Dana White gloats about his decision to not shut down at the height of the pandemic as he expects to break company records in 2022.
UFC president Dana White has managed to take the company to a global scale. Since buying the company in 2001, the UFC has multiplied exponentially to become world wide brand. It is now one of the most watched sports in the world.
As an organization, the UFC is the only sports entity to not shut down at the height of the pandemic. Dana White has always been about finding ways or “finding solutions”. It’s clear that White doesn’t hide; instead of “hiding” from the disease he is determined to always find a way.
From 2019, we skip ahead almost 2 years. Just in the year 2021 alone, the UFC has had sell-out pay-per-view shows in five different states. Looking back at UFC’s most successful year so far, White believes it was his strong mentality towards business amidst the global shutdown for the success.
Dana Whites interview with ESPN MMA
In a recent interview with ESPN MMA Danna White had this to say-
“Our fanbase has grown over 40% just this year. How about that?” White boasts with a smirk.
“You take the fact that we went through the pandemic with… we’ve obviously been putting on great fights and the fights are incredible. The live event is incredible. There’s a lot of other things that go into what makes us successful.
“I knew there was a way to figure this out. Abu Dhabi was already testing. They had tests for COVID. Why did we not have tests for COVID, and how do we do it? How do we get them? How do we make this thing work? But the bigger issue at that time was finding a venue that would carry the event. “When you look at it, a lot of these leagues and businesses and whatever it might be were all trying to reopen in 2021. We never shut down. We were already rolling through 2020 and then right into 2021. Once we did the first show and we started to roll, I never looked back.”
With the new year coming in quick, White expects 2022 to be a much bigger year of “shattering” his company’s records, especially with the constant evolution of technology.
White continues-
“We’re gonna break the record in California. The biggest gate ever in the history of California was $3.2 million,” he said. “This next gate (UFC 270) is gonna be $5 million. We’re coming out of a global pandemic, and we’re breaking every record we’ve ever had.
“We’re not just breaking them. We’re shattering them. It’s almost double the biggest gate ever.
“I truly believe that as technology continues to grow, the world gets smaller, and these companies, whether it’s Netflix, Amazon, ESPN… Over the next several years, there’ll be three to five big players around the world where we can all watch the same thing at the same time. Meaning, the whole world can.
“We might do 8.6 million pay-per-view buys in one night. That’s what I’m looking at for the future.”
The UFC’s PPV event to close out 2021 was UFC 269, which took place early this month. PPV buys have yet to be released, but the reported live gate was at $8 million. If we go by this list, would have it sat at the top six of all-time MMA gates in Nevada.
It clear that Dana White has a clear cut vision for the UFC and is not going to let anything hinder it. He is determined to get there.
