5 times Dana White lost his cool in front of reporters

Dana White has developed a reputation as one of the sport's most outspoken figures. The UFC President epitomizes what it means to wear one's heart on one's sleeve. White has lost his cool in public countless times. Whether it is to roast a UFC fighter, silence an annoying reporter, or to sound off on his critics, White has dished out a fair share of rants and public tirades in his time.

It just goes to show how tough it must be for the UFC President to manage the largest pool of MMA fighters in the world, maintain the supremacy of the promotion, and constantly ward off haters. As a result, though, fight fans get to see a refreshingly raw side to the UFC boss, and the more mad he is, the more fun it is to watch.

Take a look at five times Dana White lost his cool in front of reporters.

#5. Dana White goes off on Steve Mazzagatti and the Nevada State Athletic Commission

Steve Mazzagatti is one of the most scrutinized referees in MMA history. His poor reaction time and lack of control inside the octagon has always triggered Dana White. In his worst refereeing moment ever, Mazzagatti stayed idle when Josh Burkman put Jon Fitch in a standing guillotine, choking the latter unconscious.

Before Steve Mazzagatti even moved to check Fitch's condition or called off the fight, Burkman let go of his opponent and stood up over him. Dana White was naturally extremely furious with how incompetent and ineffective Mazzagatti was during the whole bout.

Speaking at a press conference later, the UFC supremo told reporters:

"Does anyone here disagree with me that Mazzagatti is a f***ing toolbox? I mean he literally did nothing. Fitch is out cold... And literally, when he [Fitch] goes limp and he's out, then he [Burkman] rolls him f***ing over, lets his head f***ing flop to the thing and stands up over him. He's literally standing like this over him before Mazzagatti even gets in the f***ing picture. The Nevada State Athletic Commission is going to keep this f***ing guy (Mazzagatti) around until he seriously hurts somebody. That guy is dangerous."

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After firing shots at Steve Mazzagatti, Dana White went on to slam the Nevada State Athletic Commission for being an egoistic organization. Replying to a reporter's question about whether the NSAC was corrupt, White said:

"It's not corrupt. When you talk about the Nevada State Athletic Commission and the fact that they keep doing this, it's complete and total ego. Yes, because I keep complaining, they will keep putting him [Mazzagatti] front and center... which is disgusting. At what point do you realize that this guy is an incompetent fool?"

Watch Dana White's full rant below:

#4. Dana White rips into Greg Jackson after UFC 151 gets cancelled

The UFC booked a light heavyweight title bout between Jon Jones and Dan Henderson to headline UFC 151. However, due to a late injury to Henderson, the fight was thrown into jeopardy. The UFC brass always kept a back-up fighter to suit such contingencies, and the man to replace Henderson was none other than Chael Sonnen.

Much to Dana White's displeasure though, UFC 151 eventually got canceled, making it the first such incident in the history of the promotion. According to White, the guy to blame was Jones' coach Greg Jackson, who had advised 'Bones' not to take the fight against Sonnen. The UFC boss said:

"There's nothing we could do to save the fight. One of the things is we always say we could find a replacement. One guy said he would take the fight. That was Chael Sonnen. Chael accepted the fight. We started working. Created commercials and PR stuff. The one thing that happened that I didn't think would happen happened. Jon Jones turned down the fight. So right now, the fight is canceled."

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Calling Jon Jones' head coach Greg Jackson a "sport killer," Dana White slammed him in the media and said:

"Greg Jackson told Jones there's no way you take the Chael Sonnen fight on eight days notice. Said it would be the biggest mistake of his career. Greg Jackson is a f***ing sport killer. I've never heard anything like this in my entire life."

#3. Dana White calls out Colin Cowherd for playing dirty tactics

The UFC began negotiations for a new TV deal in 2019 after entering the final year of its contract with FOX. Just ahead of the new deal, FOX host Colin Cowherd made some claims about Dana White that the latter called dirty tactics.

When the UFC and FOX signed a television deal in 2011, the MMA promotion dealt with similar fallout from its previous television partners at Spike TV. According to Dana White, Cowherd’s sudden change of opinion conformed to this pattern. Reacting to the veteran FOX journalist, the UFC boss said:

"I’m not going after anybody, but for Cowherd to come out and say the sh*t that he said, especially for a guy for a long time who has been one of our biggest fans. Now our deal is up with FOX and Cowherd’s talking sh*t about stuff he has no f***ing clue what he’s talking about. It’s 100% what’s going on. It’s dirty f***ing business tactics and Cowherd is a guy, I’ve been on his show many times and I’ve known him for a long time, and it’s f***ing dirty. F**k you."

Watch Dana White go off on his nay-sayers, including Colin Cowherd:

#2. Dana White shuts up a journalist for asking him about fighter pay

Dana White at UFC 189 press conference in Toronto | Image via Dailymotion @usatodaysports

Dana White hosted the UFC 189 press conference in Toronto in 2015 in the presence of some of his fighters, including Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor. The conference went smoothly until a journalist chose to ask Aldo about the "pay situation" and the issue of former fighters filing lawsuits against the UFC.

Dana White instantly lost his cool and called the journalist a "dick" for such bold questioning. The journalist took offense to the insult and stood back up, this time without the mic, to confront the UFC boss. White told the journalist:

"Yeah, shut up. Sit down! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Sit down and shut up! Who else has a question?"

Watch the UFC 189 press conference below:

#1. Dana White spits fire at Cris Cyborg

Former UFC featherweight champion Cris Cyborg parted ways with the promotion in 2019 after working together for three years. Both Cyborg and UFC boss Dana White apparently hated one-another and were more than glad to call it quits.

Despite the two parting ways, the verbal onslaught didn't get over as quickly. Speaking in a media interview during Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series, White expressed that dealing with Cyborg was a nightmare for him. He said:

"Dealing with her has been a nightmare the entire time she’s been here, and I said the other day in the interview with Laura, there was a lot of controversies bringing her in in the first place at that time. And when I did the interview with Laura, we really didn’t mention the whole her lying on the video about what I said. Her production team lying about what I said on the video. It’s just been a bad experience dealing with Cyborg from day one."

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Dana White revealed that despite the UFC helping her become a clean athlete, Cyborg was always complaining about stuff. The UFC supremo also revealed that Cyborg didn't want to fight Amanda Nunes and said that he was glad she had been released. White continued:

"We made her a clean athlete with the best drug testing policy in all of the sports the entire time she was here... We bring her in here, we do all this stuff, and she was just never happy... So she’s unhappy, we’re unhappy, she lies and does that thing – see you later, have a nice life."

Dana White was quite animated in his rant about Cris Cyborg. When a reporter asked him a question previously discussed, White seemingly had to put in effort to not roast him as well.

Watch Dana White discuss Cris Cyborg problems below: