Dana White No Fan of Friends Refusing Fights

Teammates fighting one another: It's a topic that UFC president Dana White has addressed several times over the last week, each time opposing the practice with more conviction.

First, White chimed in at the UFC 120 post-fight presser in London after a victorious Carlos Condit said he'd have no problem fighting Jackson's Submission Fighting teammate Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight title.

“I'm tired of guys who don't want to fight each other,” said White. “Just because you train together means you can't fight each other?”

Next, White tackled the issue at the UFC 121 pre-fight conference on Wednesday.

“They're all pros. It's not personal. These guys are going in to compete and see who best is,” he said. “There should be no problem with guys in same weight class fighting each other.”

Today, the UFC president appeared on Jim Rome's radio show and expounded on his stance even further.

“The bottom line, and the way it's been in the UFC, is that it's a camp thing. You'll find a couple of camps that are saying, 'Oh, no. This guy is my friend. I'm not fighting him,'” said White. “What? This isn't personal. This isn't, 'Oh, I hate him. I'm going to fight him.' You train, and you work hard to be the best mixed martial artist you can be, and you're going to compete against other mixed martial artists to prove you're the best.”

White went on to tell Rome exactly what goes through his mind when he hears about a fighter refusing a fight on the grounds of friendship.

“I personally think that when one guy [refuses to fight a teammate], that means he's saying, 'I train with this guy, and this guy is probably going to kick my ass. I'm not confident enough to fight this guy.'”