We?re looking for guys who want to work with us and not against us, and frankly I?m just so [expletive] sick of this [expletive] it?s not even funny,? White said from Honolulu, where he flew Wednesday from Toronto to hold a news conference to announce the B.J. Penn-Georges St. Pierre fight for UFC 94 on Jan. 31 in Las Vegas. ?Affliction is still out there trying to build its company. Let [Fitch] go work with them. Let him see what he thinks of those [expletives]. [Expletive] him. These guys aren?t partners with us. [Expletive] them. All of them, every last [expletive] one of them.?
Fitch said Wednesday the dispute was over his reluctance to sign a lifetime contract to allow his name and likeness to be used in a video game the UFC is planning with THQ. He said the dispute has nothing to do with money and that he never caused a problem during his time in the UFC.
He said he simply didn?t understand the need to sign a lifetime contract, particularly since it would not pay his family in the event of his death.
?Working for free and selling our rights away for lifetime, that?s a little different,? said Fitch, who said he hasn?t spoken with White but plans to call him. ?We tried to negotiate five- or 10-year deals with them, but it wasn?t good enough. It was all or nothing. He wanted our lifetime. He wanted our souls forever.?
White said the AKA fighters ?aren?t partners with us? and said they don?t understand what the UFC is trying to do for the sport. White said the UFC?s current success was because of long hours he and partner Lorenzo Fertitta have put in trying to build the company and the sport of mixed martial arts.
White complained that he has to make frequent sacrifices in his personal life and is away from his family for long stretches because of his commitment to growing the UFC. He said the AKA fighters don?t understand the things UFC management is trying to do and said they?ll learn how tough things are in the poor economy.
?There are a lot of guys who help us and work with us and are great partners with us, and they?re the ones we?re going to remember and take care of,? White said. ?Do these guys understand what is going on in this world? I?ll tell you, this economy is [expletive] up. It?s totally [expletive] up. It?s bad, real, real bad. The [television] networks are in trouble and don?t have money. The sponsors are in trouble, and they have no money. If they don?t have money, they go out of business.
?It?s a whole other world out there, believe me, and let these guys go out there and see what they find.?