Bill O'Reilly interviews Dana White and Rich Franklin

**Gordon Nore** · 06-22-2006, 22:15

I don't think this has been posted yet. Any comments?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX42YJQ5Ijs

**Rasputin** · 06-22-2006, 22:33

I think that Bill O'Reilly has no basis to understand this phenomenon and the interview was not conducted with Mr. O'Reilly taking a neutral stance, as he should have were he a serious journalist. It was obvious where his bias lay.

**Jared Sutton** · 06-22-2006, 22:36

I saw it last night. I think that O'reilly was a complete jerk and what he knows of the UFC obviously amounts to the roll of clips that were played as he preached to Dana and Rich about how they were "selling brutality." "Is it gonna be like lions in the ring here next?"

J. Sutton

**fightgrrl** · 06-23-2006, 05:53

I think Hockey is brutal...

Dana White is a %&*^#$@ genius for taking people to class on what NHB/MMA is. The show has done so much for reviving fighting arts. When non-fighters used to watch NHB fighting they'd get bored with groundfighting that wasn't ground 'n' pound. Now they are cheering for subtler submissions.

But I'd like a tad less 'drama' from the show.

**Carol Kaur** · 06-23-2006, 06:15

I hope Bill O'Reilly never finds out about the NFL.

**Dennis Monk** · 06-23-2006, 08:26

Ordinarily I really like Bill Oreilly's take on things. He is way off base here and is just trying to prove a point. He doesn't like it, so no one else should either.

**Brian R. VanCise** · 06-23-2006, 08:42

Originally Posted by Dennis Monk

Ordinarily I really like Bill Oreilly's take on things. He is way off base here and is just trying to prove a point. He doesn't like it, so no one else should either.

Actually Dennis he is probably a closet UFC fan! He just can't admit it on national TV.

Brian R. VanCise
www.instinctiveresponsetraining.com

**STORMCROW34** · 06-23-2006, 08:50

Although I appreciate how Bill isn't afraid to go against the grain with his opinions. We should remember that he is an entertainer, not a journalist.

**AllanJGAnderson** · 06-23-2006, 08:55

Wow, That interview did nothing but prove the man's igonarance and concidedness. He's taking UFC and MMA from the completly wrong angle. I think there is very little violence in UFC, as a trained martial artists, as are all the fighters, it more like watching a highspeed chess match, with each fighter doing complicated techniques and counters. Allthough I will admit in the UFC's earlier days it was lot more like checkers.

**DungeonWorks** · 06-23-2006, 09:21

It apears that Bill O'Reirlly has issues stemming from his Uncle Billy and the "Horsey Rides" behind the wood shed that he gave him as a kid. WOW! What freakin' JERK!

Why is it that these large-media broadcasters think they need to take such an "Ultra-Pro" or "Ultra-Con" stance on everything??? Why can they not just lay the facts out there and let the viewers make up thier own minds on things?

**Dennis Monk** · 06-23-2006, 09:23

Originally Posted by DungeonWorks

Why can they not just lay the facts out there and let the viewers make up thier own minds on things?

Because that would not make for good TV.

**Chrono** · 06-23-2006, 11:32

Originally Posted by DungeonWorks

Why can they not just lay the facts out there and let the viewers make up thier own minds on things?

And they probably wouldn't expect us (the viewers) to be able to make up our minds on things.

**AllanJGAnderson** · 06-23-2006, 14:33

Originally Posted by Chrono

And they probably wouldn't expect us (the viewers) to be able to make up our minds on things.

Correction. They wouldn't WANT us to.

**Eye4NEye** · 06-23-2006, 14:54

I read a short blurb in Parade magazine's Q&A section a few months back, where a person wrote in and asked for their opinion on the UFC. Actually, I just found it on the parade website:

Q. What is your opinion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts that are becoming the favorite blood sport in Las Vegas and on TV?
—Ned Taylor, Detroit, Mich.

A. We agree with Sen. John McCain, who called that type of sport “a human cockfight.” It should be banned.

Passing judgment based on pure ignorance, if you ask me.

**AllanJGAnderson** · 06-23-2006, 15:14

Originally Posted by Eye4NEye

I read a short blurb in Parade magazine's Q&A section a few months back, where a person wrote in and asked for their opinion on the UFC. Actually, I just found it on the parade website:

Q. What is your opinion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts that are becoming the favorite blood sport in Las Vegas and on TV?
—Ned Taylor, Detroit, Mich.

A. We agree with Sen. John McCain, who called that type of sport “a human cockfight.” It should be banned.

Passing judgment based on pure ignorance, if you ask me.

::Smacks forehead:::
....morons

**kumite** · 06-23-2006, 21:04

Originally Posted by Carol Kaur

I hope Bill O'Reilly never finds out about the NFL.

So true! Have they ever watched what happens between the linemen everytime the ball is snapped?

Politicians and tv talking heads should stay out of sports.

**Gordon Nore** · 06-23-2006, 21:57

If the UFC were on Fox, O'Reilly would probably be singing a different tune. Spike has two spin-off programs derived from a successful pay-per-view franchise. I'm sure they've made a dent in the market.

I don't buy O'Reilly's arguments one bit. If risk of fatality is the issue, then a lot of other sports and entertainment, like auto racing and air shows, need to go as well. What kills me is that a guy like O'Reilly, who's pro death penalty and pro Iraq war, thinks that the UFC will harm our delicate sensibilities.

**shutterspeed** · 06-24-2006, 00:20

Viewing the clip, I actually think Franklin and White held their own against O'Reilly. O'Reilly appeared clearly misinformed and out of his arena in taking on an issue he thought he'd be able to earn quick, cheap points on with his audience.

I appreciate O'Reilly's rightist leanings in context with the liberal leanings of such channels as CNN, MSNBC and the like. But like a previous poster mentioned, to consider O'Reilly himself an objective journalist would be a joke. And lately, more than ever, he has really been straining his credibility.

It's a shame O'Reilly had a chance to present a different perspective on the UFC to mainstream America, as I think he really might have had he been personally involved in the research of the sport, and totally blew it by trying to set the franchise back. To any halfway intelligent person with any iota of sports knowledge, UFC fighters rank among our most highly trained, skilled, and respectable athletes.

Franklin's professional acumen is a blessing for UFC. Dana White should really consider keeping his foul mouth behind closed doors while running the franchise and letting Franklin become the face and voice of UFC.

**don** · 06-24-2006, 00:46

Originally Posted by STORMCROW34

Although I appreciate how Bill.... is an entertainer, not a journalist.

Ha!

Excellent!

Originally Posted by Eye4NEye

A. We agree with Sen. John McCain, who called that type of sport “a human cockfight.” It should be banned.

A book on the UFC, Brawl, points out Mr. McCain’s disappointing conflict of interest here. Evidently his wife is heir to the Budweiser fortune, this company regularly advertising during boxing matches and standing to lose revenue should boxing’s appeal decline (further).

And as to the cockfight stuff, a lot of boxers die every year. None have died in the UFC, right? Remember, rules were created to prolong the fights, not protect the fighters; gloves to protect hands, not heads. The UFC is gentler precisely because it is has fewer rules.

**Rasputin** · 06-24-2006, 01:10

Originally Posted by don

The UFC is gentler precisely because it is has fewer rules.

Yep. Gentler and more boring. I remain steadfast in opinion that the "test your art" nature of the first few UFCs were amazing and spectacular. Nowadays everybody knows the formula to success in the octagon, so they all train precisely for that.

I think I will fire up my UFC 1 and 2 DVDs again, for old times' sake. Today's whippersnappers just don't know what real scrappin's like.