On Tuesday afternoon, I had the chance to speak on the phone with UFC president Dana White, who is currently in Dublin, Ireland, preparing for Saturday's UFC 93 PPV. White was audibly antsy and seemed downright excited at times -- and it wasn't all due to this weekend's event.
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| White on B.J. Penn: 'He's a nut. He's not taking it well.' (Getty Images) |
"We got tapes in today," White said, with more than a hint of urgency in his voice. White's mood was all too familiar to those of us in the media: This was clearly a man under deadline pressure.
"I mean, we got tapes in today," he reiterated. "Stuff that was shot today, we got in today, downloaded into the machine and start editing. You gotta put it together, and it's ... dude, I'm telling you right now. You know what we've done over the last nine years in building this business? I've never been so stressed out as I am working on this show."
UFC Primetime goes a step beyond the typically well-done UFC Countdown shows that air on Spike, which give viewers a glimpse into the training regimen and backstory of the key fighters on a UFC card. Where UFC Primetime differs from the usual Countdown shows is that there is more "real-time" footage, showing fighters in situations that more closely resemble a reality show than a preview or documentary. The videography is excellent and eye-catching, particularly the contrast between GSP's training in snowy Montreal and Penn's daily routine in sun-drenched Hilo, Hawaii. It's a good show to watch in HD.
Not only do you get to see St. Pierre and Penn train, but you get to see them swim, go shopping, hit the clubs and prepare breakfast. There's a layer of access granted to viewers of Primetime that we haven't really seen yet on Countdown -- similar to the popular behind-the-scenes video blogs White and the UFC post on the Internet the week of any big show.
"The inspiration for this thing really was my video blogs," White said. "They've become so popular and people love it. So we said 'Imagine if we could do this with the fighters.' You know, see them the week of a big fight, the month of a big fight. We started filming this thing a few weeks ago. The month leading up to a big fight, seeing them in real time, exactly what's happening in their camps and everything else."
While that makes for good television, it's also a daunting task to complete on short turnaround -- especially while in a foreign country trying to promote a whole other card. With cameras rolling in Hawaii and Canada simultaneously, White's crew must gather the footage and turn it into a watchable program, sometimes the same day it was filmed. And in this particular case, while White and other key staffers have their hands full overseas.
"It will literally be delivered to Spike two hours before it airs," White said. "That's f---in' crazy. I don't know if you know anything about television production, but you know, that's about as close as you can get. Stuff that was shot today [Tuesday] in their camps will actually air tomorrow [Wednesday]."
Penn is one of MMA's most unique personalities. He is no stranger to head-scratching behavior. He's also intense, to the point of being a bit unnerving. This is the guy who licked Joe Stevenson's blood off his hands after winning the lightweight title last year. He's also left the cage abruptly after victories on more than one occasion, one time directing fans to his website for postfight comments -- and then neglecting to put any comments there at all.
White acknowledged that Penn isn't a huge fan of cameras following him everywhere he goes while preparing for a fight that could cement his status as an MMA icon.
"He's a nut," White said. "He's not taking it well."
Penn's brother-slash-manager J.D. appears on Primetime as a voice of reason, overseeing Penn's training and picking up the ball in situations B.J. just doesn't want to deal with. The striking thing about B.J. Penn is just how focused and content he seems on Primetime, while repeatedly talking into the camera at St. Pierre, calling their showdown a fight "to the death."
