When a prospective employee walks into your place of business, not only are they preparing to put their best foot forward (knowing that they are about to be judged), but they are judging the quality of your services and appearances as well.
From the first moment that they make contact with you, they are evaluating whether or not you will be a good employer.
Watching to see how you treat your other employees is a pretty good indicator.
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In fact, I wonder how fighters are going to perceive the latest drama in the UFC?
When asked about his recent career move which saw Dan Henderson switch from the UFC to Strikeforce, Henderson only had this to say:
“STRIKEFORCE and its growing roster of world class talent will offer me many exciting fights and has the ability to bring many new fans from all around the world to mixed martial arts. I am grateful to (STRIKEFORCE Founder and CEO) Scott Coker for the opportunity to help make this happen and for treating me with the utmost respect throughout our negotiations.”
“I’d also like to thank Dana (White) and the UFC for the opportunities they provided me and I wish them ongoing success. I’ll continue to watch their events and I hope they’ll tune in to my fights in STRIKEFORCE. After all, I’m a true fan of our fantastic sport and would love only to see MMA continue to grow.” (mmanews.com)
Now let’s compare these remarks to those spit out by UFC President Dana White:
“He’s happy, but the reality is that I pushed him into signing that deal. I told people over the weekend that he’d sign within the next week. I wanted him to s**t or get off the pot. He was in this limbo forever, and he needed more motivation to make a decision. Do you think that there’s any guy we can’t get that I want? Other than Fedor [Emelianenko]? So far, he’s been the one guy we can’t get. But everyone else that we’ve wanted, we got. If I wanted Dan Henderson, I could’ve signed him. For the money he wanted, he’s not worth it. He’s not a big pay-per-view star, he’s not a big attraction, and he’s not going to sell out arenas. He wants way too much and he doesn’t bring anything to the table. Here’s the reality: If I wanted him, he’d be in the UFC . It’s not like, ‘F***, Strikeforce beat me out.’ He’s been a free agent for a long time. If I wanted him, I would have signed him by now.” (mma.fanhouse.com)
Based on White’s comments, how would you feel if you were an aspiring (or veteran) fighter looking to do business with either the UFC or Strikeforce?
Now maybe I have a tendency to read a bit too much into things, but I am sensing that Dana White is sounding slightly bitter over the fact that Dan Henderson has moved over to Strikeforce (the UFC’s only real rival).
Oh well, too bad!
Dana White has been running a monopoly for so long, he has completely forgotten how to be civil, fair and respectful to those “employees” who have helped him to make a ton of cash.
In my opinion, it would serve the UFC good if all of their fighters (yes – even Rampage) followed Henderson over to Strikeforce. Or anywhere for that matter – just so long as it wasn’t the UFC.
Maybe Dana White should take more responsibility when his fighters are feeling underappreciated? It’s not just about the money and at the end of the day, this is a business for both men.
Maybe Dana White should have been more “respectful” of Dan Henderson by giving him the title shot that he deserved instead of allowing Vitor Belfort to “jump the line”?
That certainly seems like it would have been the “fairest” thing to do.
Personally, I think that Dan Henderson is one of the classiest fighters in the world and the UFC was quite fortunate to have him on their roster.
If the PPV numbers were low, maybe they should have been looking more closely at their marketing strategies or under-card bouts instead of trying to pin their financial woes (ya right!) on a single fighter during contract negotiations.
“Classy!”
One last comment by Henderson:
“The decision was based on a number of things. It wasn’t just a financial thing. It was the fact that I felt I wasn’t getting the fight that I wanted in the UFC. That was a big part of that — that I wasn’t and that it got yanked away from me. I think I stepped up for the UFC a number of times and had earned that right again for a title fight. And the fact that publicity-wise, CBS offers quite a bit more than a pay-per-view and Spike TV.”
(Sherdog.com)
The UFC needs a guy like Henderson a lot more than he needs the UFC. Best of luck at Strikeforce Hendo!
Hopefully the UFC learns something from your departure, although I highly doubt it.
This happened because of money plain and simple. Hendo wanted more than the UFC was willing to offer so he went with another company.
Hendo is one of the greatest in this sports short history but the fact of the matter is when it comes down to dollars and cents Hendo does not sell enough tickets to warrant the contract number he was searching for.
Was it wrong that Belfort seemingly jumped to the head of the line for a title shot? Of course but that is the way the business works and Hendo should know that by now. Belfort was the fresh new name in the mix and because he has yet to face Silva it’s the better sell.
Strikeforce is doing really good and they are doing things the right way but how is it going to look when Hendo cleans out both the MW and LHW divisions and he couldn't win a belt in the UFC?
saying Hendo didn't bring anything to the table was just stupid. Dana made it seem like Hendo was Dean freaking Lister or something.
Hendo is a great fighter and no one will argue otherwise but the fact of the matter is in terms of PPV buys and viewership he brings little to the bargaining table.
Having great fights under your belt is an important component but if casual MMA fan can't pick you out of a lineup how can you expect to earn top dollar?
Coming from my fan side I believe Hendo has done enough in the sport to basically write his own ticket but the business side of me knows that it’s all about dollars and cents and Hendo just failed to generate the fan fare.
Dana White couldn't care less how he is perceived and I guess that can be respected, hell I don't care how people perceive me.
The problem is, it isn't how people perceive Dana White that matters, the guy is a fight promoter, in other words a puppet who represents the UFC. What he says affects how people perceive the UFC and when you are talking about the business world, if you put off a bad image for yourself, you put off a bad image for your company and that does matter, no ifs ands or buts about it.
Hey James…I'm pretty sure I have read some quotes over the last few months, were Dana has wished Dan the best of luck, and the reason why the UFC wasn't signing Dan, was just business, and he still maintained that him and Dan are friends.
Also, with these quotes, I can only imagine the questions the media asks to get these type of responses from Dana. I'm sure he is asked loaded questions all the time, so people can get this type of reaction from him. Unfortunately, Dana gives exactly what they are looking for. It wouldn't surprise me either if people failed to quote Dana's more positive responses.
I would agree with that!
The media can twist things however they want I suppose. Even for myself in writing this article – I'm sure that I could have researched until I found something more positive from Dana, but what fun is that?? LOL
Kidding – I usually go to mmanews.com to view the 'headlines of the day' and when I read these 2 articles separately I thought that it would be fun to put them together to make an entirely different point about how to treat your employees.
Good input though.
Thanks for the read Joey.
James
A man will do what a man has to do. Dana suffers from allowing emotion to interfere with his actions. I recognize this trait as it is one I constantly wrestle with, very impulsive, very emotionally charged in important issues. Its not always, or even rarely a good thing. I have learned to control it for the most part, he apparently has not. Power has a way of making you think your right just because no one can argue with you with any real impact. Humility is a virtue Dana could learn a lot about. Even in a case where he may think he is right it would do him well to step outside the situation and look at it from there. Hendo is a legend in this sport. If he can go to SF and perform it strengthens the UFCs competition. Very shortsighted to have a spat with Dan here. And yes, Dan is a class act in the sport. He does well in this no matter what. He is closer to the end than the beginning and to ride out his last years helping build up SF would not be a bad thing. I wish him well, and hope Dana doesnt run off all the top talent in the UFC. I genuinely enjoy the promotion but with all the guys he has offended over the years you have to wonder how long does it take before fighters start making an example. This may be the first domino.
Well put James,
Your point is one that is well understood. Dana is maybe in some cases, involved too closely from an emotional standpoint. He also is this crazy good quote to the media. Dan took the high road, and as fighters come in and do not know Dana, I would say that they will at least handle White with kid gloves.
Cross Dana, and he goes to the media. Imagine if the commish of a major sports league was like this, or better yet, Oscar De La Hoya, boxing promoter. It isnt right, and it isnt fair to the fighters who in negotiations only want the best for themselves, and their families. Dana is the Captain, of one of the largest ships in the Pro Sports fleet. A polite no comment, would have spoken volumes here, and being as Dan was classy in his departure, maybe the very least for someone who may lack in marketable personality, but did come, fight, and beat a few of the biggest and the best in the UFC.
I would also suggest to you that the UFC made money on Hendo, personality aside.
With that said, the fact that Belfort was upped over Hendo, just screams out to me what is wrong in the UFC right now. The fact is that the matches are being made, with too much weight on marketabilty, and personality. Meanwhile, guys like Hendo, Jon Fitch, Frank Mir, keep being passed over in quests for rematches, or high level opponents, simply because they will not sell enough tickets/ppv's. They are lower paid than counterparts, despite having skills, that in some cases, far exceed, those with ” personality” (Dan Hardy, Belfort, Carwin, et al)
this is a really good article (great photo, BTW). I agree with virtually everything in regards to the UFC trying to convince the casual fan that they have a full house when they just lost an ace.
StrikeForce was dying for a legitimate test for Mousasi and the UFC just tossed them a fantastic headlining fight.
The UFC needs a guy like Henderson a lot more than he needs the UFC. Best of luck at Strikeforce, Hendo.
I agree, great article james.
MMA Fanhouse has the scoop from Strikeforce pres Scott Coker:
“Well, I don't want to get into the whole Dana White thing. All I can say is, how often does a guy like Dan Henderson become available? He's a main event fighter. Every promotion would like to have Dan Henderson fight in a main event for them. Main event fighters are few and far between, and when you get a guy like Dan, who can contend for titles in two weight classes, it's a good day for Strikeforce. Dan said he'd let me know after Christmas what weight class he wants to start in. He and Gegard (Mousasi) is a natural fight and he against Jake Shields for our middleweight title is a fight he would want. He would like to fight in both weight classes. We're excited to get Dan in the mix, and we're going to have more signings soon. We're continuing to build Strikeforce as a mixed martial arts company and Dan is a big part of that.”
sounds like Whitr's ego has inflated. With other leagues being born, he best not get complacent, because that attitude of his will lose more fighters than it will gain
I agree completely!! Thanks
MMAJunkie talks to Dan Henderson who recently decided to fight for UFC rival organization Strikeforce after negoiations with the UFC fell through:
“It's inevitable,” Henderson said. “For a while, there wasn't any other options, and fighters were not really keen on that idea of not having a place to shop around. They weren't real happy with the UFC kind of having a monopoly on everything. It's their way or the highway, and now there is another option. That makes [fighters] feel a little more comfortable.”
UFC president Dana White has repeatedly said Henderson's contract expectations were unrealistic during their recent negotiations. Henderson believes that to be untrue, and he said he was very happy with what Strikeforce was able to offer.
“I'm pretty happy with every aspect of [my Strikeforce contract],” Henderson said. “I'm excited to be able to fight on CBS �” that seems like it would be a pretty cool deal �” and to be able to bring new fans to the sport, which is what's going to happen with CBS.”
Very well written. In my experience, if I walk into a place of business and I see someone being disrespectful I will walk out as fast as I walked in. For instance, my mother and I went to a computer place (I will not say where) and the guy behind the counter was bad-mouthing his fellow employee stating that “he's inadequate of the tasks we give him.” To me, that's rude! If it wasn't for the fact that my mother and I were in there only to bring my brother-in-laws laptop to be fixed; I would have left and asked her to do the same. I am a people watcher and I figure that anyone that is cocky enough to talk stuff behind peoples' back will talk behind my back. Good blog, James. 10* and 2 thumbs up.
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