Dana White has been the front man for the UFC for the majority of the promotion’s history, and he has watched the promotion grow exponentially.
Over the last decade, the UFC has slowly become the biggest combat sports promotion in the world, and has even joined sports leagues like the NFL and the NBA.
And recently, it was announced that the promotion had signed a whopping $7.7 billion broadcast deal with Paramount, with the network removing the PPV model.
However, UFC front man Dana White once feared that he may not even make it this far with the promotion when the Fertitta brothers sold the UFC for $4 billion in 2016.
Dana White speaks at the UFC 319 press conference.
Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC
Dana White feared he’d be cut after $4 billion sale in 2016
When Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta bought the UFC for $2 million in 2001, it seemed like an audacious purchase for a promotion that didn’t seem to have much of a future.
Despite that, the Fertitta brothers and White went on to grow the promotion into the utter powerhouse that it is today.
And then in 2016, the Fertitta brothers sold the UFC to Endeavour for $4 billion, which subsequently resulted in the merger between the UFC and the WWE.
With that, White began to fear that following the sale of the promotion, he would be cut from his role.
“Lorenzo wanted to sell and I didn’t, and Lorenzo was like, ‘I’m done, I’m out, I can’t do it anymore. Be happy for me that I’m getting out and that I don’t wanna do this anymore.'” White began to explain on the Cutlercast.
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“No, I wasn’t ready to sell but you know, obviously if these guys, if they’re at that place where they want to sell, $6 billion is not a bad number.
“No, (I didn’t think I’d stay in the position I’m in). I’m still in a bunch of different businesses with them, we own a lot of different companies together, me and the Fertitta brothers, so I just figured ‘What’s next, what are we gonna do next and we’ll move onto the next thing.’
“They were like, ‘We gotta talk to you, nobody is gonna buy this if you don’t stay,’ in hindsight it’s the greatest thing ever,” White continued.
Dana White continues to spearhead the UFC’s growth
Fortunately for the UFC fanbase, White did stick with the UFC and continues to spearhead the promotion onto bigger and better things.
And 2026 could be set to be their biggest year yet with the PPV model being removed and the sport set to be broadcast on a major network.