Dana White once offered a guy $5k to fight Chuck Liddell and prove the UFC is real.
Dana White has always been a man of decisive action and decision making. And he has often shut people down with his upfrontness. This is one of the reasons why he is considered such a massive influence on the MMA world.
One the examples of White using his decisiveness and willingness to take risk came in the early 2000s. This was the time when Chuck Liddell was the big UFC star and White had just concluded promoting the latest UFC event with him.
The UFC president and the reigning UFC heavyweight champion came across a guy who was convinced that the UFC was not real.
Everyone knows how hard White worked to bring legitimacy to the world of MMA and distance it from scripted wrestling entertainment like the WWE. So White was prompt to offer the sceptical security guard $5000 if he could last 2 minutes against ‘The Ice Man’.
Naturally, the guy took up whites offer thinking he was making some easy cash. However, he ended up on the floor with Liddell cranking his neck off within just 20 seconds. White kept his money and the UFC just might have gained another fan. In any case, this was another reminder why some people are not to be messed with because they train to mess other people up.
Has Dana White Clashed with Others on the UFC’s Legitimacy?
Dana White has always been vocal about the UFC’s Legitimacy as a combat sport. However, this has rubbed some people the wrong way over the years. One of the people White has angered is former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.
Lesnar had a heated exchange with White on Twitter back in 2015.
“Of course, Dana, it’s fake,” Lesnar responded to White. “Everybody knows that, but it’s still the same – you’re promoting the same thing we’re promoting.
Dana White is promoting fights, we’re promoting fights. It just so happens that we get a little more longevity out of our fight and out of our fighters because of the circumstances.
Dana, probably in his defense, is promoting fighting – but it’s the same thing. He’s trying to sell pay-per-views. He’s trying to sell money fights. It’s the same racket.”
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