8 Times UFC President Dana White Lost His Damn Mind

8. Elite XC Controversy

Elite Xtreme Combat was a short-lived MMA promotion that existed between 2006 and 2008. The organisation provided the first showcase for a number of future stars such as KJ Noons, Cris 'Cyborg' Santos, and Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva.

Prior to the emergence of Elite XC, the UFC had primarily existed solely in something of an MMA vacuum in the USA. While other promotions existed, none of them had even close to the money or the platform that the UFC had. It wasn't until Elite XC signed street-fighter Kimbo Slice in 2007 that they had a star that could conceivably rival those seen in the UFC.

When Slice defeated British brawler James Thompson in the Elite XC brand in 2008, it became a landmark moment for MMA. The fight had been televised live in the US on CBS, beating the UFC to the broadcast television punch by over 5 years.

Kimbo's next fight was set to be against former UFC and WWE star Ken Shamrock. However, Shamrock fell out of the fight injured on the day of the event, and journeyman fighter Seth Petruzelli was chosen to step in.

While Petruzelli hadn't ever been an elite-level fighter, he was a vastly more experienced grappler and would've likely submitted Slice easily should he have decided to. To combat this, Elite XC president Gary Shaw gave incentives to Petruzelli to refrain from taking the fight to the ground.

In a now infamous video, most well known for being the origin of him saying 'That's f*cking illegal!', Dana White let his feelings about Gary Shaw and his bribery be known.

In the end, as has persistently been the case in western MMA, White came out on top. Petruzelli knocked out Slice in just 14 seconds. With the mystique of Slice now gone, Elite XC could not longer conceivably survive on such a big platform and folded.