Dana White talks McMahon, Lesnar, Punk on the Ric Flair podcast

Aug 27, 2016 - by Colin Vassallo

UFC President Dana White was a guest on The Ric Flair Show podcast on Thursday and discussed a lot of topics with the Nature Boy during his 15-minute appearance. White talked about how Brock Lesnar started in the UFC and how he went over to him after a show and said that he wants to do this. White had some doubts but admits that Brock made him a believer. He said he didn’t know what to expect when he came back in July and said that regardless of the stuff that went down afterwards with the USADA testing, Brock is truly a freak of nature. “To come here and compete at that level is pretty impressive,” White said. The discussion turned to CM Punk, who debuts in the UFC next month at UFC 203. White said that he and Punk became friends and it was his dream to fight in the UFC and when Punk asked White for a shot, he agreed. He said that Punk has been working very hard and he understands that there are a lot of jokes made about him but everyone who trains with him respects CM Punk. “Win, lose, or draw, I have a lot of respect for the guy,” Punk told Flair, adding that he’s at training every day, with no superstar attitude and started from the bottom and climbed his way up.

White was asked about how is it to work with Vince McMahon and try to do deals with him. “I’ve been working, or trying to work, with Vince for years. It was obviously very difficult. Vince is a maniac, he’s a f*cking competitor, man,” White exclaimed. He said Vince accomplished a lot over the years and he’s still on top and he only does it cause he loves the business cause he sure doesn’t need the money. White said that dealing with Vince McMahon for the Ronda Rousey deal and Brock’s return were the two best experiences he had over the past several years. He mentioned that Vince had always been difficult to deal with in the past but he got better as time passed. He gave kudos to both Stephanie and Triple H, describing them as “always great and always cool to work with.” Talking about Ronda Rousey, White said that she’s had few minor surgeries and she’s training now but there’s no way she will be on the Madison Square Garden card. Ric Flair goes over the stuff that happened at WrestleMania 31 and how everyone in the back was watching Rousey and Rock in the ring, calling her “absolutely phenomenal.” When asked if there’s a possibility of another type of WWE/UFC crossover, White said that he doesn’t know as no one reached out to him yet. “Listen, I respect WWE. Every pro wrestler that has come to a UFC event…they’re the nicest people in the world,” White said, adding that he’s pretty sure something will happen again in the future.

Colin Vassallo has been editor of Wrestling-Online since 1996

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