50 of the best moments of Dana White’s career
By Amy Kaplan
Dana Admitting Ronda convinced him to allow females in the UFC
By Davidson Baker
In 2011, TMZ embarked upon the posse of one Dana White in an ambush-type of way, and point-blank asked the boss himself:
“When will we see women fight in the UFC?”
The long-tenured president responded swiftly, with a one-word response to silence any doubt at the time.
“Never.”
White responded nearly immediately, with enough certainty within his tone to calm down the proverbial rumors, but left the scene with a smile to ensure the open-ended nature in which the question would inevitably remain.
Dana was reluctant, however, ultimately allowed women into the hallowed grounds of the UFC just one year later.
Not only did that claim remain to be true for over a year, but Dana himself admitted and even coined the narrative surrounding what he saw as something much less than the overall inclusion of female participation in the sport, but more so and simply ‘The Ronda Rousey Show’.
White himself, went on to admit Rousey was the sole reason he allowed women in the UFC originally, and his lack of reluctance in doing so is admirable given the length in which he was opposed to ever letting it happen.
UFC sold to WME-IMG
By Ben Coate
The sale of the UFC from Zuffa to massive talent agency WME-IMG sent shockwaves through the MMA community. The UFC was and still is the world-wide leader in MMA and it was changing ownership. The deal was massive; WME-IMG paid a hefty $4 billion for the UFC — the biggest deal in professional sports history.
But with the transfer of ownership, it wasn’t entirely clear what would happen to Dana White. Would he leave the UFC along with Zuffa? Of course not; in typical Dana White fashion, he not only kept his position as president of the promotion but also earned a huge payday of a clean $360 million. When some men would’ve happily cashed that payout check and walked off into the sunset, White doubled down on his duties and is just as much president of the UFC now as he was when he first took the job.