Did you know Dana White once wanted to become a professional boxer? With humble beginnings in Boston, the UFC head honcho began training in boxing at age 17, before eventually meeting Golden Gloves champion Peter Welch, with whom he started a gym. After a few run-ins with the mob, White relocated to Las Vegas, eventually reconnecting with his childhood friend Lorenzo Fertitta. The rest is history. The Fertitta brothers purchased the UFC for $2 million in 2001, and the company was put under the watchful eye of Dana White. Today, the company has gone places and while the Fertitta brothers walked away from the promotion, White continues to serve as its spear head. And we don’t blame the UFC head honcho for getting a little emotional about his journey.
With a $11.3 billion valuation, the UFC brand has become synonymous with MMA. Almost every person who dreams about becoming an MMA fighter only wants to make their way into the UFC and become a champion. The fun part about Dana White’s job, in his own words, is to find talent from every corner of the world and present them with a platform to showcase what they’ve got to offer inside and outside the Octagon without facing any kind of restrictions.
“I love everything about this business. I love taking people that you see, that you think have talent, and finding out if they can become world champions,” Dana White stated during an interview with Mark Bouris. “I love letting people be whoever they are. I love the fact that we can find the toughest people from every little place on earth and they all get to come in and compete on the world stage.”
The UFC CEO would also mention the sad backgrounds of many of the fighters on the roster. There have been many rags-to-riches stories in the Las Vegas-based promotion, with Alex Pereira being a prime example, who was born in extremely dire financial circumstances in the favelas of Brazil to become a massive superstar following his UFC success. These fighters not only serve as a good example for the fans but also for Dana White.
Mark Bouris asks Dana White: Your aspirational journey, do you see how important that is relative to the UFC brand and do you live it?pic.twitter.com/5gC75Tdt4b
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) February 5, 2025
“I think that the UFC and its athletes are very inspirational… These people that come from poverty and all these different walks of life,” Dana White added. “Like I said, it’s not like we’re in the United States or regionally. The whole world gets to compete… I love what we have here and I think it’s very inspirational.” Meanwhile, connecting with the fighters and setting up interesting fights isn’t the only thing that Dana White loves as the UFC CEO. The 55-year-old once mentioned his love for the fans of his promotion as well. Here’s what he had to say.
Dana White always aims to keep the UFC fan-friendly
Not just fighters in the UFC, but Dana White is somewhat of a star himself. He loves to keep fan engagement intact, which lends credence to his collaboration with influencers these days. The sport would be nothing without its fans, and that’s why the UFC CEO is a proponent of fans interacting with fighters on the roster.
“I’ve always encouraged the engagement between the fans and the fighters and this sport, as long as I am here, will always be fan-friendly,” Dana White stated a few months ago on the ‘2 Bears 1 Cave’ podcast. “Our fans are the f***ing best, man. I mean, they’re very opinionated, and they’ll go in on you. That’s what I love about the fight business, man.”
With every year that passes, the UFC gets bigger and bigger. Now, it remains to be seen if the promotion does the same and makes another leap by the end of this year. Regardless, let us know your thoughts on Dana White’s love for the promotion he helped scale from almost being thrown into a dumpster.
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