This is what happens when NY Times abandons sports journalism

The New York Times profile of UFC President Dana White is a case study in the perils of axing your sports department.

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Less than 24 hours after the world’s leading mixed martial arts organization held its historic UFC 300 event, The New York Times published a profile of UFC president Dana White in the Sunday, April 14 edition of the paper under the title, A Showman for the Age of Combative Spectacles.

The lengthy feature, written by Matt Flegenheimer, Joseph Bernstein, and Scott McIntyre (with help from White House correspondent Maggie Haberman), delved into White’s growing political influence and status among former US president Donald Trump and his MAGA base. It opened with the story about how White was responsible for easing tensions between Bud Light and conservative politicians and influencers after signing a lucrative partnership with the beer brand. It also attempted to explain how the face of a prizefighting organization became such a political heavyweight in the US.

Here’s the problem, though: despite devoting more than 4,600 words to profiling White, the article lacked genuine substance and fell short in properly examining the troubling aspects of White's, and consequently, the UFC's, connection with Trump. Instead, it presented White as a brash, albeit sympathetic businessman navigating the “forever culture wars” in the US.