Dana White draws comparisons between Fedor Emelianenko and “Kimbo Slice”

UFC President, Dana White has been giving his thoughts on formerly ranked number one fighter in the world, Fedor Emelianenko, attempting to explain why he doesn’t rank him as highly as a certain group of MMA fans, and to say he has a unique way of doing so would be an understatement.
Speaking via SI.com, Dana said:

“No, I don’t feel vindicated. Listen, I’m not out to hurt Fedor, or hurt any fighter. People ask me my opinions, I give you my opinion on what I think about a fighter. It’s like the Kimbo Slice thing. You know, I said, “Kimbo Slice, this guy is always going to be the toughest guy at the barbecue, but he’s never going to da-da-da-da-da.” And then, Kimbo Slice, I give him the offer. “You want to come over? I don’t think you can win The Ultimate Fighter, but I’ll give you the opportunity if you want to try it.” Bring him in, and he doesn’t.”

“Well, I like Kimbo Slice, ends up the guy is the nicest guy in the world when I meet him, and so is his management. The guys who handled him were great people to work with and everything else. It doesn’t mean that I feel vindicated and I say, “See, I told you, I told you that Kimbo Slice couldn’t do this.”

“Listen, I’m in the fight business, and I think that I know a little bit about the fight business. I’ve been in it since I was 19. And I’m going to have my opinions on fighters, just like you sports reporters or the fans, you know? Sometimes I’m right, and sometimes I’m wrong. I didn’t think that Kimbo Slice could win The Ultimate Fighter. I thought the Fedor hype was ridiculous. And the people who were really as great people as he thought he was weren’t getting their dues, you know?”

“A guy like Anderson Silva, who’s really fought the best competition in the world since 2006, and beat them all. Even in a fight where he was injured and was getting the s— kicked out him, he pulls off the submission with a minute twenty left in the fight. Those are the guys that deserve to be talked about and deserve to be called the greatest, and you had these reporters who were calling Fedor the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. Are you s——- me? You know, it’s stuff like that. But I don’t feel vindicated, I don’t have any dislike toward Fedor. I was just trying to set the record straight and tell these people that they’re out of their minds.”

“If I’ve got to still give Fedor his digs, my dig would be, ‘Dude, you’re fighting a 185-pounder.’ Henderson’s got a great chin, he’s durable, he’s got good wrestling, he can stay out of submissions, and all the great things I can say about Henderson, but Henderson weighs 185 pounds. So I actually think this fight, as far as Fedor is concerned, it’s a lose-lose for him. If he knocks out Dan Henderson, he knocks out a 185-pounder. If he gets knocked out, he just got knocked out by a 185-pounder.”

No doubt the droves of Fedor fans will be unhappy with Dana’s recent comments, believing the big Russian should be getting more respect from the head of the Las Vegas based promotion due to his past accomplishments while in Japan over the last decade. Does Dana really have a point or is this as case of more hot air from the Bostonian?