Dana White Explains Ronda Rousey's UFC 207 Media Blackout | MMAWeekly.com

While Ronda Rousey has made the rounds on a few of the bigger television talk shows and major media outlets en route to her Octagon return, she has by and large avoided the sport-centric press in what has come to be known as Ronda Rousey’s UFC 207 Media Blackout. 

She even managed to avoid Wednesday’s UFC 207 Ultimate Media Day, marking the first time a UFC main event has not been represented since the inception of the media day format. The promotion also forewent a pre-fight press conference.

Speculation has run rampant as to how Rousey could do such a thing and not be reprimanded by the UFC. After all, even Conor McGregor was pulled from a fight for refusing to comply with some of the UFC’s media demands for its UFC 200 blockbuster this past summer. So how did Rousey get away with it?

Simple, she asked for it and company president Dana White signed off.

“Ronda has given more than anybody. If you look at the amount of press that has been done by any fighter in the UFC in UFC history, Ronda smokes everybody by a long shot. This is the way she wanted it. The only thing she cares about right now was focusing on winning,” said White, himself making a rare appearance for a scrum with reporters at UFC 207 Ultimate Media Day.

If it sounds like White feels that Rousey earned the right to be granted this opportunity to fall away into herself for a time following her first career loss, well, yeah, he does.

“Ronda has done a lot of things for us. This is what she wanted, so I gave it to her,” he said. “It’s definitely not ideal. It’s what she asked for, and like I said, back in the day, Ronda would literally do anything we asked her to do. So, for her to ask for something like this, how can I say no to that? She’s done a lot.”

TREDNING > Dana White Confirms UFC 207 is Mike Goldberg’s Final Broadcast

Although White has come under fire recently for favoring certain fighters, such as McGregor and Rousey, don’t think that he’s gotten used to the idea of his star attraction being unavailable for promotional purposes. He appreciates what fighters like McGregor and Rousey do for his company’s bottom line, but he won’t be granting waivers on a regular basis, not even for Rousey.

“She’s done a lot for this company. She’s done a lot for this sport,” White continued. “(But) this is a one and done.”

(Subscribe to MMAWeekly.com on YouTube)

Follow MMAWeekly.com on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram