Changes
Obviously, the UFC took off as Dana had envisioned and only continues to grow
every year, but along the way, Dana changed. I suppose it was inevitable, but his
friends and family just were not prepared for the ways in which he would change and
how much of a change it would be, especially to those closest to him. As his career
and the UFC took off, the goodness of his character seemed to plummet.
Have you ever heard Dana mention his family, ever, in interviews, on radio,
television or just in conversation? I don’t mean his wife or children, but his
grandmother, mother, sister, niece, nephew, uncles, aunt. He never mentions any of
them, and there is a reason, a reason I find to be an embarrassment for all of us but
especially an embarrassment to me, as his mom.
After the first four years when the UFC turned around and started making a
profit, we began to notice changes in Dana. In the beginning we chalked the changes
up to the stress Dana was under and just dismissed it. In hindsight, that was probably
not the best way to handle these changes. Later, I realized Dana’s changes were more
than just the products of stress. He was becoming a total prick to everyone, and by
everyone I mean his family and friends who were there for him whenever he needed
them, before Dana and the UFC were a success. To UFC fans, Dana is the King of MMA,
but I cannot express how overwhelmingly disappointed I am in him as a son, grandson,
brother, and uncle. He shows little respect for women, from the way he treats his
own mom, grandmother, girlfriends, wife, sister, niece, and employees, to his very
public rant at a female reporter.
Dana’s family attended many of the fights in the early years when Frank and
Lorenzo Fertitta had first purchased the UFC. We all paid for airfare from the east
coast and for our hotel rooms once in in Las Vegas. This was expensive for those of us
who attended the fights frequently but everyone wanted to be there to support Dana,
(at least we did not have to pay for the tickets to the fights) and we had great seats.
We all had a good time when we would attend the fights. One weekend we were in
Las Vegas for a fight at Mandalay Bay and Randy Couture was one of the main event