The Takedown | Dana White and the UFC’s social media problem as sport’s stars get antsy during Covid-19 lockdown
- An unprecedented global pandemic has cooped up mixed martial arts fighters and left them with nothing better to do than trash talk on social media
- Both Jon Jones and Conor McGregor clearly aren’t used to being caged at home as they dig holes on Twitter and continue to get baited into arguments
Turns out UFC president Dana White’s biggest challenge during this global pandemic has nothing to do with proper Covid-19 testing, social distancing and containing outbreaks at his fights.
White could really use some help when it comes to getting his fighters off their bloody mobile devices.
“Everybody’s in quarantine, they can’t go to the gym, they can’t go to restaurants, they can’t go to movies, they can’t hang out with their friends so they sit on these stupid things all day,” said White, holding up his phone during an interview with TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter last week.
White’s two biggest fighters – Jon Jones and Conor McGregor – are clearly getting cabin fever stuck at home unable to go about their normal business, as they have been regularly Tweeting, clearly without the help of a public relations manager, or regard for real world ramifications.
In the past two weeks, Jones has feuded with numerous fighters publicly on Twitter, tried unsuccessfully to get “Deontay Wilder” money in a super bout against Francis Ngannou, then got into a war of words with White, and has now apparently vacated the light heavyweight belt, tweeting “Bones out” like he’s walking away from the fight game entirely.
On top of this, in virtually the same time frame, McGregor got baited by Brazilian Anderson Silva, who offered up the Irishman as a potential opponent. McGregor, in turn, has been yammering back and forth with pretty much every fighter including welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, trying to insert himself back into the UFC’s narrative even though he’s still stuck in lockdown in Ireland.
