Why did Dana White leave Howie Mandel's podcast? Reason behind UFC CEO's walk-out from show

UFC president Dana White finally addressed the bizarre incident from Feb. 2024 where he abruptly walked out of comedian Howie Mandel's podcast within minutes of the recording starting.

Initially tight-lipped on the reason behind his abrupt exit, the UFC CEO had to finally open up despite promising not to.

Why did Dana White leave the podcast?

Dana White has a history of generating online buzz, and in Feb. 2024, he did so again with a brief and bizarre appearance on 'Howie Mandel Does Stuff.' He walked off the set after only a few minutes, confusing viewers.

Recently, on Andrew Schulz's podcast 'Flagrant' White confirmed that the entire walkout was a pre-planned stunt to promote Mandel's show. He explained that Mandel requested the act, Speaking to Schulz, he said:

"We're walking through [his podcast studio], and [Howie Mandel] goes 'Would you do me a favor?' I say, 'Yeah, what's up?' He's like, 'Would you come in and get up and walk off my podcast?' I go, 'I would be f*cking honored to walk off your podcast because I'm so f*cking sick of doing podcasts.'"

In the same interview, White revealed that Mandel requested secrecy on the act, and White initially agreed. But after the episode's release and the negative fan reaction towards Mandel, White felt compelled to clarify the situation:

White said:

"We go in there and do it, right, and he's like, 'Take this to the grave.' I said, 'Done, I'll take it to the grave.' I'm walking around, I go do this thing with the Nelk Boys. We're doing this monkey bomb tour and the whole f*cking crowd starts chanting 'F*ck Howie Mandel.' I go, 'Woah, woah, woah, timeout, I can't do this.' Howie Mandel is the greatest f*cking dude ever."

Check out Dana White discuss the viral moment below (2:11:52):

So, while the walkout seemed like a genuine outburst from White, it was all a bit of pre-arranged showmanship for the benefit of promoting Mandel's podcast.

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