MMA Hall of Fame: Dana White
Dana White is the current President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which is the largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts promotion in the world. He is widely known for his large part in the development of the sport over the last ten plus years. However, he continues to find new ways to improve the sport mainly through his drive, motivation, and dedication.
Born in the Boston, Massachusetts area, White then moved to Las Vegas and worked as an aerobics instructor and manager for MMA fighters such as Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell for a few years.
White, along with childhood friends and casino moguls Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, bought the UFC in 2001 for $2 million and gave new life to the dying franchise. Steadily, since the UFC 30 event in February 2001, White has done an amazing job with the growth of his flourishing organization.
For the first four years of his regime, the company was up and down. Successful events, such as UFC 40, 41, and 49 headlined with stars like Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, BJ Penn, and Tito Ortiz were outnumbered by the unsuccessful ones that had the company deep into debt. After a couple years as the owner, the future looked bleak.
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It was in early 2005 that it all began to turn around for the gambling President of the UFC. He masterminded The Ultimate Fighter, a reality fight series, which was televised on Spike TV. The show gave a look into what the sport of MMA was really about and how the fighters were really as dedicated and hard-working as athletes in other sports and not bar-brawlers like many had pictured them to be. The first season of TUF came to a conclusion with one of the most watched fights in history and the one responsible for its acceleration in popularity. “ Griffin vs. Bonnar”, the final bout of TUF 1, was watched by millions of people who weren’t sure what they were watching but knew that they liked it.
The Ultimate Fighter, now on season 11, was just one of the genius ideas courtesy of White. With his help on regulations and explanations of rules, many states and countries have gone from banning MMA to promoting it. White is open with his desire to have the sport legal in all fifty states and will not stop until he accomplishes just that.
White has also been the figurehead that the sport needed to continue its expansion. He has helped develop new stars like Forrest Griffin, Anderson Silva, and Brock Lesnar, as well as maintain the popularity of seasoned stars like Tito Ortiz, Frank Mir, Chuck Liddell, and Randy Couture.
The UFC went from a cult following held in small run-down arenas and casinos with little or no TV coverage, to being held all over the world and available nearly everywhere on television. As of January 2010, the UFC has held 144 events in 25 different states and 7 different countries. Of the events, over 100 have been available on pay-per-view and another 35 events on cable TV.
The amount of progress that Dana White is responsible for, including not only the growth of the UFC but for the sport of MMA, is not even measurable. The fact being, he continues to make this the hottest and fastest rising sport in the world. While his first decade as President of the UFC can be no doubt tagged successful, it’s even that much more exciting to imagine where his leadership will take it into the next ten years and beyond.
By Nick Russell
ProFighting-fans.com Senior MMA Staff Writer
Published February 2010
Photo courtesy of UFC