What is the story between Dana White and Whitey Bulger?
Dana White has been instrumental in establishing the UFC as the largest mixed martial arts promotion in the world. All of which is a credit to his business acumen and love for the sport.
Prior to his success, the UFC president faced his own set of challenges. This included fleeing his hometown of Boston after receiving threats from James 'Whitey' Bulger's men.
James 'Whitey' Bulger was an Irish-American organized crime boss who led the Winter Hill Gang in south Boston from the mid 1960s to the 1990s. He was included on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in 1999 and was placed second behind Osama Bin Laden.
Bulger was involved in a variety of illegal activities in Boston including loan sharking, bookmaking, truck hijacking, arms trafficking and extortion.
Dana White used to run a boxing program in South Boston with a local fighter named Peter Welch during his early days.
“We used to bring kids in from all different areas to come in and box and we wanted these kids to meet each other and respect each other through boxing.It was great and a great thing to do for the kids, but you don’t make much money doing it – it was a charity thing we were doing. So, to pay the bills, we used to bring in businessmen, housewives, whoever it was and train them to box and we were basically like personal trainers, but you did boxing. Through that, we started going out into the health clubs and teaching in the health clubs and our classes became huge all throughout Boston."
During the mid-1990s, in one of Dana White's boxing classes, two of Bulger's enforcers barged in and demanded $2,500. The current UFC president then received a call again a few days later where they demanded the money. Fearing for his safety, White ditched Boston and jetted to Las Vegas for safety.
Recalling the incident during an interview with Fox Sports, Dana White said:
"He basically said, 'You owe us money'. It was like $2,500, which was like $25,000 to me back then, and said, 'You owe us money.' It was actually a guy named Kevin Weeks, who if you saw the trial he's Whitey's right-hand man. I'm sure he's very prominent in the movie, but yeah basically said I owed him some money, and I didn't pay him. This went on for a while and one day I was at my place and I got a call and they said, 'You owe us the money tomorrow by 1 o'clock'. I literally hung up the phone, picked up the phone and called Delta and bought a ticket to Vegas."
As fate would have it, White ran into his old school friend Fertitta at a wedding and the two rekindled their friendship. In 2001, Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta bought the UFC for $2 million and stationed Dana White as the president.
Bulger was arrested in 2011 and Kevin Weeks, his longtime mob lieutenant, was one of several who testified against him. The 2015 movie Black Mass also brought the crime boss' story to the big screen.
Dana White funds groceries for families ahead of Christmas
Dana White was reportedly seen buying groceries for several families ahead of Christmas this year in Las Vegas.
A Twitter user posted a picture of the UFC president at a supermarket:
"The Dana White Spread Holiday Cheer Tour continues in the ESLV. UFC’s President, Dana White was spotted at Albertsons on Charleston and Sloan last night. Buying groceries for multiple families. Yes, I’m going to promote this because this is awesome and no one is talking about it," wrote Twitter user Andrew Carillo.
The Dana White Spread Holiday Cheer Tour continues in the ESLV. UFC’s President, Dana White was spotted at Albertsons on Charleston and Sloan last night. Buying groceries for multiple families. Yes, I’m going to promote this because this is awesome and no one is talking about it https://t.co/RxetNo0cBP
Dana White has been involved in many philanthropic activities in the past. Boys Town Nevada, a long-time UFC affiliate, was one of the organization's most recent philanthropic projects. It's a charitable organization that provides training and services to parents to help them create a safe environment for their children at home.