fluidrive

Dear Dana White,

I sincerely hope that you receive this message. I'm college educated, a UFC fan, and quite disturbed. Tonight I spent $39.95, of my hard earned money, to watch a UFC pay-per-view event. I'm not upset about the money and I'm not upset about the fights however, I'm crushed by the "experience" of the event as a whole.
I, like most UFC fans, built a trust with you. You were delivering something that boxing had stopped (and you intelligently capitalized on this fact). I bought UFC events believing that you would "deliver" and lately you're losing your edge. First, the appeal of UFC was that it felt "real" and uncontrived. Now, you're commercialism and endless hype is taking away from the substance that got you where you are. I used to tune in and see non-stop entertainment without the hype that boxing has endlessly shoved down my throat for the better part of a decade. UFC used to mean something.
Dana, I was recently listening to the Jim Rome show and on it, Jim Lampley ripped UFC as if there were no tomorrow. I could only think about how wrong he was and his comments angered me. After watching UFC 60 and 61, I'm starting to wonder if he wasn't correct. Your intense desire to grow the sport is to be commended however, now you've over-hyped and over-estimated so much that a UFC broadcast is no better than a disappointing boxing pay-per-view.
UFC 61 was about as exciting as painting my bathroom and then grabbing a beer while I watched it dry. Prematurely stopping a UFC fight is completely inexcusable, especially after enduring all the hype and b.s. you've shoved down our throats for the last several months. Second, watching a heavy weight championship fight, and hearing a referee beg the fighters to actually "fight" is reminiscent of the worst that boxing brings us fight after fight.
I felt, in some ways, that you lost your composure when you commented after the Ortiz/Shamrock fight, "I know you're pissed." Damn right I was pissed and the correct answer was not, "Hey buy another fight." Once again, you can't make people fight and the lack of action was not your fault. The hype, the meager card, and the ommision of some of the undercards was. Tonight the UFC let me down. I have grown to count on you and I felt comfortable giving you my money (which I work hard for). In the future, I sincerely hope you'll concentrate more on what got you to where you are and less on marketing, pre-fight hype, and the endless promotion that seems to be taking over your broadcasts. If you'd like my money, I would much prefer that you get back to the substance that brought UFC to my attention in the first place. It seems that following the Stephan Bonner fix, UFC is in a downward spiral. Even worse, I fear that Jim Lampley was right. UFC can't replace boxing. Instead, UFC was the light and the place I felt that I could go to for some substance. UFC 61 was a setback for all of you and I hope you will get back to your roots and concentrate on the things that brought about your recent success. True fight fans need UFC but, NOT the UFC we saw tonight.