"Kind of stuff that me and the Fertitta Brothers dreamed about" - Dana White on Halle Berry making a movie on MMA
Dana White was all praise for Halle Berry's MMA film 'Bruised'.
The film features reigning women's flyweight champion and No.1-ranked female pound-for-pound fighter Valentina Shevchenko in its cast. In a press conference at the UFC APEX Center, Dana White said that Halle Berry became a fan after watching the fight between Liz Carmouche and former bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.
The Fertitta brothers acquired the UFC's assets in 2001 and worked proactively with the athletic commissions of various states and countries to establish the sport. Lorenzo Fertitta, former CEO of UFC, appointed Dana White as the president of the organization.
On Halle Berry approaching White for the movie, he said:
"To have a mainstream, talented, A-list actress like her, in her directorial debut do a movie about the UFC, it's massive. I mean, this is the kind of stuff that me and the Fertitta brothers dreamed about, 20 something years ago."
Check out the press-conference below:
White explained that he provided Berry with all the help she needed as the UFC president wanted the movie to be as realistic as possible. White mentioned finding a lot of other fight movies out there to be "silly" and "unwatchable."
Halle Berry claimed that her father leaving her played a part in her following combat sports during the conference with Dana White
In the same press conference, Halle Berry opened up about how her father leaving their family grew her interest in professional fighting. Berry has been a fan of boxing since childhood and looked up to legends like Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and Sugar Ray Leonard:
"I have been a boxing fan my entire life. When I was a kid I was a latchkey kid and what I had in front of me was the television and boxing. And my dad left the family early so my images of manhood and what it was to be a man were Muhammad Ali, and Frazier, and Hearns, and Hagler, and Sugar Ray Leonard. Like these were fantasies of what a father would be for me right.”
Berry claimed it was her favorite pastime as a child and her reason for falling in love with combat sports. The Academy Award winner also confirmed White's comments when she recalled watching the first-ever women's fight in the UFC between Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche and instantly falling in love with MMA.
You can watch 'Bruised' on Netflix.