Five years ago, Dana White demeaned soccer as the sport on Earth requiring the least skill. The following is our story by Jamie Penick featuring his take on soccer and hockey…
Chael Sonnen may have made his fair share of enemies in Brazil with his comments about the country, but UFC President Dana White may be getting his own set of boos when the organization returns after some comments he made to the Calgary Sun on Wednesday.
During a question and answer session with the paper, he was asked about his thoughts on fighting in hockey, but he then turned that into a denouncing of Brazil’s favorite sport: soccer.
“I’m not a big hockey fan. But I respect how talented you have to be to play hockey,” White began.
“Soccer? That’s a whole other ball. Can’t stand soccer. It’s the least-talented sport on Earth. There’s a reason three-year-olds can play soccer. When you’re playing a game when the net is that big and the score is 3-1 [and that’s a blowout] are you kidding me? You know how untalented you have to be to score three times when the net is that big?”
“Now back to hockey,” he continued. “You have guys on skates with crooked sticks and you have to hit a puck into a net that’s the same size as the goalie. And at any time someone could take your head right off your shoulders and it’s perfectly legal. That’s a real sport that takes real talent, speed and all the things you need to be a real athlete.”
“Now fighting is a part of hockey and has been since Day 1. It’s part of the game. It is what it is. I think we live in a world now where everything has been so pussy-fied. When I grew up we didn’t wear helmets when we rode our bikes. We didn’t have car seats. We didn’t have all this stuff. Now things are safer and we should be safer but let’s not go overboard. Fighting’s a part of hockey. Period.”
Penick’s Analysis: There’s a certain irony about White lambasting a sport he knows little about simply because he dislikes it. That’s the exact issue the UFC and MMA in general faces from those that either don’t understand, or don’t care to understand the sport, and rip into it because they don’t like it. Considering the level of “athlete” the UFC employs at the lowest levels of each of their divisions, it’s laughable that he’d go after the talent it takes to play that sport. I’ve never been a soccer player, and I’m not much of a fan of watching the sport, but to say that it’s the “least-talented” is completely ridiculous, and he’ll rightfully be lambasted across the web for these comments.
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