Dana White is one of the most popular figures in the world of Fight Entertainment. In a video, the UFC President narrates his journey from a college dropout to the president of a $7 billion business.
Dana reveals that he comes from humble beginnings. His family was not rich and so he did not have the luxuries other people had. Fortunately, Dana was quick to realize that he did not want to college. Rather, he wished to get into the fighting business.
One of the things that I was really lucky in my life with, is I knew exactly what I wanted to do”. White discloses how people would often ridicule his plans for a fight business. Nobody believed that White could bring something different to the game.
At 19 years old, White was a bellman at a hotel. It is here that the idea to do something greater dawned on him. White remembers telling himself, “This isn’t me. This isn’t what I want.”
Moreover, White admits that he would often listen to motivational cassettes on his Walkman. This helped to shape his belief and motivated the Connecticut-born businessman to take action.
Importantly, Dana tips his hat to a well-renowned street fighter by the name of Peter Welsh. Along with Welsh’s help, White was able to learn everything there was to the fight game. Furthermore, White was also a cornerman and a referee in his time working with Welsh.
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As luck would have it, Dana White came across Bob Meyrowitz, who was looking to sell the UFC. Thereafter, White enlisted the help of his childhood friend Lorenzo Fertitta and his older brother, Frank, to buy the UFC for $2million. Eventually, they sold it for $4.025 billion, in July 2016.
UFC president Dana White interacts with media during the UFC 259 press conference at UFC APEX on March 04, 2021, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Credits: Getty Image)
However, they still had plenty of bumps along the road. At one point, White and Co. even considered cutting their losses and selling the UFC for around $6million. Fortunately, they kept believing until the end and as a result of that, were eventually very prosperous.
Today, the UFC is the biggest fighting promotion and one of the biggest sports franchises in the world. In summary, Dana White proves that courage, hard work, and dedication will take people a long way in life.
