50 of the best moments of Dana White’s career

Buying the UFC

By Chad Dow

After falling in love with Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta and Frank Fertitta bought the UFC in January 2001 in what they described as a “passion deal.”

It all started at the Hard Rock casino in Las Vegas when White and Frank Fertitta met and befriended then UFC fighter John Lewis. They began training in jiu-jitsu under Lewis and were introduced to fellow UFC fighters Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell. One thing led to another and White began managing both Ortiz and Liddell soon after.

It was through negotiating Ortiz’s contract with then-owner Bob Meyrowitz that White became aware that the UFC was in financial trouble and might be for sale.

“Bob said I own nothing. I have 30 contracts, an old wooden Octagon and those three letters U, F, C. And I want $2 million for it,” White recalled.

According to White a month later they owned the UFC. The sale of the UFC to White and the Fertitta brothers would change mix martial arts forever.

Friendship with Amanda Nunes

By Alex Ramirez

Dana White has come a long way in his view of women’s mixed martial arts. He went from having a firm stance of never having the women compete in the UFC to promoting and having some to the organization’s biggest events revolve around women fights. Some can argue that the women of the UFC have become bigger and more reliable stars than their male counterparts. One such star his current UFC featherweight and bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes.

White was recently told TMZ Sports that Nunes was the best female fighter the UFC has ever seen, “Anybody who wins two belts is real. She won two belts. Cyborg the most feared fighter out there and she went out there and made it look easy.” He added, “She’s been active; she’s fought all the best out there.”

He is also quick to defend Nunes as well. After UFC 232, Darren Rovell was quick to talk down Nunes’ historic win over Cris “Cyborg” Justino. During the post-fight press conference, White responded to Rovell’s thoughts ”I guess saying stupid things sometimes makes you stand out. What’s his name tonight, that idiot I can’t stand? Darren Rovell tweets out – what the f**k does Darren Rovell know about fighting, number one. Let’s start with that. And he says the UFC got destroyed tonight because Cris Cyborg lost and Amanda Nunes won and she’s not marketable at all.”

”F**king pshhhhh,” he said, miming a gun to his head. “Listen, I’m pretty resilient to this dumb s**t but holy God.”