UFC President Dana White shared his thoughts on the April 17 Strikeforce event held in Nashville, Tennessee. According to White, Strikeforce aired a terrible event on national television (CBS) and on top of that, the promotion was unable to control the brawl that happened during the Jake Shields post-fight interview. White went on to bash the promoters of Strikeforce, stating that they do not know how to do business with some of the choices they have made in the past.
From Dana White:
“Shame on CBS for this. They knew they should have been with us, but they went out and let those Showtime idiots talk them into going with Elite XC. Now, they’re stuck with a bush league, C-level promotion that will probably be out of business next month. And what you saw on Saturday is the kind of thing that happens when you put a product like that on national television…When have you seen anything remotely close to that happen at a UFC event? What kind of ridiculous commentary was that? That was an idiotic thing to say. And then he was yelling at them to stop, telling them they are on national television. That was just another example of how bush league they are…You never should gamble on fights. They bet on (Melvin) Manhoef, (that he would beat Robbie) Lawler. Lawler was very unhappy and they wanted to get rid of him, but it backfired because he knocked Manhoef out. Then they treated Shields like (expletive), let his contract expire and they put all their money on Dan Henderson. Now, Shields destroys Henderson and look where they’re at. That’s not how you do business.”