Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr recently made headlines by sharing his desire for a fight with ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith, even asking UFC President Dana White for the opportunity to meet the broadcast personality inside the Octagon.
“Hey how do I challenge a couple of these clowns on tv to a fight,” Carr wrote in a Tweet that mentioned Dana White and the UFC. “I think we should start a business together. Where pro athletes can challenge some of these people to an Octagon fight until they give us an answer…. You don’t know me… stop lying..”
In a recent interview with ESPN MMA, Dana White admitted that he understands where Derek Carr is coming from, as there are a few members of the media that he himself would like to trade hands with.
“Hey, there’s some media guys out there I wanna fight too,” White said (transcript via MMA Mania). “You wouldn’t do it, but I get where he’s coming from. It’s tough. I’ve been in the business for a long time now, it’s tough for these guys to sit back and hear these guys criticize them and rip them apart every day.”
Over the years, Dana White has publicly chided many members of the combat sports media, from ESPN reporter Ariel Helwani, to former Sherdog reporter Loretta Hunt, to former UFC heavyweight turned podcaster Brendan Schaub. While it’s extremely unlikely we ever see the UFC boss step into the cage with one of the journalists that draws his ire, it’s worth reminding he did nearly fight Tito Ortiz back in the day…
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 1/31/2019.