Opinion: Advice on Playing Nice with Paige-N-Sage

A week prior to the most important 72-hour period in MMA history, it’s only fitting that Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White hit up the ESPN studios in Bristol, Conn., for the ol’ Worldwide Leader Carwash, popping up to do his P.T. Barnum routine on a slate of ESPN properties, from “First Take” and “SportsCenter” to Dan Le Batard’s radio show. Now, this next part might be difficult to believe, but some folks were rankled by what the UFC boss had to say.

In honesty, White’s battery of media appearances went well. We’re a week out from one of the most important weeks in the history of Zuffa’s UFC ownership, plus a slew of international UFC events; and even under controlled circumstances, removed from the psychological and emotional toll of such an intensive promotional effort, White is liable to say anything ranging from off-message to borderline insane in an effort to pump up a fight.

In fact, even when White took to Canada’s TSN to do “Off the Record” with the ever-combative Michael Landsberg -- a non-fighter who caused Chael Sonnen to verbally submit -- he managed to sidestep a potential flaming car wreck disaster when the host predictably dinged him on Jon Jones’ claim that the UFC knew Vitor Belfort was using PEDs in advance of their UFC 152 meeting, as reported by Josh Gross for Deadspin. White had a brief deer-in-headlights look but quickly righted the ship. Ultimately, his response was an ad hominem attack on Jones and his own personal issues, snarling that those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. The answer in no way actually addresses the overwhelming evidence that the UFC supported and fostered Belfort’s cheating, but it was still slick enough for Landsberg to respond by saying, “Good point.” Again, this is hardly a satisfying response, but given White’s track record of public discourse on sticky topics, the fact that he pulled off at least a rhetorical stalemate against the ever-confrontational Landsberg is a legitimate victory.

It remains a disconcerting problem that the UFC doesn’t seem to think a mainstream audience cares about PEDs, cheating or the company’s athletes speaking against the brand, but that’s not what has folks riled up. Instead, during his appearance on ESPN morning shout-fest “First Take,” White was asked by host Molly Qerim to opine on some future “UFC stars,” specifically probing the idea of the “next Anderson Silva or GSP.” Naturally, White instantaneously and gleefully offered preordained Zuffa poster children Paige VanZant and Sage Northcutt, causing a certain MMA contingent to collectively thizz face in disgust.

I understand that given their age and Zuffa co-sign, yelling about how much publicity VanZant and Northcutt get is not a narrative that’s going to die anytime soon. At the same time, I don’t begrudge the UFC for venerating youth and pushing 19- and 21-year-old prospects a bit ham-fistedly. After all, the children are our future, right?

In direct defense of White, VanZant is headlining the Thursday card on which Northcutt also appears. Plus it’s on UFC Fight Pass, which the company is still trying to push. On top of that, White even got in a UFC-YouTube plug, pumping up the “Dana White Looking for a Fight” show on which the company initially featured Northcutt months ago. A public relations rep would have been satisfied on this accord, as White realized the interview was winding down and quickly managed to promote a wide array of UFC content while still pushing two young faces of the company.

The real problem here is different from the prickliness of White’s shifty “Off the Record” retort. This isn’t about White not actually answering a direct and important question; this is simply a dumb answer.

Again, I appreciate VanZant and Northcutt being impressive natural athletes that have quickly acclimated to MMA. However, Qerim’s question wasn’t, “Do you have any young adults on the roster who could be successful at the highest levels a few years from now?” She asked White about who the next Anderson Silva or Georges St. Pierre was going to be, with an obvious suggestion to the immediate future. No one’s surprised that White chose to put over Paige-N-Sage, but that doesn’t make it any less foolish of a direct response considering Qerim’s query.

Consider Silva and St. Pierre, even with recent PED shaming in the former’s case, two of three best fighters ever, alongside Jon Jones -- sorry, Fedor -- and also fighters who developed to the point of delivering 500,000-750,000 pay-per-view buys with consistency. The odds of any developing fighter filling those shoes are slim, but it’s crazier contextually when you consider how damn embryonic Northcutt and VanZant are in their careers versus the lofty heights of “The Spider” and “Rush.”

VanZant is a telegenic 21-year-old woman and an exciting top 20-25 fighter at 115 pounds, the best weight class in women’s MMA. She clearly improved in each of her three UFC outings. Yet, a legitimate question remains: Still being so nascent in the sport, how will she deal with Rose Namajunas’ wild scrambling offense next week? At this point, she’s winning fights by overwhelming opponents with relentless volume and pressure, but given her short tenure, her striking and grappling both tend to be reckless and technically sloppy. This is totally OK since she’s a 21-year-old prospect, but it’s not a compelling case for the next Silva or St. Pierre.

Northcutt is a physical freak, crushing skillets with his bare hands, and he can’t even legally drink in America at 19 years old. He looks like a combination of a late 1990s boy band lead and a deceptively powerful Pokemon; and he has a fun karate background and good natural instincts on the ground. Yet, he has been fighting pro MMA for one damn year, and even if he beats Cody Pfister next week, his best win will still be blitzing an overweight Francisco Trevino in his Octagon debut. In addition to this, he fights at lightweight -- a weight class that continues to retain its title as the deepest, most talent-rich division in the sport.

Regardless of her headlining next week, it’s asinine to pitch VanZant as a future pantheon great when her division’s champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, has had a brutal, brilliant breakthrough campaign in 2015 and just fought on the Ronda Rousey-Holly Holm undercard. It’s asinine to pitch Northcutt in the same vein when the 155-pound title is about to be contested on network TV this month between Rafael dos Anjos and Donald Cerrone. Never mind the weight-class angle: Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold are about to engage in the most well-rounded, skillful middleweight title fight in MMA history. It’s the UFC 194 co-main event. How does this not even get broached?

Imagine if you had a whole progeny of children and someone asked you, “Which of your kids do you think will be the most successful?” You’ve got two teenagers, and they’re both outstanding scholar-athletes. You’ve got two toddlers, and they’re both child model-level adorable and started walking and talking early. No one in their right mind would say, “Oh, you know, I’ve got some scholars and athletes under my roof, but I just know the star of this family is going to be a precocious 18-month-old.”

When it comes to filling competitively and financially enormous shoes in MMA, nothing is a sure bet. You can’t flawlessly forecast what personalities are going to click with the indigenous media and the mainstream, who can put a winning streak together, who can reign as champion or who can have longevity. Given that, the only rational way to answer to a question like Qerim’s is to choose legitimate proven contenders and incumbent champions, not long-term projects. What’s worst of all, though, is that it doesn’t have to be a choice between ruthlessly shilling for Paige-N-Sage and acknowledging real pound-for-pound fighters on the cusp of a breakthrough.

Here is a hypothetical, improved response to Qerim’s question. It’s entirely fictional, but what’s important is that: a) White could have really, truly, actually said this, b) it would be an infinitely more honest accounting of reality and c) it would have been well-received by even venomous, snarky MMA fans:

“You know, we’ve got some great champions right now. Chris Weidman is going to defend his middleweight title against Luke Rockhold -- that’s going to be crazy -- and the winner of that could be a real star. Weidman broke Anderson Silva’s leg and knocked him out. Joanna Jedrzejczyk, our other women’s champ at 115, just defended her title, and she’s a killer. We’ve got Donald Cerrone finally fighting for the lightweight title against Rafael Dos Anjos. Cerrone is so exciting, man. He could really be a star ... plus, we’ve even got 19-year-olds like Sage Northcutt and 21-year-olds like Paige VanZant coming up; they’re fighting next Thursday on Fight Pass in Vegas, and both of them could really be superstars in a few years.”

This is a totally buyable White response, but it actually answers Qerim’s question without resorting to silly shilling. It puts shine on important champs for the UFC right now, upcoming fights and still flogs the fights of their Tiger Beat up-and-comers. Every time White or the UFC’s PR machine on the whole bypass legitimately accomplished fighters in favor of the young dynamic duo, they not only breed unnecessary resentment among hardcore fans but actually misread what’s fundamentally exciting about young fighters.

This harkens to a larger UFC issue, one that has hurt it for years: setting genuine stakes. Everyone in this sport is annoyed by White’s flavor-of-the-week pound-for-pound proclamations, Joe Rogan’s “If you built a guy in a lab to fight this other guy ...” hypotheticals and Mike Goldberg informing us, much to our own surprise, that we’ve been waiting for every UFC main event for our entire lives. In most cases, it’s transparent and trite even to a layperson. In instances where the event truly warrants the lavish praise, like UFC 194, the promotion rings hollow after people become numb to Zuffa’s bombast.

If you’re telling me I should care about VanZant because she’s a beautiful 21-year-old woman with an all-action fight style and I should care about Northcutt because he’s a 19-year-old freak athlete that can crush cookware in his bare hands, then you’re already attempting to sell me on qualities that are resonant enough to drum up interest. People who love stick-and-ball sports love draft season. Why? It’s fun to look at young talent and imagine how it could develop. Exciting boxing prospects, fighters with insane punching prowess or massive amateur pedigrees, routinely become bigger TV fixtures and media darlings than more skilled, accomplished titlists. No one resents them for being works in progress. In fact, that’s part of what is compelling about watching them -- getting in on the ground floor and seeing their career arcs unfold before your eyes.

It does seem hypocritical for so many folks to be irate at the ceaseless promotion of Northcutt and VanZant, given that one major beef fans had with Zuffa for years was pushing the UFC brand over individual fighters. Over the last two years, the company has done a much better job at quickly diagnosing potential draws, pushing them prominently and getting them mainstream media attention; but rather than alleviate those tensions, it leads to hardcore fans being irritated by the presence of those fighters.

Unfortunately, this reaction is exacerbated by the UFC’s unwillingness to set honest stakes while promoting. If it was simply a matter of the UFC putting Northcutt and VanZant in the cage four or five times a year and giving them lots of media opportunities while White praised their long-term potential, even testy MMA fans could find some peace. Instead, the sport’s most powerful promoter goes on America’s cable sports leader, grinning ear-to-ear while he suggests a pair of talented neophytes are the most likely successors to a pair of generational, international fighting superstars, simultaneously misunderstanding why people should actually care about VanZant and Northcutt while undermining his own accomplished champions.

The sun will rise, the sun will set and White will say irrational things. Nevertheless, if the qualities on which the UFC is banking in Northcutt and VanZant are truly genuine and worth exploiting, the athleticism and magnetism should be obvious. Get them fights, let them be seen and if Paige-N-Sage are to be great, let them be great. In the interim, White ought to be a bit more honest, since history suggests that “the next Anderson Silva” is still to be determined, and when it is, it could just Phillipe Nover.