ESPN: "Can Dana White take the UFC to the next level?"

Reporting is often described as storytelling. True, you need to relate the facts of the event or individual, but it is really about the message you are trying to get across. For instance, the drug war isn't working, Chuck Liddell should retire, Kobe Bryant is a jerk and so on. 

With ESPN's investigative unit, E:60, getting ready to air their profile of UFC president Dana White some are wondering what kind of piece it will be. Tom Farrey described what he intended to do in an interview with MMAFanhouse,

The question Farrey said he wanted to explore in his profile is whether White, as the man who got the UFC to the point where it's here to stay, is also the man to take the sport to new heights.

"He's clearly lifted the sport, he's done a number of brilliant things to lift the sport to where it is," Farrey said. "But one of the things we ask in the piece is, Is he too volatile to get the sport to the next level?"  

Often times when we start with a certain question, as it appears Farrey has, then we will close ourselves off to anything other than the answer to our question, even if it doesn't exist. 

Can Dana White take the UFC to the next level? The answer is yes and no because right now that question is completely subjective and ignores the current state of affairs. 

The question should be, "what needs to happen for the UFC to rival one of the big three?" 

That deals with the subtleties of mainstream popularity, revenue, profitability, corporate sponsorship/partnership, legalization, media exposure and expansion. All of which are far more important than discussing the subjectivity of the effect Dana White's crass language.