying what they want on Twitter.
With the Ultimate Fighting Championship's recent "Twitter incentive" for its fighters, many an eyebrow was raised wondering if this was such a good idea.
The sport's top promotion will award a bonus of $5,000 to its fighters based on three separate categories: the most creative tweets, the most followers gained and the greatest percentage increase in followers.
History has shown many other professional sports leagues frown upon the usage of Twitter, and for those that do allow it, they generally impose a serious censorship on what can be said by an athlete, as well as hefty fines levied on those who cross the line.
For UFC president Dana White (@danawhite), his stance couldn't be further from this decree.
"What exactly is it on Twitter or anywhere else that you shouldn't be saying?" stated White, when I proposed the theory that this could be a disaster waiting to happen.
"To cross the line, you really have to be dealing with somebody who is an absolute lunatic, or saying psycho stuff. If that started happening, then yes, we would step in."
As he adjusted himself in his chair, he reiterated the rights that many are afforded in a democracy.
"This is a free country. Free(dom) of Speech. These guys can get on and talk to their fans and be who they are. I don't ever tell any of our athletes to act a certain way or to be different or to try and stir up fights before the fights."
But on the contrary, many a UFC fighter uses the likes of Twitter, Facebook and any other type of social media to talk trash with or against their opponent. And according to the UFC boss, he's perfectly fine with it, especially with the diversity of personalities between the athletes.
"You go from Chael Sonnen to Brian Stann. There's a wide array of guys that you can get behind, use as role models, love the guys. And then you have the whole group of guys that you can hate, can't wait to see them get their ass kicked. We have a little bit of everything for everybody."
And in the modern day business of fight promotion, any fighter who chooses to make the UFC's job easier, that is, to "promote" their events, their fights and their image via social media and regular media alike, rest assured, the bosses are watching and reading, and smiling ear to ear.
A perfect example is the aforementioned Chael Sonnen, who has all but mastered the art of "hype" and not just via social media, but anytime he is allowed to speak out on his future tilts.
To see the full video interview, click here.
