UFC president Dana White recently spoke about the inevitable roster cuts that will come with the merging of UFC and WEC. In the end, White says that good fighters will have nothing to fear.
“These are the big-leagues, man,” White said. “It’s no different than Major League Baseball, no different than the NFL. You perform, or you go away.”
Roster cuts are a natural part of the UFC, as fighters are regularly handed their pink slip after losing at UFC events.
“It’s no different than any other professional sports organization,” White said. “That’s exactly the way it works. If you want to stay at the top of the food chain, you do. If you don’t perform, you don’t. You know how many [expletive] guys get cut in the NFL and Major League Baseball every day? It’s crazy. Staggering. It’s the same thing here. There’s no difference.”
White says the main aspect is not winning, but fighting hard.
“I’d rather have two guys in a dog fight and have a guy lose and keep him around than have a guy who’s in the Ultimate Staring Competition for five minutes,” White said. “Nobody wants to see that [expletive].”
So what about newcomer Maiquel Falcao, who appeared hesitant to move forward during his UFC 123 decision victory over Gerald Harris?
“What I’m giving [Falcao] is the benefit of the doubt because this was his first UFC fight,” White said. “He did go in against a tough guy, but I think he could have finished that fight whenever he wanted to.”
White said that his advice is to fight every fight like it’s your last.
“There’s a lot of guys that are coming up that are really talented,” White said. “I think the pool is just going to keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger. You’re going to keep getting these guys from all over the world. It’s a dog-eat-dog world. There’s so many good guys out there. You’re literally fighting for your UFC life every time you fight.”
