“Didn’t want to do it,” Dana White on time when UFC got sold to WME-IMG back in 2016 and almost left the company
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Dana White
UFC President Dana White was not far from leaving the UFC from once and for all once the world’s biggest MMA organisation shifted from the hands of the Fertitta brothers to WME-IMG in the famous 2016 sale of the company for $4.2 billion. White, who was the one that persuaded the Fertitta brothers to purchase the UFC back in 2001 at $2 million dollars, magnified the potential of the fight business and honoured mixed-martial arts with the title of the fastest rising sport in the world.
Even after the sale today, White is still associated with the UFC as its President for 21 years and going on till date. Now, the UFC has it’s own building by the name of UFC APEX for Fight Nights, hosts annual events at the Madison Square Garden, has a Performance Institute with world class facilities for the UFC athletes and is now having its own Fight Island, which is Yas Island in Abu Dhabi to host major UFC events for the fans in the Middle East.
UFC President Dana White feels good about the transition of ownership from Fertitta brothers to WME-IMG now
In The Pivot Podcast hosted by 3 African Americans including former NFL star Ryan Clark, who also co-hosts an ESPN special with combat sports legend Daniel Cormeir titled the DC & RC Show, White talked about various things that included his time with the UFC, the year 2022 so far and ahead for the organisation and also about politics and critics of the UFC as well. In the midst of all this, White also talked about his personal experience of facing the sale of the UFC from Fertitta brothers to WME-IMG in 2016.
“It was actually a really bad time for me, I didn’t want to do it,” White said of the deal. “The Fertittas were ready to get out and they had a sit down with me. They were basically like, ‘We have everybody in here going through with the deal.’ Everybody was in here kicking the tires looking to buy it. From ESPN to Turner to all these different funds and groups from all over the world. They sat me down and said, ‘We’re gonna sell this thing and we’re ready to go but nobody will take it unless you stay so you have to do this…
[Now] I don’t walk away [at this point]. Going through that transition with the Fertittas to WME was a good experience for me and it reminded me how much I really love this business and love what I’m doing so they’re probably gonna have to come f****** drag me out of here. I don’t see myself walking away from this,” concludes Dana White. [h/t MMA Fighting]
What do you make of Dana White’s experience during the time of the deal, do you think UFC wouldn’t be where it was if it wasn’t for the White being the President of this company for well over 2 decades? It’s safe to say though that White’s legacy as who he is as been tied forever with the UFC and it will be difficult for the fans to see the departure when he will leave the sport later in his life.
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Abhai Singh Tanwar
(1386 Articles Published)