CBS Sports Interview with Dana White

Sam Caplan recently interviewed Dana White as part of a CBS Sports interview. Here are my favorite parts:

Babalu Sobral being released from the UFC: "Babalu is showing a bad track record lately. I don't like the direction he's been going in, and he needs to straighten his life out if he wants to continue to be a professional athlete."

I agree. Babalu was arrested in Miami a few weeks back, and his UFC 74 post-fight commentary and overall attitude was Bush League, especially for a fighter of Babalu's status.

A UFC return for Babalu?: "Absolutely. I like Babalu. He's a good guy and a good fighter."

That's what I like to hear.

Georges St-Pierre’s next fight: "He'll fight the winner of Hughes/Serra. And yeah, we're trying to do a fight up in Canada, so that one would make a lot of sense."

This will make for a great headliner, but I feel bad for guys like Karo Parisyan, Jon Fitch, and Diego Sanchez who are still waiting in line for their shot. Oh well...

A title shot for Roger Huerta?: "I think he's probably a good year away."

Thank you. I've been saying for a while now that Huerta is not yet championship material. Plus, the more he fights (and wins), the brighter his star will shine. That was fruity...

Fedor Emelianenko’s management team: "I don't like to talk about contract negotiations with the public but it didn't go well. These guys are crazy."

Dana, watch your mouth.

Liddell vs. Wanderlei on December 29?: "It's possible. Liddell would have to win. Liddell would have to come out injury free. There's a lot of ifs."

Keith Jardine is quite possible my single least favorite UFC fighter.

Josh Barnett: "He's just a punk. You know what? The thing is I don't want to even talk about Josh Barnett. Nobody even cares about Josh Barnett. I got Mirko Cro Cop, the guy that just beat the s**t out of him (Barnett). I'm not interested in Josh Barnett at all as far as who he is as a person or as a fighter or how he represents the sport. I don't like anything about him."

And Cro Cop just got his head kicked in by the guy Couture just embarrassed. Barnett is worth signing.

Denis Kang: "Denis Kang was supposed to be on Season 1 of The Ultimate Fighter but he ended up getting a good deal over in Korea. This is a guy we were looking at to be on season one of The Ultimate Fighter, I wouldn't call him one of the major superstars in MMA or one of the major superstars from Pride."

Kang on TUF? I never knew that had been in the works. I'm a Kang fan, but I agree with Dana; Kang is not a major superstar. He's close, but there are certainly bigger names out there.

Gilbert Melendez: "I'm very interested in him. He's under contract with someone else right now. But yeah, I'm very interested in him."

I'm glad Capalan asked about the undefeated Melendez, who's one of the most under appreciated fighters out there.

For the rest of the interview, click here.