"I thought it was over" - Dana White comes clean about almost selling the UFC and why he and his business partners ultimately chose to back out
Dana White almost abandoned the UFC at one point, a tale he revealed in an interview with Forbes. The UFC hasn't always been a hyper-profitable promotion. After all, MMA was and still is, in some ways, a niche sport that largely escapes the notice of the general public.
As a result, there was a time when the UFC was on the verge of financial ruin, with the Fertitta brothers contacting White out of frustration. They agreed to look for a buyer, as the promotion wasn't turning in the kind of profit they were expecting.
"So, one day, I was at the office and Lorenzo [Fertitta] called me and he's like, 'I can't keep doing this. Me and my brother [Frank Fertitta III] can't keep funding this thing. It's getting, so I need you to go out and see what you could sell this thing for.' So, I thought it was over. I started making phone calls that day, and at the end of the day I called him back and I said, '$7 or $8 million. Could probably get $7 or $8 million for this thing in my opinion.' And he's like, 'Alright.'He said, 'I'll call you tomorrow.'"
Fortunately, the UFC survived one of its darkest periods, and it was all due to a last-ditch plan to get the promotiton on television.
"I thought it was over, and the next day I'm driving to work and Lorenzo calls me and this is literally, quote, what he said, 'Let's keep going.' I remember it like it was yesterday. I don't remember what it was, but I remember it like it was yesterday, and then we knew we had to get on television. We believed that if we could get this thting on TV, people would see it and people would love it."
Check out Dana White revealing how the UFC almost ended in disaster (6:05):
Fortunately, the situation turned around, and the UFC now dominates the MMA world and has produced some of the world's most popular athletes.
Dana White is now the UFC CEO
While the UFC was once on the brink, it has now fully recovered and become the most successful MMA promotion by a significant margin. In fact, it's now regarded as a monopoly, and a part of that is due to the tremendous work ethic of Dana White, who's the promotion's public face.
Moreover, Dana White has become the UFC CEO following its merging with TKO Group. In effect, it's still the same role he served when he was the UFC president.