Dana White On The Ones That Got Away

At an Q & A event for UFC Fight Club members on Friday in Birmingham, England, UFC president Dana White told the crowd who's invited to the Octagon party, and who's not.

Most promisingly, White acknowledged for the first time his desire to import Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto for a fight with Uriah Faber in the WEC.

Almost from the time he stepped foot inside the re-vamped organization, Faber has asked to fight Yamamoto. Politics and scheduling seem to have left the idea in the "what if" category of future fights, but White's desire could clear some of the roadblocks that have prevented the meeting.

In the "will happen when hell freezes over" category were Josh Barnett and Frank Shamrock. At one point or another, White has butted heads with the iconoclasts, and doesn't like either. In the media, Shamrock has trashed White at every opportunity. "I hate him, he hates me," White concurred.

White says he would sign Shamrock, but isn't holding his breath.

"I hate Tito too, and he fought for us," White continued. "Business is business."

White had little answer for the question of the year--when Fedor Emelianenko would grace the Octagon.

"It's not as easy as it seems," he said in a familiar retort. "The whole Fedor thing ought to be proof of that, how hard it really is to deal with some of these guys."