According to a report Wednesday on MMAJunkie.com, Dana White believes that the elimination of wrestling from the Olympic Games could be a benefit for MMA.
On Tuesday it was announced by the International Olympic Committee that they have plans to eliminate the sport beginning in the year 2020. That news shocked not only the wrestling community, but many in MMA as well. Many of today's best fighters got their starts in MMA. If you are active on social media, you no doubt saw many of them taking up the cause and urging people to take action in an effort to save the sport.
UFC President Dana White said that even though he would not like to see the sport disappear from the Olympic Games, he isn't surprised the decision to do so was made. He also is aware of the importance of wrestling to MMA.
"I've been battling this problem for years now," White on Wednesday told MMAjunkie.com after a news conference for UFC on FUEL TV 7 in London. "Colleges are dropping it. High schools are dropping wrestling. The problem with wrestling is, it's an awesome base for mixed martial arts, for everything – I mean, I've never wrestled, but what I hear it does to guys that wrestle, it changes peoples' lives. It's this grueling, hard work and dedication – all the things that go in with being a wrestler."
However, with the probable demise of the sport, it is worth considering that perhaps wrestling's demise will be MMA's gain. Will MMA be considered as a replacement?
"The problem is nobody wants to watch it," White said. "Any sport, especially these days, it's about selling tickets and eyeballs and viewers and all these other things. And there's been a lot of people saying, 'You've got to f---ing do something,' but – and Garry (Cook) and I were talking about this yesterday –what this could be is the evolution of mixed martial arts becoming an Olympic sport."
Dana White believes the status of MMA as one of the fastest rising sports in the world could ultimately be what gains it access into the Olympics. He is much less optimistic about wrestling, believing it may be beyond saving.
"We bring spectators, eyeballs – whether it's TV or whatever it is," he said. "This sport draws. Wrestling doesn't. I can't be the guy to run out and try and save wrestling. I've been doing it for years. You know how many wrestling programs I funded over the past five, six years? A lot. Yeah, I don't want to see wrestling go away either. It's such a big part of the sport. But, something's going to happen here. It's going to evolve into mixed martial arts or something. I don't know. I don't think wrestling is going to go anywhere, but competitive wrestling definitely is."
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