With a Friend Like Dana White, Who Needs Enemies?

In the beginning, when Dana White, the God of the UFC, was bringing the organization out of the darkness of obscurity, he had a select inner circle of friends—Matt Hughes, Rich Franklin, Chuck Liddell, and yes, even Tim Sylvia met with his favor.

Times have changed, however, and as the UFC  has opened up to a wider variety of talented fighters, the favored group has begun to lose it's luster.

The shining stars are no longer the elite, some coming close to being vilified outcasts (Tim Sylvia), and others have been hanging onto Dana's shirt tails (if drab-colored t-shirts can be said to have "tails").

Dana has had a few legal battles with his former favorites as well, winning a judgment against B.J. Penn, who gave up his Welterweight Title to fight in F1 because "no one in the UFC posed a challenge for him."

He had a legal draw with Randy Couture, which ended with Couture returning to UFC and signing up for three more fights.

Couture's return did give Dana a huge money-generating fight with Brock Lesnar—an expensive acquisition and a more recent buddy of White's, so White did benefit in the end.

Now, a legal battle between Georges St. Pierre and B.J. Penn before the Nevada State Athletic Association is looming on Tuesday.

The decision could have quite an impact on the UFC 100 anniversary event.

Penn is hoping to gain many objectives in this legal matter: he would like to have his fight with GSP declared a "No Contest", and he also wants St. Pierre to be fined $250K and to serve a suspension.

Moreover, Penn wants St. Pierre banned from fighting at UFC 100, he wants Greg Jackson and other members of St. Pierre's team to be barred from future UFC events, and he wants St. Pierre to shower in the presence of commissioners before his future fights.

The fans, who have been looking forward to seeing St. Pierre face Thiago Alves in the cage and for B.J. to finally give Kenny Florian a chance at the Lightweight Title, are praying for an end to all this nonsense and to hear B.J. concede that he lost. Period.

So, White is hanging tight with Chuck Liddell, who first raised the cry of "Grease" and pointed an accusing finger at St. Pierre. Although, the rules in Nevada are more arbitrarily worded than those in Liddell's home state of California.

Evidence of Stitch (who willingly did a tutorial on the subject of greasing on a video for Internet consumption) putting grease on Matt Hughes in forbidden areas before his fight with Alves has been unearthed and is available for open-minded fans to view.

This instance occurred before the GSP-Penn incident.

Also, video evidence of White's other "old buddy" Rich Franklin having Vaseline applied to him in forbidden areas (and in liberal amounts) before his fight with Anderson Silva has also turned up.

Did White not notice any of this from his front-row seat, and also remain oblivious to watchdog Chuck Liddell nudging him in an effort to point this out?

Was the fact that the Vaseline did not benefit Hughes against Alves and Franklin against Silva the reason it went unnoticed, and still has not been acknowledged publicly?

Did Mr. White withhold judgement due to his strong friendships with Hughes and Franklin?

This matter will be settled by the Nevada Athletic Commission and not White, but I remember him talking about Nevada being "his town," and he has claimed that "nothing happens in Las Vegas without him knowing it."

So, how did his two close friends get greased without him being aware of it? Why has he not manned up and said that this did not start with St. Pierre.

Since there is a video of Sean Sherk having the breathing technique applied to him long before this incident, Georges is not the first person in the UFC to have used the technique during a fight.

On UFC's "The Ultimate Fighter" series, hasn't the "Witch Doctor" been called in by either White or Hughes (long before this incident) to examine and consult with other fighters?

Didn't Dana White introduce Mr. Friend to Matt Hughes before the "Witch Doctor" worked with Georges St. Pierre?

Greg Jackson worked with other fighters such as Diego Sanchez before St. Pierre was a member of his camp, and Dana had no issues with Jackson at that point.

So why is Dana not speaking up?

Is there a blood oath of brotherhood that requires White to protect his oldest friends?

I find it all very puzzling, especially when Matt Hughes, Franklin, and Liddell are once again trying to grasp their previous glory and return to the top rung of their division ladders.

Shouldn't newer, more talented fighters be offered the same respect and protection as the future of the UFC?

At one time, I was eager to meet Mr. White, even though I did not always agree with him.

Now, I have enough enemies, and I don't need a "friend" like Dana White.