Dana White Confident in UFC Star Power Even Without GSP and ‘The Spider’

By Chris Taylor - January 31, 2014

Dana GSP

UFC President Dana White recently told reporters that he was not worried about losing 2 of the promotions biggest stars in Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva.

“Until Anderson Silva kicked Vitor Belfort in the face, nobody cared about Anderson Silva. Then he blew up and became this huge star,” White said. “Now everybody is like, you’re [expletive] dead when he leaves. What’s gonna happen? This is a professional sport. The window of opportunity for athletes [is only so big]. There’s always the next guy and the next guy and the next guy.”

The Zuffa fight boss also pointed out that the organization has lost ‘stars’ before, yet continued to grow:

“Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes, and many other guys who helped build this company, everybody asked me, ‘What are you gonna do when these guys leave?’” he said. “They’re all gone. They’re all retired. And here we are talking about the growth.”

Dana went on to say that if someone like current Middleweight champ Chris Weidman can finish another contender like Vitor Belfort, critics will change their tune.

“People are like, ‘Can Chris Weidman carry this thing?’” he said. “If Chris Weidman beats Vitor Belfort, people are all gonna be going, ‘Holy [expletive], Chris Weidman … ‘”

White also commented on how one fight can create a superstar and eluded to the Jones vs Gustafsson title fight last September as proof.

“Overnight, Alexander Gustafsson becomes a star,” White claimed. “All the people that were bitching that we made this fight – we don’t do the rematch, [and they said], ‘What the [expletive], how can you not make this rematch?!’”

Plus, Uncle Dana has his ‘new breed’ of superstars to hold fort.

“Anthony Pettis, if he can stay healthy, is a [expletive] superstar,” he declared. “Ronda Rousey is a massive star, arguably one of the biggest stars in the UFC right now.”

Props to MMAWeekly’s Erik Fontanez, who was the first to report the comments made by Mr. White.

What do you think Penn Nation, will the UFC at all suffer after losing it’s PPV king in ‘GSP’ and the man many consider to be the ‘GOAT’ of MMA, Anderson Silva?

 


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