The UFC, as popular as it is now, was vilified when it first came to the fore during the 1990s. People deemed it “human cockfighting,” and the sport of MMA was banned in many regions across the United States. The promotion wasn’t able to make money as the world entered the 21st century, and in 2001, Dana White, along with Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, bought the UFC after battling a “stigma.”
Many believed that acquiring the UFC was a misstep during Dana White’s decision-making process. The negative perception of the sport stemming from its brutality led many networks to shy away from associating with the fight promotion. Nonetheless, Dana White asserts that the absence of interest from other potential buyers in acquiring the UFC ultimately became the best outcome for him and his partners.
There is always more than one stakeholder in an organization that’s big in the mainstream. UFC is mainstream now, but it was back then in 2001. The 55-year-old claimed that nobody wanted any stake in his promotion, and this worked in their favor, especially because he and the Fertitta brothers were able to own everything that was associated with the promotion. And guess what? That led White to raise the UFC’s value, which is now an $11.3 billion brand, and is the biggest player in the mixed martial arts industry.
“Everybody thought this wouldn’t work. It was so one-sided that people didn’t think it would work. It actually worked out to our advantage long-term because we owned 100 percent of everything,” Dana White told ‘Jazzys World TV’. “Normally, when you go out and do these deals, the deals we would have had to do if people believed in it, other networks or whatever, it might have owned a piece of the UFC. And nobody believed. So we own 100 percent of the company, and it ended up working out perfectly for us.”
MMA: UFC 300 – Pereira vs Hill Apr 13, 2024 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA UFC president Dana White in attendance during UFC 300 at T-Mobile Arena. Las Vegas T-Mobile Arena Nevada USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xMarkxJ.xRebilasx 20240414_mjr_su5_009
However, there was a mission in Dana White and his partners’ minds when they were discussing acquiring the UFC. What was that? Well, he wanted to show the reality of the lives of UFC fighters. Here’s what the head honcho had to say.
Dana White wanted to remove the misconception about UFC fighters
As we mentioned already, the 1990s weren’t kind to not only the UFC fighters but also MMA fighters in general. People often perceived them as barbarians, as the fights back then had no holds barred. But after Dana White and the Fertittas fell in love with martial arts, they had a chance to meet many fighters, and when he realized that a bunch of them had inspiring stories and were educated athletes, the UFC CEO wanted to let the world know about it as well.
“Me and my partners started taking jiu-jitsu [and] became obsessed with it. And then, from there, we started to meet a lot of the fighters. We were blown away by most of them went to college. You know, there was this stigma attached to the sport and to the guys who competed here, and it was completely wrong,” Dana White added. “They were actually great stories. They were incredible athletes, and we believed that the rest of the world would think so, too, if we could get it out there.”
Despite the early setbacks that the promotion had, Dana White made it work, and now his brand has the most control in the MMA market. Moreover, the promotion continues to make record profits year after year and is at an untouchable spot. What do you think about UFC’s rise since the 55-year-old’s takeover? Drop your comments below.
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